Among the arts of civilized life which the British Isles owe to the Romans not the least important was the spinning and weaving of wool. The sheep certainly was a domestic animal in England long before the period of the Roman occupation; and it is most probable that such use was made of sheep skins and of wool as was common among uncivilized races. But the Romans established a woollen factory whence the occupying army was supplied with clothing, and the value of the manufacture was soon recognized by the Britons, of whom Tacitus remarks, “Inde etiam habitus nostri honor et frequens toga” (Agric., c. 21). The product of the Winchester looms, and the wool whence it was made, soon established a reputation abroad, it being remarked that “the wool of Britain is often spun so fine that it is in a manner comparable to the spider’s thread.” The reputation which English wool at this early period established was maintained throughout mediaeval times; and the fibre was in great demand in the Low Countries and other Continental centres where skill in manufacture was highly developed. There are many allusions to woollen manufactures in England in early times; but altogether the native industry could not rival the products of the Continent, although the troubles in various industrial centres, from time to time, caused skilled workers in wool to seek an asylum in England. In the time of William the Conqueror Flemish weavers settled under the protection of the queen at Carlisle, but subsequently they were removed to Pembrokeshire. At various periods in the reigns of succeeding monarchs further immigrations of skilled Flemish weavers occurred, and they were planted at different places throughout the country. The cloth fair in the church yard of the priory of St Bartholomew was instituted by Henry II.; guilds of weavers were established; and the exclusive privilege of exporting woollen cloth was granted to the city of London. Edward III. made special efforts to encourage woollen industries according to the manner in which it was supposed in mediaeval times that trade could be best encouraged. He brought weavers, dyers, and fullers from Flanders; he himself wore Flemish cloth; and to stimulate native industry he prohibited under pain of life and limb the exportation of English wool. Previous to the time of Edward III. English wool had been in larger demand on the Continent, where it had a reputation exceeded only by the wool of Spain, which for ages provided Europe with the best material for cloth-making. The customs duties levied on the export of wool were an important source of the royal revenue, and Edward III.’s attempt to stop the trade appears to have been an honest though misguided attempt to foster native manufactures. His prohibitory law was, however, found to be unworkable, and the utmost that both he and his successors were able to effect was to hamper the export trade by vexatious restrictions and to encourage much “running” or smuggling of wool. Thus while Edward III. limited the right of exporting to merchant strangers, we find that Edward IV. decreed that no alien should export wool and that denizens should export it only to Calais. Legislation of this kind prevailed till the reign of Elizabeth, when the free exportation of English wool was permitted; and Smith, in his Memoirs of Wool, points out that it was during this reign that the manufacture made the most rapid progress in the country. In 1660 the absolute prohibition of the export of wool was again decreed, and it was not till 1825 that this prohibitory law was finally repealed. The prohibition appears to have been based on the mistaken notion that England possessed a monopoly of the finest kinds of wool, and that by withholding it from foreign competitors the home manufacturers would command the markets of the world. The results of the prohibitory law were exceedingly detrimental: the production of wool far exceeded the consumption; the price of the raw material fell; wool “running” or smuggling became an organized traffic; and the whole industry became disarranged. Extraordinary expedients were resorted to for stimulating the demand for woollen manufactures, among which was an Act passed in the reign of Charles II. decreeing that all dead bodies should be buried in woollen shrouds,—an enactment which remained in the Statute Book, if not in force, for a period of 120 years. On the opening up of the colonies, every effort was made to encourage the use of English cloth, and the manufacture was discouraged and even prohibited in Ireland.

It was not without reason that the attention of monarchs and legislators was so frequently directed to the woollen industries. Wool was indeed “the flower and strength and revenue and blood of England,” and till the development of the cotton trade, towards the end of the 18th century, the woollen industries were, beyond comparison, the most important sources of wealth in the country. What the actual value of the trade at any early period was it is impossible to ascertain, and the estimates of wool production and the value of the manufactures in the 17th and 18th centuries vary widely. Towards the close of the 17th century the wool produced in England was estimated to be worth £2,000,000 yearly, furnishing £8,000,000 worth of manufactured goods, of which there was exported about £2,000,000 in value. In 1700 the official value of woollen goods exported was about £3,000,000, and in the third quarter of the century the exports had increased in value by about £500,000 only. In 1774 Dr Campbell {Political Survey of Great Britain) estimated the number of sheep in England at 10,000,000 or 12,000,000, the value of the wool produced yearly at £3,000,000, the manufactured products at £12,000,000, and the exports at £3,000,000 to £4,000,000. He also reckoned that the industry then gave employment to 1,000,000 persons. These figures, in the light of the dimensions of present day industries, may appear small, but they bore a predominant relationship to the other great sources of employment and trade of the period. In 1800 the native crop of wool was estimated to amount to 96,000,000 lb; and, import duty not being imposed till 1802, the quantity brought from abroad was 8,600,000 lb, 6,000,000 lb of which came from Spain. In 1825 the importation of colonial wool became free, the duty leviable having been for several previous years as high as 6d. per lb, and in 1844 the duty was finally remitted on foreign wool also.

Sheep were introduced at Jamestown in Virginia in 1609, and in 1633 the animals were first brought to Boston. Ten years later a fulling mill was erected at Rowley, Mass., “by Mr Rowley’s people, who were the first that set upon making cloth in this western world.” The factory woollen industry was, however, not established till the close of the 18th century, and it is recorded that the first carding machine put in operation in the United States was constructed in 1794 under the supervision of John and Arthur Schofield.

The prevailing colour of sheep’s wool is white, but it must not be forgotten that there are races with black, brown, fawn, yellow, and grey shades of wool. For manufacturing purposes generally white wool is, of course, most valuable, but for the homespuns, which in earlier times absorbed the bulk of wool, natural colours were in many cases desirable and used with good effect. In domestic spinning, knitting, and weaving, natural colours are still largely taken advantage of, as in the cases of rough yarns, Shetland knitted shawls, Highland tweeds, &c.

As has already been indicated, the distinction between wool and hair lies chiefly in the great fineness, softness, and waved delicacy of woollen fibre, combined with a highly serrated surface. These peculiarities are precisely the characters which give wool its distinctive value as a textile fibre, and most distinctive of all is the serrated structure which specially belongs to wool and gives it the important property of felting, upon which many of its applications depend. The serrations of wool and the wavy structure it assumes are closely connected, those wools which have the greatest number of serrations being also most finely waved in structure. The appearance presented by wool under the microscope, as compared with the aspect of certain other animal fibres, is shown in fig. 1 (compare vol. ix. p. 133). The imbrications all lie in one direction,—from the root, their growing point, upwards to the apex of the fibre,—so tlιat, while a lock of wool drawn between the finger and thumb from the root end outwards slips quite smoothly, if drawn in the contrary direction from point to root it offers a distinct resistance, and the fibre feels harsh and rough. Under the influence of moisture and pressure, tangled masses of wool thoroughly interlock and mat together, by the mutual clutching of the serrations of the fibres, and it is thus that the shrinking and thickening of woollen textures under washing is accounted for, and the capacity of cloth for felting or fulling is due to this condition of the fibre. The serrations are most numerous, acute, pointed, and distinct in fine merino wools, as many as 2800 per inch being counted in specimens of the finest Saxony wools. In the Leicester wool of England, on the other hand, which is a long bright staple, the serratures are not only much fewer in number, counting about 1800, but they are also less pronounced in character, so that the fibre presents a smoother, less waved character. In some inferior wools the serrations are not so many as 500 per inch. A similar difference may be noted in the fineness of the fibres. Saxony lambs’ wool has a diameter of from τ 5⅛0 to τ ⅛⅛- σ inch, whilst coarse Algerian wools may rise to a maximum diameter of about inch.

Other distinguishing qualities of good wool consist in uniformity and strength of fibre with freedom from tender or weak portions in its length, a condition which not unfrequently arises from ill lιealth in the sheep. In ill-bred wool there may also be found intermingled “kemps” or dead hairs,— straight coarse shining fibres which show conspicuously among the wool, and become even more prominent in the manufactured and · dyed goods. Wool also possesses a softness of touch and an elasticity both in the raw and manufactured * condition which < distinguish it from all other fibres. In length of staple it varies very much, attaining in combing wools to a length of as much as 15 to 20 inches. As a rule the fine felting wools are! short in staple, these constituting carding or woollen yarn wools; and the longer are lustrous and comparatively straight, and thus most suitable for combing or worsted wools. The latter wools approach mohair and alpaca in their characters, and they are prepared and spun by the same class of machinery.

The bulk of the wool of commerce comes into the market in the form of fleece wool, the product of a single year’s growth, cut from the body of the living animal. The first and finest clip, called lambs’ wool, may be taken from the young sheep at about the age of eight months. When the animal is not shorn till it attains the age of twelve or fourteen months the wool is known as hogg or hogget, and it, like lambs’ wool, is fine and tapers into long thin ends. All subsequently cut fleeces are known as wether wool, and possess relatively somewhat less value than the first clip. Fleece wool as it comes into the market is either “in the grease,” that is, unwashed, and with all tlιe dirt which gathers to the surface of the greasy wool present; or it is received as “washed” wool, the washing being done as a preliminary to the sheep-shearing. Skin wool is that which is obtained from sheep which either die or are killed. Such wool is always of inferior value and much impregnated with lime from the steeping pits in the tan-yards in which the skins are first treated to soften and swell the skin for facilitating the easy separation of the wool from it.

The wool market is supplied from almost every quarter of the globe, and the qualities and varieties of the article are exceedingly numerous. The range of woollen and worsted manufactures is also very wide, and the raw material suitable for one section of the trade is not at all fitted to supply other sections. Much more than is the case in any other textile industry we have in the woollen trades practically a series of separate and distinct industries, each with its own appropriate class of raw materials. The main distinctions are—(1) carding wools, in which felting properties are desirable; (2) combing wools, requiring length of staple and brightness of fibre, for hard-spun nonfelting worsteds; and (3) carpet and knitting wools, in which long and strong if somewhat coarse staple are the essential qualities. Breeding, climate, and food are the main factors in developing and rearing special races of sheep in which the qualities essential for producing the raw materials of any of these sections of industry are secured.

For centuries the finer wools used for cloth-making throughout Europe were obtained from Spain, which was the home of the famous merino breed developed from races of sheep originally introduced into the Peninsula by the Romans. Till early in the present century the superiority of Spanish merinos remained unchallenged, but the Peninsular War and its attendant evils produced a depreciation of quality concurrently with the introduction of Saxon and Silesian wools, which suddenly supplanted the product of Spain, and hold the first place down to the present day. The Spanish merino sheep was introduced into Saxony by the elector in 1765, and by judicious crossing with the best native race developed the famous electoral breed. Merinos were carried to Hungary in 1775, and to France in 1776, and in 1786 Daubenton brought them to Rambouillet, whence a famous race developed. In 1802 the first merinos known to have left pure descendants were taken to the United States, and in 1809-10 an importation (4000) of merino sheep was made. The introduction of merino blood has also largely modified certain of the breeds of English sheep, and from tlιem, crossed with the English breeds, Southdowns and Leicesters, have sprung the vast flocks of sheep in the various Australasian colonies, which now bid fair to supply the whole world witlι wools of tlιe merino class, and of the very highest quality.

Of colonial wools, which are now by a long way the ∣ most important supplied to the British market, the best qualities come from Port Phillip, Sydney, and Adelaide, the first of these being excelled in quality as a clothmaking wool by the merinos of Saxony and Silesia alone. New Zealand also yields a very large annual crop of wool of high quality, and the wool of Tasmania is generally of fine colour, sound and uniform in staple. The Cape of Good Hope is the source of a large supply of wool, much of which, lιowever, is unequal in strength and somewhat kempy in character. A great proportion of tlιe wool which comes from South America is seriously deteriorated by burrs, and it is of a character which fits it for the worsted manufacture alone.

The wools grown in tlιe L τ nited Kingdom may be separated into three classes—(1) short or carding wool; (2) long or combing wool; and (3) blanket, carpet, and knitting wool. Of short wools Southdown may be taken as the type and best example. It is a staple of excellent quality, milling well, and suitable either for the woollen or worsted trade. The long wools of greatest importance are obtained from the Lincoln and Leicester sheep. These breeds yield a long fleece of remarkable lustre, and it was the possession of this class of wool which gave England its high reputation in former times as a wool-producing country. A similar quality of wool is also obtained from the East Riding Yorkshire breed of sheep. Cheviot wool approaches the Leicester class in some qualities, but is destitute of the latter’s peculiar lustre, and is shorter in staple, though strong in fibre, with good milling qualities, which render it valuable for the tweed manufacture. Intermediate between the long and short there are several British breeds, which have been established either by crosses or local conditions and treatment, the most important of these being found in Shropshire, Staffordshire, and Norfolk. The carpet wools are yielded by sheep of the type of the Blackface of the mountainous regions of Scotland, from which is obtained a fleece of long staple but somewhat unequal qualities. Much of the Highland wool is “laid,” that is, impregnated with tar, from the practice of the stock-masters of smearing the animals with a mixture of tar and fat immediately after shearing, with a view of protecting them from the rigours of the climate. Of wools of a special character there may be noted Welsh wool, which possesses properties fitting it pre-eminently for the making of the famed Welsh flannels, and Shetland wool, which being very fine and soft in its nature is almost entirely worked up into delicate yarns for knitting the well-known Shetland shawls and other knitted work.

The weight of a fleece of wool of the various breeds of sheep ranges from under 2 lb in the case of the small Shetland breeds up to 8 or 9 ft> for the large merinos and other heavy races, and in exceptional cases a heavy ram’s fleece may reach so much as 15 lb; but, taken all over, sheep may be reckoned to yield on an average 5 B> of wool in a year.

Where there is abundance of water and other con veniences it is the practice to wash or half-wash sheep previous to shearing, and such wool comes into the market as washed or half-washed fleece. The surface of a fleece has usually a thick coating of dirt adhering to it, and in the cases of merino breeds the fleece surface is firmly caked together into large solid masses, from the adhesion of dirt to the wool constantly moist with the exudation from the skin of the greasy yolk or “suint,” so that in an unwashed fleece nearly 30 per cent, of weight may represent dirt, and about 40 per cent, the greasy suint which lubricates the wool, while the pure wool is not more than one-third part of the whole. The yolk forms a protective covering to the sheep, rendering the fleece impervious to moisture, and while left in the wool also preserves it soft, pliant, and silky to touch. It forms a kind of natural soap, consisting principally of potash salts with animal oil, almost entirely soluble in cold water. The following analyses of German merino wool—the variety in which suint is most largely developed—illustrate the difference which may result in the composition of the fibre from the simple washing of the fleece on the sheep’s back :— [table]

Wool, however, which is merely washed in the rough-and-ready manner...