per
lb. on the export of British and importation of foreign wool. The last step
was a total repeal of all duties.
English wools may be divided into long and short staples. The long is used
for worsted, which is finished when it leaves the loom; the short for cloth,
which is compacted together, increased in bulk and diminished in breadth, by
fulling; that is, so beating as to take advantage of the serrated edges of
the wool which lead it to felt together.
Foreign wool, known as merino, has been used from an early period. In the
time of the Stuarts, an attempt was made to monopolize all the Spanish wool
exported.
Wars and bad government in Spain have destroyed the export trade in merino
wool, but the breed, transplanted into Germany, has multiplied and even
improved. Our finest wool is obtained from Silesia, and the breed is
cultivated with more or less success in many parts of the European continent.
In England, all attempts to cultivate the merino with profit have failed.
Next to Germany in quality, and exceeding that country in quantity, we obtain
our greatest supply of fine wool from Australia, where, in the course of
twenty-five years, the merino sheep has multiplied to the extent of twelve or
thirteen million head, and is still increasing; thus doubling our supply of a
fine article, not equal to German, but, at the low price at which it can be
furnished, helping to create entirely new manufactures by intermixing with
our own coarse wools, which it renders more available and valuable.
Pages:
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373