CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE CIRCULAR 12 April, 1927 WOOL PRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA J. F. WILSON PUBLISHED BY THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Cooperative Extension work in Agriculture and Home Economics, College of Agriculture, University of California, and United States Department of Agriculture cooperating. Dis- tributed in furtherance of the Acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, 1914. B. H. Crocheron, Director, California Agricultural Extension Service. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRINTING OFFICE BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA 1927 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from University of California, Davis Libraries http://www.archive.org/details/woolproductionin12wils WOOL PRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA J. F. WILSON* WOOL PPODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA fach 3pof represents oppmx/mate/y /0, 000 /bs. northern Cbcnt/es in /ert/cal shad/ng. /^/ddte Counties no shading. Southiern Counties m horizon to/ shading. Fig. 1, — Outline map of California, showing the areas of greatest wool production and the division of the state into three great sections. * Assistant Professor of Animal Husbandry, Associate Animal Husbandman in Experiment Station. 4 CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE [CiRC. 12 THE CALIFORNIA WOOL CLIP California's 1926 clip of wool, which was estimated at 18,189,000 pounds,! placed her among the five leading wool-producing states of the United States. The increase in wool production in California since 1922 is shown by figure 2. The exceptionally wide distribution of wool production in the state is evidenced by the fact that San Francisco is the only county which produces no wool. The areas of highest wool production, however, are widely separated. The ten leading wool-producing counties follow in the order named: 1. Tehama 6. Mendocino 2. Fresno 7. Yolo 3. Kern 8. Modoc 4. Glenn 9. Sutter 5. Solano 10. Sonoma Figure 1 shows graphically the regions producing the greatest weight of wool. CHAEACTEEISTICS OF THE CALIFORNIA CLIP The California clip as a whole is variable. The great diversity in altitude, climatic conditions, and soil types, makes the clip very uneven in grade, shrinkage, and character. Parts of northern California produce some of the best wools grown in the United States. The fine wools of Humboldt and Mendocino counties compare favorably with the best Ohio fines. Much of the southern wool, however, is inclined to be short, harsh, heavy in dirt, and very seedy. The California clip, while differing from it in many respects, is more similar to the Texas clip than to that of any other state. Cali- fornia wools are largely of fine-wool extraction ; that is, most of them are from ewes carrying some fine-wool blood. The clip is generally sound and has excellent felting properties, but because the fine Cali- fornia wools usually have more vegetable matter and are shorter than those of Texas, they are not so desirable. The twelve-months Cali- fornia wools are fairly similar to those of the same grade from Texas, but a larger proportion falls into the French combing and is suitable only for making a short top. The best of this clip from some of the northern counties is equal in nearly all respects to the best Texas wools, although its shrinkage is usually somewhat greater. t U. S. D. A. Crops and Markets, 3, Supp. 8:245. August, 1926. 1927] WOOL PRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA The wide difference in the clips from various sections of California has led to the division of the state into three main areas, known on the wool market as northern counties, middle counties, and southern counties. Figure 1 shows this division. The great variation in shrink- age in these sections has made it imperative to place market quotations on a scoured basis. WOOL PRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA 1922 1926 Compiled from Year Books ond Esfimafes U.S. Department of Agriculfure 1922 - *23 '24 '25 '26 1927 Year Fig. 2. — Recent trend of wool production in California. Northern-Counties Wool. — Most of the wool from the northern counties is from sheep of Merino extraction. It usually grades fine and half-blood combing, and French combing. The great demand in recent years for market lambs, however, has caused an increase in the use of black-faced rams with a consequent increase in the production of the medium grades of wool. Northern-counties wool is the best produced in the state. While much of it may be criticized for short- 6 , CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE [CiRC. 12 ness of staple, as a whole it is briglit, Avell grown, light in shrinkage, and fairly free of vegetable matter. The fact that sheep in this mountainous region are shorn usually only once a year adds mate- rially to the value of the clip. Northern-counties fine averages from 60 to 63 per cent shrinkage, though some of the shorter wools exceed this figure. Some Mendocino and Humboldt fine shrink even less. Northern-counties wool commands a premium on the market over both middle-counties and southern-counties wool. Middle-Counties Wool. — The middle-counties clip is inferior to that of the northern counties, but is superior to that of the southern counties. More of it is grown under farming conditions or where farm and range lands are combined. While a good part of the wool pro- duced in this section is from ewes carrying fine-wool blood, the mutton breeds are used to a much larger extent than in the northern counties, so that more of the clip is of the medium grades. Sheep in this area are for the most part shorn twice a year. The spring clip is usually free or nearly free of seed, and has about seven months ' growth ; the fall clip has about five months' growth and is nearly always quite short, dirty, and seed3\ A large proportion of the fall wools and some late-shorn spring wools must be carbonized. The spring fine w^ool grown in the middle counties usually shrinks from 63 to 65 per cent, but may vary greatly, and the spring three- eighths blood shrinks about 48 to 52 per cent. The clip from this area is less valuable than that of the same grade from the northern counties because of the presence of more seed, together wdth less life or lofti- ness, and shorter length. Southern-C oimties Wool. — The southern-counties clip is similar to that of the northern counties in grade. Though it comes largely from ewes carrying Merino blood, about 30 per cent of the clip is of the medium grades. It shrinks more and contains larger quantities of vegetable matter. Southern counties wool is nearly always taken off twice a year. It is worth less, on a scoured basis, than middle-counties wool. The shrinkage is usually from 2 to 5 per cent higher than that of the same grade from the middle counties. Large quantities of dirt and sand found in the southern grown wools make them unattractive in appearance. Lanihs^ Wool. — In most sections of California spring lambs that are to be retained in the flock, and also many feeder lambs, are shorn in the summer and fall. This practice has been adopted in the belief that the lambs make better gains, especially during a wet winter, when 1927] WOOL PRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA shorn of their wool. Thus a considerable quantity of lambs' wool is annually produced in California. Practically all of it is short, and much of it is so seedy that carbonization is necessary. Lambs' wool is sold as a separate commodity, as it possesses certain physical properties which make it unfit for some lines of manufacture. Shearing. — Spring shearing begins early in March in the south. By May 15 most of the clip of the state has been shorn, although some wool in the northern coast counties is usually taken off in June. Fall shearing in the middle and southern counties begins in early August and may run into October. In general, the spring clip has had from seven to eight months' growth, and the fall clip, from four to five. Moisture. — Most California wools gain in weight during warehouse storage or eastern shipment. Some wools, however, particularly those from the northern coast counties, gain very little and may even lose weight. Under normal climatic conditions at shearing time, the spring clip of the interior sections gains slightly. Practically all of the fall clip of the middle and southern counties, which is usually removed during warm, dry weather, gains materially in weight, either when held in a warehouse in the San Francisco Bay region or when shipped to eastern points. VEGETABLE MATTEE IN CALIFORNIA WOOLS Space does not permit a discussion of all of the different kinds of vegetable matter found in California wool. Only a few of the more important ones are enumerated. Burr Clover {Medicago spp.). — The spiral burr or clover burr is by far the greatest enemy of the California clip. It is often called the * spiral' burr because of its construction. The tiny spines on the burr make its removal impossible by any known machinerj^ While an occasional burr is not a serious obstacle, the presence of any con- siderable number makes carbonization necessary. When the wool is scoured, the spiral burr often unwinds itself into a narrow thread, from one to two inches long, and unless the wool is subsequently car- bonized, may become woven into the cloth. Because the burrs, which cover the ground in summer after the parent plants have dried up, are so palatable and nutritious, wool growers consider burr clover an asset rather than a liability. The spiral burr is found in most sections of California but thrives best in the middle and southern counties on rich land. The fall wools are particularly subject to contamination by it. 8 CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE [CiRC. 12 CocMe Burr (Xanthnim sp.). — The cockle burr is not so prevalent as the spiral burr, although some clips contain so much of it that their value is greatly depreciated. The presence of a limited number of cockle burrs is not serious, as textile machinery can remove them in the ordinary processes of manufacture. A heavy infestation makes carbonization necessary. Foxtail or Barley Grass (Hordciim sp.). — Foxtail is found in most California wools. Spring wools, which are usually shorn before the foxtail ripens, are fairly free of this seed, but fall and lambs ' wool is often badly infested. Since foxtail seeds have no large spines, they are not so objectionable as the spiral and the cockle burrs. Broncho Grass {Bromus sp.) and Hoarhound {Marruhnim sp.). — Though these grasses and various weed seeds are found widely dis- tributed in tlie clip, they do little damage to the wool. THE GRADES OF WOOL Wool is graded according to the diameter of the fiber. Other factors, such as extreme length, unusually good or poor character, or a marked unevenness in quality, occasionally cause a fleece to be placed in a grade either above or below that in which it would normally be thrown. Generally speaking, however, the grade is determined only by the diameter of fiber. The United States is now in a period of transition from one system of grade nomenclature to another. It is necessary, therefore, to explain both systems. The English or Spinning Count System. — The English nomencla- ture originated through the practice of basing the grade named upon the number of hanks of yarn which could be made from a pound of combed wool or top. The hank was 560 yards. Thus one pound of scoured wool of 64 's quality or fineness would make 64 hanks of yarn, each 560 yards long, while a coarse wool of 40 's quality would make only 40 of these hanks. This nomenclature became fixed through long usage in the wool trade and while today, owing largely to changes in manufacturing i)rocesses, the terms no longer have exactly the definition given above, they are still used. The fine wools, such as 64 's, 70 's, and 80 's, can be spun into much finer yarn than the ''spinning count" descriptive of the wool indicates. On the other hand, it is not customary to spin the coarser grades, such as 40 's and 44 's into yarn as fine as is indicated by the spinning count. 1927 J WOOL PRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA 9 The United States System. — Until now the United States has employed grade names used by no other country in the world except Canada. These terms are : fine, half blood, three-eighths blood, quarter blood, low quarter blood, common, and braid. It is believed that the terms involving the use of the word 'blood' originated when the Merino sheep, so predominant in this country in the early part of the nineteenth century, began to be crossed with other breeds. A wool slightly less fine than that which came from the pure Merino, was presumed to have been shorn from a sheep which was one-half Merino and one-half a breed other than Merino. Similarly, a three-eighths blood wool represented a sheep which was three-eighths Merino and five-eighths something else. These grade terms no longer refer to the breeding of the sheep from which the wool is taken, but are simply arbitrary trade names, having to do solely with diameter of fiber. Thus, a purebred registered sheep of one breed may produce a fleece which would grade half blood, while another registered animal of another breed may produce quarter-blood wool. The United States grades have been looked upon with disfavor for some time by manufacturers, dealers, and growers. The terms are misleading, since they are no longer related to the origin of the wool, if they ever were. Furthermore, the number of grades does not permit sufficient differentiation between wools of varying fineness. Wools which w^ould grade either 64 's, 70 's, or 80 's under the English system are all grouped together and called ' ' fine ' ' by those working under the United States grades. Some graders have adopted such terms as "high three-eighths blood," ''high half blood," to describe wools which are either slightly too fine or slightly too coarse to be strictly representative of the grade in which they are placed. The English system, by furnishing more grades into which wool may be placed, avoids this difficulty. Official Standard Grades. — The United States Department of Agri- culture, through the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, established "Official Wool Standards" May, 1923, using the United States grades. Prior to this time each dealer or manufacturer decided for himself just what degree of fineness of fiber defined each grade. The adoption of the official standards has been made entirely optional with the trade. Realizing the disadvantages of the United States grades, the Department of Agriculture in 1926 promulgated new standards, using the British system of spinning counts to designate fineness. These standards have been in operation too short a time to have effected any 10 CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE [ClRC. 12 radical change in methods of grading wool. Since more grades are included than were previously used, and since the nomenclature is international, it seems logical to presume that the old grade names will eventually become obsolete, and that wool grading will be entirely on a basis of spinning counts. The Bureau of Agricultural Economics in Washington has mounted samples of wool on heavy cardboard, to represent the official grades. These are arranged in sets, showing the minimum degree of fineness required for each particular grade and may be obtained upon formal application. A list of the new standards based on spinning count of the wool, and the corresponding United States grades follows :* Official Standard Corresponding Wool Grades "United States" Grades Fine Half Blood 56's Three-eighths Blood ,„, > Quarter Blood 48 s J 46's Low Quarter Blood 44's Common i) Braid THE CLASSIFICATION OF WOOL Each of the first five grades of wool is classified according to length of staple. The classifications are combing, French combing (or baby combing), and clothing. Combing wools have sufficient length to permit combing by the English system of worsted manu- facture. French combing signifies a shorter wool, one which can be combed by the French system. Clothing wools, which are too short to be combed profitably, are used for the manufacture of goods other than worsted. * A more complete description of the official grades may be found in official standards of the United States for the grades of wool and wool top. U. S. Dept. Agr. Service and Regulatory Announcements (Agricultural Economics) 100:1-12. 1926. 1927] WOOL PRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA 11 The length of wool in any classification depends upon the grade. The coarser a wool is, the longer it must be in order to classify as a combing wool. The United States Department of Agriculture has established the following standards for length : Grade Combing length French combing length Clothing length Fine Over 2 inches Over 23^ inches... Over 23^ inches... Over 2^ inches... Over 3 inches 114 inches to 2 inches IM inches to 234 inches 13/2 inches to 23^ inches 13^ inches to 2^ inches 2 inches to 3 inches Under 11:4 inches 3^ blood Under U:^ inches ^ blood Under 13^ inches M blood Low \^ blood Under 13^ inches Under 2 inches Common and braid, the last two and the coarsest of the seven grades, are not classified according to length. Cloth made from wool and used for suitings, overcoats, caps, and other wearing apparel usually falls into one of two classes — worsted or woolen. The worsteds are made from combed yarns only, while woolens are made from carded yarns which have not been combed. Wool of combing length can be used for making woolens but the cloth- ing wools are unsuitable for worsted manufacture. Combing wools are in greater demand in proportion to the supply than are clothing wools, and the price of wool of combing length is higher than the price of clothing wool of the same grade on a clean basis. (See fig. 3.) /.3S /.JO Mi ^J.OO 9S .90 f!3 I I T/ne Three- i>/ood' jd5 Uuiu /fug. Sept. Oct. n/oi^ Dec. ^an. reD. Man /^pr- May June J923 /926 Month I (J Market Quotations Fig. 3. — The relation of grade and length to the value of wool. The longer or combing wools of any grade are more valuable on a scoured basis than the short or clothing wools of the same grade. Fine m^ooIs are more valuable on a scoured basis than any other grade of the same classification. 12 CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE [CiRC. 12 Most of tlie suiting's worn by Americans are made of the finer grades of wool, largely fine, half blood, and some three-eighths blood, whereas the medium grades are more commonly used for the manu- facture of knitting yarns and sport goods. Hence interest in wool classification centers around the finer grades, with the result that quotations on French combing wools are seldom given for grades scoupw yv^/oNT or riEECE /\^ /P^L/^T^O TO L^NOTH Or STAPLE 4.62 A.30 ^ ^.03 "0 — ^ ^ J.6t ^ — 3.83 ^ ^ ^v. i 1 1 1 9 1 1 ^ ^ g N ^ C § /.3 /.S £.3 ^.6 3.3 Ai/eroge Length of Staple in tnctit 3S Fig. 4. — The relation of clean or scoured wool in a fleece to length of staple. coarser than half blood. Also, since length and diameter of fiber are closely correlated, wools which grade quarter blood or low quarter blood are nearly always of combing length, and for this reason the clothing lengths of these grades are not commonly quoted in market reports. The importance of length of stai)le cannot be over-emphasized. It has been shown (fig. 3) that among the finer grades the wools which 1927] WOOL PRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA 13 have sufficient length to comb are more valuable than those which are too short to comb. In any of the grades, an increase in length of staple is accompanied by an increase in fleece weight and by a decrease in shrinkage. The Bureau of Animal Industry of the United States Department of Agriculture* in a scouring test involving 1460 fleeces, found that the average scoured weight of Rambouillet fleeces varied directly with the length. The data secured are presented graphically in figure 4. CROSSBREEDING FOR WOOL PRODUCTION The breeds of sheep are classified into three groups, based upon the kind of wool produced. Table 1 gives the classification of breeds most popular in the United States, together with the grade or grades of wool normally produced. When two pure breeds of sheep are crossed, the fleeces of the result- ing crossbreds tend to follow a blending type of inheritance. Thus, when sheep of a fine-wool breed are mated with representatives of a long-wool breed, the crossbred animals will have fleeces of an average fineness midway between that of the fleeces of their parents. An illustration is furnished by the origin of the Corriedale breed, which resulted largely from interbreeding Lincoln x Australian Merino crossbreds, although some admixture of Leicester blood has been recog- nized. Crossing Lincolns with Merinos produces crossbreds carrying medium wool, thus : Braid x fine = medium (three-eighths blood). However, when two breeds are crossed, more variation is to be expected among the offspring than results from matings witliin a breed. When a long- wool sheep is mated to a fine- wool or to a medium- wool sheej), a few of the crossbreds will have fleeces approaching that of one parent in fineness, but most of them will have fleeces tending to repre- sent a blend of the fleeces of the parents. Knowledge of the mode of inheritance of wool has been utilized by many growers. Crossbreeding of the Lincoln, Cotswold, or Romney, with Rambouillet ewes is common practice in the western states. In some instances, interbreeding of such crossbreds has been carried on in an attempt to develop new types more suitable to certain localities than are any of the recognized pure breeds. The Columbia, resulting from the interbreeding of cross bred Lincoln x Rambouillets at the United States Sheep Experiment Station at Dubois, Idaho, is an * Personal correspondence. 14 CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE [CiRC. 12 C 1 o a o a o o s « 1 a s 1 ^ i 1 J55Ji555S nil 1 OJ P -^3 1=1 OS 0. loS-OrOiOp^rO^Xi •s a ^ s 3 o s s s :^;^;i^;:^::^'^::^:^;:i^;^ ^ijS^6^^ a 01 02 02 .^^ s. CO 00 lO -^ fl M CO oT 02~ o s s ^s CO bC ^ ^ ^ ^ G Xf r/> rr mmmmmxnmmtn JM J>2 jy3 _^CC1 JB 'S "f ?^^ oocbcbcDoocbocDcb CO '^ '^ '^ '^ G io^io»o-^»oio»o»o '^ i 02 XT. m m m m m m m ma: ja JO JO JO JO ^ ^ c CDOOOcbOOOOC C^ CO O CO O s CO CC iOiO>0»0'=^iOTlHiOiC CO CO rt^ CO '^ T3 c C i T a ll a t ^ 5 i II o ^ ^ -u 1« d ^ 7 'o ^ ^ '^ jcBoatoOQQOt- 'o -22 a; ^ fl i-bc^ ^ a .a fl o o o a OJ o: < Q p: H^ W pq O Ph V ^ O) c3 Ft? ^ij O O OJ § 9^ CQ fi .2 ■^ o «a 'S § 1 ^ 3 ^ -^ ^ 'o a 1 1 O § ji *, ■H- J 1 1927] WOOL PRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA . 15 example of such a type. The Romeldale represents the work of A. T. Spencer, of Cranmore, California, in interbreeding the crossbred Romney x Rambouillet. Each of these types carries a medium-wool fleece. The wool grower in the western range states has found that lambs of the black-faced or Down breeds are more satisfactory for the market than any other. Since the major part of the income of most sheepmen is derived from the sale of lambs, it is advisable to adopt a breeding policy that will secure as large a number of lambs as may properly be raised and marketed, and that will still produce as much wool from the ewe band as possible. While the black-faced breeds are very prolific, they are hardly suitable for range conditions, because, as compared with the fine wools, they lack hardiness and also because they are generally light shearers, have poor herding instincts, and tend toward black on the heads and shanks. Though the fine- wool breeds are hardy and adaptable to range conditions, and produce heavy fleeces, they are the least prolific of all breeds in common use, and the lambs are not favored by butchers. The long- wool breeds are heavy shearers but are not adapted to range conditions. The wool is coarse and the lambs are inclined to grow rather than fatten. The extent to which crossbreeding will successfully combine the good qualities of the various classes of sheep depends partially upon the nature of the country in which the flock is maintained. In certain range sections of California, especially in isolated mountainous areas, the use of Merinos and Rambouillets seems more practical than the use of crossbreeds. The crossbred long-wool x fine-wool ewe in sections which permit the production of early milk lambs, has some distinct advantages over either the black-faced or fine-wool. Such ewes yield practically as much grease wool as the fine-wool and from one to three pounds more grease wool than is produced by the Down breeds. The staple is longer than is usually produced on either the Hampshire or Shropshire ; the fleeces are quite free from black fiber, and have a softness and loftiness not found among wools from the black-faced breeds of sheep. The grade of the wool from the crossbred, however, may be identical with that from the black-faced. The use of the Romney for crossing with fine-wool ewes is increas- ing in popularity in certain sections of California. This cross yields a heavy fleece of wool somewhat finer in fiber than either the Lincoln x Rambouillet or the Cotswold x Rambouillet. The superior length of its wool as compared with that of the same grade from the black-faced breeds, makes the Romney crossbred particularly well suited to the 16 CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE [CiRC. 12 Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, where shearing is usually done twice a year. A much larger percentage of the spring clip from Romney x Rambouillet ewes classifies as strictly combing than can be produced in the same growth period by black-faced ewes of similar ages. The Cotswold x Rambouillet crossbred produces mostly three- eighths-blood Avool of combing length and exceptional brightness. This cross has been criticized, however, for the unevenness of the fleeces, which tend to 'run out' or become coarse and hair}^ on the thighs and britch. The Lincoln x Rambouillet cross has been wddely used in sections of the Rocky Mountain region. The cross i)roduces a heavy fleece grading generally three-eighths blood. The fiber is not as fine, how- ever, as is found among Romney x Rambouillets. The use of rams of the Down breeds, for the purpose of producing market lambs, has been recognized as good practice in most sections of California, especially in the interior valleys. The use of such rams to the exclusion of other breeds has invited sheepmen to reserve for breeding purposes a portion of the ewe lambs of the black-faced cross. While rams of the Down breeds are ideally adapted for market lamb production, their use as progenitors of the breeding ewes cannot be recommended if quantity and quality of wool production are sought. Ewes carrying a predominance of black-faced blood tend to be light shearers, particularly with advancing age. The staple is too short, especially when the ewes are shorn twice a year. The wool suffers from the presence of black fibers on the heads and legs of the sheep. The widespread custom of saving for breeding purposes grade or range ewes which are the offspring of black-faced rams, has done much to bring upon California wools the criticism of dealers and manufac- turers. The use of the Down breeds, except for the production of purebreds, should be largely confined to small farm flocks where wool production is not considered of paramount importance, and to range flocks so managed that none of the lambs sired by Down rams will be kept for breeding purposes. The crossbred ewe of any type presents a problem in perpetuating her kind. For example, let us suppose that a grower has crossed his fine-wool ewes with Lincoln rams, expecting to keep the crossbred ewe lambs for breeding purposes and gradually to eliminate the ewes of fine-wool breeding. When the crossbred ewes are old enough, he may breed them to Hampshire, Shropshire, or Suffolk rams in order to produce market lambs. Ewe lambs sired by these rams, if reserved for breeding, Avill be unsatisfactory in both fleece weight and fleece 1927] WOOL PRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA 17 character, and yet the sale of all of the lambs will eventually necessi- tate the purchase of a new supply of crossbred breeding* ewes. The alternative is to reserve a sufficient number of first-cross ewes to be bred to rams other than black-faced, to keep the ewe band up to a constant numerical level. To continue the production of first-cross ewes means the continual maintenance of enough Merinos or Ram- bouillets on which to make the cross. Such a procedure entails the keeping of two separate ewe bands, one of straight fine-wool breeding and one of crossbreds. If the grower keeps only crossbreds and wishes to produce his own breeding ewes, he may mate a portion of them with crossbred rams, or with purebred rams of a breed carrying essentially the same kind of wool as that produced by the crossbreds. The Corriedale may be recommended for this purpose. The use of crossbred rams is not generally to be recommended, although it has been demonstrated that good results may be had if they have been produced by interbreeding and rigid selection over several generations. Breeding a portion of the crossbred ewes back to fine-wool rams, or to long-wool rams, produces offspring with fleeces a grade finer or a grade coarser than the parent crossbred. There is a disadvantage in having the wool clip representative of many grades. In some sections of California, however, crossbred ewes carrying 75 per cent of fine- wool blood and 25 per cent of long-wool blood are popular. Such ewes produce a fleece that usually grades 58 's to 60 's, or half-blood, of very satisfactory weight and of combing length. FACTORS AFFECTING WOOL VALUES GRADE Generally speaking, the finer wool is, the greater its value when scoured. Demand for various grades plays an important part in determining values, and the spread in prices between scoured fine wool and scoured medium or coarse wool fluctuates. Over any con- siderable period of time, however, scoured wool of any particular grade will have a higher average value than scoured wool of any coarser grade. LENGTH OR CLASSIFICATION The combing wools, suitable for manufacture into worsteds, are invariably of greater value on a clean basis than clothing wools of the same grade and of similar character. Within certain limits, the longer wool is, the higher is its money value, but extreme length in the finer grades, resulting from growth of two years or more, may actually reduce the value. 18 CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE [CiRC. 12 SHRINKAGE The percentage of the weight lost in scouring grease wool is called the shrinkage. If 100 pounds of fine wool weighs 38 pounds after undergoing the scouring process, the shrinkage is said to be 62 per cent and the yield 38 per cent. Shrinkage is the most important and the most variable single factor affecting wool values. It varies not only with the breed of sheep but also with individuals of the same breed and flock. It is affected by climatic conditions, the types of soil over which the sheep are run, and the management of the sheep. It ranges from about 30 per cent to about 80 per cent, and the factors which influence it are under the control of the wool grower only to a very limited extent. Effect of Grade. — Most fine wools grown in the United States shrink at least 60 per cent and usually more. On the other hand 50 per cent is a high shrinkage for low-quarter-blood or braid wools grown under identical conditions. In the central Sacramento Valley, the fine spring wools coming mostly from sheep of Merino and Ram- bouillet extraction shrink about 64 per cent, while the medium wools coming from flocks carrying a predominance of Shropshire or Hamp- shire blood, shrink about 50 per cent. This difference is due to grade and depends largely upon the breed of sheep from which the wool is taken. Effect of Individuality. — The influence of individuality of the sheep upon the shrinkage of wool was demonstrated in the University wool laboratory in a scouring test. The fleeces used were of exactly 12 months' growth, all shorn on the same day, and from registered Rambouillet ewes which had been kept as one lot during the entire period of growth. The shrinkage on these fleeces varied from 61.4 per cent to 70.7 per cent. This difference must be ascribed largely to individuality. Effect of Climatic and Soil Conditions. — Fine combing wools grown in the northern coast counties of California usually shrink from 59 to 61 per cent, sometimes less. Similar wools grown in the Red Bluff' section of northern Sacramento Valley usually shrink from 60 per cent to 64 per cent. Fine wools grown in Kern County or in Fresno County normally shrink from 2 to 5 per cent more than similar wools from the Red Bluff area. These differences are due to varying climatic conditions. The northern coast counties have a com- paratively high average rainfall which tends to wash out part of the dirt. This factor accounts partly for the light shrinkage of the coast wools. The Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys have a lower annual 1927] WOOL PRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA 19 rainfall and, in addition, much of the soil over which the sheep are run is more sandy than that of the northern coast counties. Effect of Care and Management of Sheep. — By avoiding fields badly infested with burrs and by so constructing hay-feeding racks that a minimum of seeds and chaff fall into the fleece, sheep owners may keep the shrinkage of the clip at a minimum and render the wool more attractive to the prospective purchaser. When it is neces- sary or advisable to keep sheep around a corral, an attempt should be made to locate it on well drained land so the sheep need not walk or lie down in mud. Effect of Sex of Sheep. — Ram fleeces usually shrink from 2 to 4 per cent more than fleeces from ewes of the same breed. This is especially true among the fine-wool breeds. Rams apparently secrete more yolk in the wool than do the ewes. Desirability of Light Shrinkage. — Light-shrinking wool is desirable because it is much more attractive than that having a high shrinkage, and as a consequence, is more readily sold. It is also more easily scoured. Wools with a relatively small content of grease and dirt usually have a brightness and loftiness not found among wools of high shrink- age. In addition, they may be shipped more economically than heavy wools whose grease and dirt take the same freight rate as the actual wool. In order to enjoy the benefits of light shrinkage, however, the grower must dispose of his clip at a price based on the grade, shrinkage, and character of the wool. If he sells to buyers who pay a flat rate per pound for all wool in an entire community, light shrinkage is hardly an advantage. How the Grower Can Influence Shrinkage. — The grower cannot do much to reduce the shrinkage on his wool. He can select a breed of sheep adapted to his own local conditions, regardless of whether the wool produced is normally heavy or light in shrinkage. He can reduce the shrinkage somewhat by careful feeding of hay in properly designed feed racks, and by breeding toward a type which carries a fleece sufficiently dense to keep out some of the dirt and sand which are always found in loose-wooled individuals. The grower can also breed toward a type which has only enough oil or yolk to protect the fiber from drying out and becoming harsh. This statement applies par- ticularly to fine-wool sheep. In the past, many breeders selected sheep whose wool carried the maximum amount of grease, believing that the weight of wool would be increased and that the returns would be proportionately greater. Modern wool marketing makes such heavy wools undesirable. 20 CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE [OmC. 12 A fleece that is heavy when it comes off the sheep does not neces- sarily contain a large amount of real wool. At the University of California wool laboratory, two Rambouillet fleeces w^ere scoured whose grease weights w^ere 18.2 and 13.9 pounds, respectively. The lighter fleece of the two yielded 5.33 pounds, and the heavier, 5.36 pounds of scoured wool. In the grease, the 13.9-pound fleece con- tained less yolk than the heavier one, was brighter and more attrac- tive in general, and it would have found more favor with the buyer and was actually worth more money. Arithmetical ProMems Involving Shrinkage. — In the solution of the following problems, it is assumed that the wools are well grown and properly j)repared for market. 1. 64 's or fine-combing wool is quoted in Boston at $1.10 a pound scoured. A certain lot of wool of this grade has an estimated shrinkage of 62 per cent. What is the grease value of the wool in California ? Rules: 100 per cent — shrinkage := yield Yield X scoured value = grease value. Solution : 100 per cent • — 62 per cent (shrinkage) = 38 per cent (yield) 0.38 (yield) X $1.10 (scoured value) =41.8 cents (grease value at mill). This grease value is the value delivered at the mill, and from this must be subtracted the charges for freight, insurance, cartage, and brokerage. The total of such charges is about five cents a pound from San Francisco to eastern points. Therefore, the grease value in Cali- fornia = 41.8 cents — 5 cents (charges) = 36.8 cents a pound. 2. A grower is offered 34 cents a pound, f.o.b. ranch, for his clip. The clip is practically all fine French combing, and its shrinkage is estimated at 64 per cent. How much will this clip cost '^clean-landed Boston"? Solution: 34 cents (offer on ranch) plus 5 cents (charges) = 39 cents (grease cost in Boston). 100 per cent — 64 per cent (shrinkage) =36 per cent (yield). Therefore, 39 cents = 36 per cent of clean value in Boston, and 1 per cent of clean value in Boston = ^^o X 39 cents, or 1.083 cents. 100 per cent of clean value in Boston = 100 X 1.083 cents ^= $1,083 a pound. Most growers are unable to sell their clips on the ranch at a price which represents the calculated grease value at the mill minus the charges for transporting the clip to the mill. Market quotations are necessarily based upon graded wools, and at the time the grower's clip is ready to leave his hands, it has not been graded. While some small 1^27] WOOL TRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA 21 clips, especially those from purebred flocks, may run so predominantly to one grade as to make grading unwarranted, most clips contain at least two grades and usually more, in addition to occasional fleeces, which will be ''rejects." The buyer, therefore, must take this into consideration and must estimate conservatively just how the clip will grade out. When wool is sold through a cooperative agency, it may be graded before it is sold for the grower. In such an event, each grade is sold separately and the price which the grower receives for his entire clip will be the mean of the prices received for the various grades sold. But if the wool is graded before selling, the grower cannot normally expect his fine combing, for example, to net a price calculated on market quotations minus transportation, because an additional charge must be made for weighing, receiving, grading, storage, and overhead at the cooperative warehouse. CHAEACTER The crimp of the wool fiber, or its waviness, is the chief attribute to its character. The crimp should be uniform from base to tip and should be as accentuated and as close as possible. A fleece lacking in crimp lacks elasticity, which is very important for the manufacturer of wool. Character also includes softness to the touch. Most fleeces taken from the black-faced breeds are somewhat harsh and wiry com- pared with those of the same grade which have been produced as a result of crossing fine-wool sheep with other breeds. PURITY This term is used to denote the absence of hair, kemp, and black or gray wool fiber. Although very objectionable, hair is usually found on the folds or wrinkles of fine- wool sheep. Kemp is worse than hair, because it has very little elasticity or strength and because, under ordinary methods of wool manufacture, it does not dye. Thus a piece of goods made from a kempy fleece even after dyeing will show the kemp fibers almost if not entirely uncolored. Pigmented wool fibers, such as brown, gray, or black, are common among the black-faced breeds of sheep and are occasionally found among most other breeds. Since the color cannot be bleached out, wool containing it must be used for making goods which are black or very dark in color. A fleece which contains only a small percentage of dark fibers is just as objec- tionable as one which is entirely black, for both fleeces must be used for similar purposes and must be. dyed a color sufficiently dark to hide the naturally dark fibers. 22 CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE [CiRC. 12 A small quantity of naturally black wool is used for making gar- ments for religious purposes. Such avooI is not dyed. The amount so used, however, is very small, and most black or gray wool is dis- counted in value. SOUNDNESS OK STRENGTH The strength of any article made from wool must rely upon the strength of the individual fibers from which it is made. There is a great difference in the tensile strength of wools of any particular grade. Strength or weakness of the fiber varies directly with the con- dition of physical thrift of the sheep during the period of growth of the wool. If the sheep are poorly nourished during a large portion of the year, the wool fiber may be weak throughout most of its length. Such a condition may be caused by old age of the sheep and by factors other than an actual lack of feed. Over feeding, under feed- ing, or sickness may develop a weakness in the wool fiber so pro- nounced that the animal may ''cast" its fleece; that is, the wool drops off. If the weakness is less pronounced, the weak spot may be pushed out farther and farther from the skin as the wool grows until when the sheep is shorn it may be at any point along the length of the fiber, depending upon the time at which the weakness developed in relation to the time the sheep was shorn. Such wool is said to be tender or to have a ''break." Figure 5 shows a marked break in the staple. The grader tests every fleece for soundness. All tender fleeces which would have been classified as combing or French combing if well grown, are put into the clothing wools, because the w^eak fiber cannot stand the strain imposed upon it by the combing process. One of the most common causes of tender wool is allowing the ewes to become very thin during part of the year and then putting them on good feed which will oause them to fleshen rapidly. Tender wool will also be found among ewes that for one cause or another have developed fever. STAINED WOOL Sheep housed in barns or sheds and sheep which are confined in corrals often have portions of their fleeces stained from lying down in manure or in urine-soaked bedding. The stained wool is usually to be found on the sides and thighs of the sheei3. A small quantity is produced on the britcli of practically every ewe. When sheep are not tagged before being shorn, and when dung locks adhering to the britch are packed in the center of the fleece at shearing time, the wool which comes in contact with such locks is apt to become stained. 1927] WOOL PRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA 23 Wool stained by manure or urine cannot be scoured white and must, therefore, be removed by the wool sorter before scouring. Stained wool can be used only for making dark-colored materials and, consequently, sells at a discount. So important to the manufacturer is the problem of the elimination of stained wool that, in all com- mercial scouring plants, at least one operative is stationed at the outlet to each mechanical wool dryer to pick out from the scoured wool any stained pieces which may have been overlooked by the sorter. Pig. 5. — Tender wool. The 'break' is shown as a distinct line running across the staple about one-third of the distance up from the proximal end. Sample, courtesy of the Northern California Wool .Warehouse Company. The term 'sack burned' is used to describe wools which have assumed a livid yellow color as a result of having been packed too moist. It is often brought about by storage of the moist wool in a warm place, but may also occur before the wool has been shorn from the sheep. The change in color on the sheep is not widely prevalent in California. It is most often found in the northern coast counties among medium-wool and long-wool breeds of sheep. The change from white or cream color to a decided yellow is in the fiber itself, not in the yolk. Such wool is permanently damaged. It loses its softness to the touch and becomes harsh and wiry. Since the yellow color cannot be removed, the wool must be treated as stained. 24 CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE [OlRC. 12 CONDITION As applied to grease wool, condition refers to the amount of foreign matter present. The yolk or wool grease should be moderate in quantity, sufficient only to protect the fiber from becoming harsh. It should be evenly distributed from base to tip, not present in clots or lumps. Fleeces carrying a white or cream-colored yolk are more popular than those carrying a yellow or buff-colored yolk. The white wools are easier to scour than the yellow fleeces, probably because they usually contain a smaller amount of yolk. White wools are more readily sold than yellow or buff wools because they are more attractive. A fleece carrying a large quantity of yellow or buff-colored grease attracts liberal quantities of dirt and consequently has a higher shrinkage than those having a smaller quantity of yolk. WOOL GRADING AND WOOL SORTING GEADING The bag of wool to be graded is opened at the ends and down the seam which runs the full length of the bag. The grader examines each fleece individually without untying it, and notes first its fineness or diameter of fiber. A lock of wool is removed from the fleece by grasping it at the tip or ^'w^eather end." This operation is called ^ * stapling. ' ' Holding the lock between the thumb and forefinger, the grader measures the length by turning the staple back over the thumb and noting how nearly it approaches the joint. Obviously, some fleeces are so short or so long as to make this operation unnecessary. Having determined whether the fleece classifies as combing, French combing, or clothing, according to the length of staple, he next tests it for strength and soundness. Turning the fleece over, he withdraws a second lock and makes the same tests. After examining two or more such representative locks, he throws the fleece into the basket or bin into which only fleeces of that particular grade and classification are placed. Wools which are tender are put into the clothing wools, regardless of length. Black fleeces, gray fleeces, and those which exhibit only a few^ black fibers throughout the main part of the fleece are discrimin- ated against and placed in separate containers. Fleeces which show a wide variation in the fineness of fiber of different parts of the fleece may be ' ' thrown down, ' ' that is, they may be placed one or two grades lower than the finer parts of the fleece indicate. Occasionally a fleece 1927] WOOL PRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA 25 orq* o QQ O o 26 CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE [CiRC. 12 of one grade may be thrown a grade higher on account of exceptional character, light shrinkage, and good length. Line fleeces are those on the dividing line between two grades. Such fleeces may be thrown into either grade, depending upon market demands and expediency. Shrinkage also is often considered in wool grading. When a large quantity of wool is graded, the warehouse management may decide to have two or three kinds of wool of any one grade, the difference between them being largely one of shrinkage. Thus the No. 1 fine combing may have light shrinkage ; the No. 2, medium shrinkage ; and the No. 3, heavy shrinkage. At times special demands may warrant the separation of exceptionally long-stapled fleeces from those which barely meet the description of a strictly combing wool. Burry and seedy wool is never put with wool which is free from vegetable matter. Fleeces having a considerable amount of burrs and seed are called defective. As the containers for each grade are filled, the wool is wheeled or trucked away to be neatly piled up on the floor of the warehouse. Figure 6 shows how graded wools are piled for display. Each pile contains wool of one grade only and of similar shrinkage. Since the size of the piles is not limited, it is not unusual in large warehouses to have as much as 50,000 pounds or more in one pile. It is from these piles that sales are made to manufacturers. The grader must have attained, through long experience, an inti- mate knowledge of wool in order properly to fulfill the demands made upon him. He must know the fineness of fiber which determines each grade, the length necessary for each classification and the fundamental principles of all of the processes involved in the manufacture of wool into cloth. The wool buyer in the field and the manager of a coopera- tive wool marketing agency should know all that the grader knows. In adidtion, they must be able accurately to estimate the shrinkage of any clip and must know values and markets. Figure 7 shows a wool grader at work. ■ SORTING After purchasing a lot of graded wool from the dealer, the manu- facturer must have each fleece undergo the 'mill sort.' Sorting con- sists of untying the fleece and separating it into its various qualities, a process not involved in grading. To illustrate the difference between grading and sorting, table 2 is presented. 1927] WOOL PRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA 27 orq 28 . CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE [CiRC. 12 TABLE 2 Eesults of Grading Five Bags of Wool From a Flock of Orade Merino Sheep Amount Grade Pounds 64's-80's (fine) strictly combiag 130 64's-80's (fine) French combing 472 64's-80's (fine) clothing 234 58's-60's (3^ blood) strictly combing 458 58's-60's m blood) French combing 208 58's-60's m blood) clothing 60 56's {% blood) strictly combing 28 Total from five bags 1590 Results of Sortinc/ a Bag of Graded 58's-60's of Half -Blood Strictly Combing Wool Amount Sort Pounds Regular sorts: 58's-60's (3^ blood) combing 144 58's-60's (3^ blood) French combing 60 58's-60's (3^ blood) clothing 22 56's {% blood) combing 5 'Off' sorts: Tar (paint clips) 1 Black-gray 2 Fribs 3 Stain 13 Shorts 1 Tender 2 String 2 Total from one bag 256 In many mills the regular sorts are not called by the official grade nomenclature. Thus the half-blood combing may be called ''XX'^ or some other term adopted for convenience in that particular mill. Sorting must be done before the wool is scoured, the method vary- ing with the kind of goods to be made from the wool. Since the dealer in whose warehouse the wool is graded does not often know in advance to whom the graded lots will be sold, and since he does not know the kind of goods for which the wool will be used, the sorting and blending of most w^ool must be left to the manufacturer. Figure 8 shows sorters at work in a large American textile mill. The short, heavy clothing wools and wools so infested with burrs and seed that carbonization is necessary, may be scoured before being sold to the 1927] WOOL PRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA 29 ofq' 9i. B o- 2 3 o <^ O 30 CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE [CiRC. 12 mill. California produces large quantities of such wool and conse- quently has several wool-scouring plants. In these plants, most of the fall wools produced in the interior valleys and some defective spring wools are scoured, carbonized, and blended and are then offered for sale. California's spring clip, which is freer from seed, longer in staple, and of better character than the fall clip, contains many fleeces of which only certain parts are defective. It is common practice among dealers to sort fleeces of this description, separating the 'free' wool (free from burrs) from the 'defective' (burry). The free sorts, especially those of combing length, are baled and shipped to the manu- facturer in the grease, while the defective and 'off 'sorts are scoured and carbonized. The argument is often advanced that shipping grease wool from the western states to the eastern seaboard for manufacture involves an unnecessary financial loss to wool growers who in the end must pay the freight on the grease and dirt in the wool. The lower value of California fall wools and defective and short spring wools, as com- pared with wools of combing length suitable for worsted manufacture, justifies their being scoured before shipment. To scour the free spring wools and the twelve-months' clip from California's northern counties would be impracticable. Manufacturers of high-grade worsteds not only do their own sorting and blending, but many of them for certain reasons want to scour their own wool or have the wool scoured under their direction. THE PREPARATION OF WOOL FOR MARKET CAEE OF THE SHEEP BEFOEE SHEAEING Feeding. — The preparation of the clip for market should be carried on throughout the entire period of growth of the wool. Sheep which are improperly or poorly fed produce light frowzy fleeces lacking the life which is so essential to good wool. Branding. — If the sheep are kept under conditions which make paint branding unnecessary or optional, it is better not to brand them at all. If paint branding is considered advisable, brands only large enough to be distinct should be used. The sheep should be branded in one place, preferably on the back. The more branding fluid used, the more wool must be put into the off sorts by the sorter. No tar or building paint should be used for branding sheep. Only sheep-marking fluid or other branding material manufactured and sold especially for this purpose is to be recommended. Damage to the extent of thousands of dollars is suffered annually by manu- 1927] WOOL PRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA 31 facturers, from the practice among wool growers of branding sheep with paints having linseed oil as a base. These paints are not dis- solved during the wool-scouring process and when accidentally allowed to go into the cloth or felt being manufactured, may ruin it. Figure 9A shows a piece of felt so damaged by ordinary paint brands that the manufacturer found it necessary to discard the damaged portion. If Fig. 9. — (A) A piece of felt ruined by Har. ' The grower of the wool from which this felt was made used ordinary paint in branding his sheep. (B) Fibers of sisal mixed with wool. The grower of the wool from which this cloth was made used sisal twine to tie the fleeces. Sisal cannot be dyed by the processes used for dyeing woolen fabrics. Tagging the Ewes. — Many California wool growers tag the ewes before the lambing season starts, shearing off closely the wool on the udder and around the external genital organs. This practice not only enables the lambs to nurse better but prevents the collection of heavy dung locks, which on untagged ewes adhere to the buttocks when 'washy' green pasture is being used in the winter and early spring months. SHEAEING Shearing should always be done in a clean place. Most of the larger range flocks in California are shorn in sheds designed for the purpose, but many farm flocks are shorn in barns or sheds, often on dirt floors, where straw and chaff are mixed with the fleeces. A board floor is preferable to any other, and at intervals during shearing, should be swept clean. 32 CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE [CiRC. 12 Blade and Machine Shearing. — Most of the large range flocks of sheep in California are machine shorn. The small farm flocks are shorn either by machine or by blades. An experiment conducted for five years by the Bureau of Animal Industry of the United States Department of Agriculture* showed practically no difference in the yield of grease wool obtained by the two methods. Claims have been made that machine shearing is harmful to the sheep, that ewes shorn annually by machine will suffer a greater decrease in the amount of wool produced than can be accounted for by advancing age, and that machine shearing causes serious trouble from sunburn through cutting the fleece off' too close to the skin. Some manufacturers of shearing machinery have advertised that more wool is obtained through machine shearing. All of these claims are doubtful, although occasional sun- burn may be caused by using too thin a comb in the machine shearer. The machine is faster than the blade on most types of sheep. This fact probably accounts for its widespread use among the range flocks. Machine shearers charge more for their services than do the blade shearers; the difference is at least partially justified by the fact that the machine crew finishes in less time, thus reducing the costs of food for the crew, and more quickly eliminating the need for extra hands. The machine is better than the blade for tagging because it gets closer to the skin and, in so doing, more effectively prevents the accumula- tion of filth, which attracts blow-flies. Many sheep owners believe that the machine ruins more yearling ewes through cutting teats than does the blade. Second Cuts. — When the shearer finds it necessary to go over the same part of the sheep twice in order to cut the wool close to the skin, he cuts the staple in two. The short fibers which are shorn at the second stroke are called second cuts. Obviously, the second cuts are so short as to be almost worthless for manufacturing purposes. The value of the fleece is reduced, too, because the average length of the staple is shorter than it would have been had the second cuts not been made. Furthermore, the second cuts in worsted manufacture are combed out and become noils. The shearer cannot be expected wholly to avoid making second cuts, especially when shearing heavily wrinkled fine-wool sheep, but he should be encouraged to eliminate the practice as much as possible. The extent to which both machine and blade shearers make second cuts depends partly on the type of sheep being shorn, but mostly upon the skill of the individual shearer and the management of the shearing shed. * Personal correspondence. 192 7 J WOOL PRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA 33 TYING AND PACKING Tying the Fleece. — Twine made from paper and manufactured expressly for the purpose, is the only kind which can be recommended for fleece tying. Other twines made of vegetable material, such as sack-sewing twine and sisal twine, are not smooth surfaced. Small fibers from the surface of such tmnes become mixed with the wool when the fleece is untied. Wool is an animal product; twines gen- erally in use are vegetable products. The two types require different processes of dyeing. When cloth is made from wool containing vege- table fibers, subsequent dyeing of the cloth fails to color the vegetable fibers. So serious is this question with manufacturers that in most mills operatives are employed whose duty is to extract the undyed vegetable fibers from the woven cloth and to insert in their stead, with a threaded needle, lengths of wool yarn. British manufacturers have considered this problem of such importance that they have been instru- mental in securing the adoption in Australasia of burlap wool packs or bales, w^hich are lined with heavy paper in order to prevent any fibers of the jute used in making burlap from becoming mixed with wool. Efforts have recentl}^ been put forth by the British wool trade to have colonial wools packed in bales made of wool. Figure 9B illus- trates how cloth may be ruined by the use of sisal or binder twine for tying fleeces. The fleece should be rolled or folded with the belly, britch, and shanks inside, leaving the shoulder and neck wool exposed, white side out. Heavy dung locks, sweat locks, and any very short seedy bits which may fall from the fleece should be left out and put into the tags. Packing the Bag. — Only new wool bags should be used. A clip packed in second-hand, repaired bags is very unattractive to a pros- pective purchaser. Even for small farm flocks it is unprofitable to use grain sacks or beet-pulp sacks. Lamb's wool, buck fleeces, black fleeces, and cotted fleeces should be packed separately from the main clip. If the number of such fleeces is insufiicient to warrant their separate packing, they may be held out temporarily and later packed on top of the good wool. A folded grain sack wdtliin the wool bag may be used to separate these from the remainder of the clip. For attractiveness and ease in handling, the bags should be packed fairly tightly by tramping and should be smooth on all sides. (See fig. 10.) A well packed bag of fine wool weighs from 250 to 325 pounds, largely according to the shrinkage. One of medium wool weighs from 175 to 235 pounds. If the bag is not filled completely 34 CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE [CiRC. 12 after the contents have been tramped in tightly, the unused portion should be folded inside when the bag is sewed. Loosely packed bags are unattractive and are difficult to handle. Fig. 10. — Properly and improperly packed bags of wool. The bag on the left is loosely packed in an old used bag. Fleeces of all types including black wool, are thrown together. The bag on the right is properly packed. Courtesy of E. H. Tryon, San Francisco. After the bag is packed and sewed, it should be weighed and stenciled or marked with the name or initials of the grower, the number assigned, and the weight. This practice identifies the grower 1927] WOOL PRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA 35 of good wool. A record should be kept showing the weight of each bag and its corresponding number in order to prevent possible dispute or embarrassment which may arise through errors in subsequent handling and shipping. Bags containing black wool, tags, and other 'offs' should be so marked. Dead wool, or wool plucked from dead sheep should be packed separately as well as corral sweepings (bits of wool raked up in the corrals and pens after shearing is over). After the clip has been packed, the bags should be stored under cover if possible. If the packed wool gets wet, there is danger of damage through its becoming sack-burned. (See page 32.) If it is subjected to direct sunlight it dries out and the grower will suffer financially through a decrease in the weight of the clip. WOOL MARKETING Necessity for Selling Agencies. — Dealing through selling agencies is necessary because very few textile mills purchase directly from the grower. The manufacturer finds it advisable to make his pur- chases of stock at intervals throughout the year, and to buy at one time more wool of the grades in which he is interested than is pro- duced by most individual growers. Each mill is equipped to manu- facture certain kinds of fabrics and therefore can use only those grades of wool which are suited to its special needs. For example, a mill which makes carpets and rugs uses only coarse wool. The manu- facturer of men's worsted suitings buys only wools of the fine and medium grades and of combing length. The felt mill usually wants fine wool, but may use the shorter lengths. Grading Wool on the Ranch before Selling. — Grading wool on the ranch at shearing time is justified only among o^vners of very large flocks. The expense incurred in grading on the ranch is relatively high for small clips, and unless the total amount of wool is large, the amount of certain grades will be so small that their subsequent sale to a manufacturer would be difficult. These facts point to the neces- sity for some agency which will concentrate the growers' clips, grade them, and dispose of each grade to the manufacturer who has a use for it. Several agencies and subagencies now perform this function. METHODS OF SELLING The Local Buyer. — The local buyer may purchase wool on his own account for speculation, or may be in the employ of a wool merchant. He usually operates in one particular locality and purchases small 36 CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE [CiRC. 12 clips which the growers desire to sell for cash. Often he is engaged in other business. When purchases are made for a wool merchant, the local buyer receives a commission based on the number of pounds purchased. A knowledge of wool values is not essential since pur- chases are made at a flat rate for the locality served. The merchant establishes the price in such a way that the local buyer will probably buy as much wool having a value in excess of the price paid as will be bought at more than the actual worth. In purchasing large clips, the local buyer may submit samples of the wool to the merchant for appraisal of values. Justification for the existence of the local buyer lies in the handling of small farm clips which the grower desires to to sell for cash. The wool merchant finds it unprofitable to go about the country collecting small clips and consequently such clips are largely handled through local buyers. Under such a system of market- ing the grower of good wool may receive less than the value of his clip and has no incentive to improve either the quality of the product or its preparation for market. The Wool Merchant. — The wool merchant handles most of the wool grown in the United States. He ow^ns or rents warehouse space and engages in the business of buying large quantities of wool, grading it, and otherwise preparing it for use by the manufacturer. The wool merchant has been the object of much criticism amon^ growers who have felt that they were poorly paid for their wool. Some have suggested that elimination of the wool merchant or dealer would be desirable for several reasons. They maintain that the merchants fail to make sufficient differentiation in prices between clips ^which are well grow^n and properly prepared and those which are poorly grown and show no care in preparation. They claim, furthermore, that prices paid do not represent the value of the clip as calculated from Boston scoured values and shrinkage. The elimination of the wool merchant is very undesirable, how- ever, for he performs a real service to the industry. He pays cash for the wool purchased and in so doing immediately assumes the risk of stagnant or declining market values during the time the wool is in his possession, which may be some months. The merchant cannot ascertain the amount of each grade present in the clip if growers throw all grades together when sacking the wool. He can only esti- mate the proportion of the various grades, and his estimates are naturally conservative. The Mill Buyer. — The mill buyer operates like the wool merchant, except that he does not buy for speculation and his purchases are largely confined to those clips which are known to contain a large 1927] WOOL PRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA 37 proportion of the grades wanted by the particular mill for which the clip is bought. One such buyer may represent more than one mill. Selling on Commission. — Some California wool growers still sell on commission, although this method is not generally popular else- where. In California the leading firms which sell the growers' clips on commission are also wool merchants. Many growers object to con- signing wools to a house which also buys wool on its own account. Under this plan the producer consigns his clip to the commission firm to be sold and pays a commission for the service. The grower is informed of prices offered the agent and, if the price is satisfactory, gives consent for the sale. The plan may bring greater returns than selling directly to the merchant. Its disadvantage lies in the fact that the grower must wait for the returns. Cooperative Agencies. — Selling through a cooperative agency is now a popular method of marketing wool. Since cooperative wool marketing has not as yet reached the point where a standardized method of procedure has been adopted, organizations for this type of marketing vary from mere concentration points to concerns which grade, sort, blend, and scour wool. The simplest form of such an organization is that employed in the wool i)Ool, which depends for its success upon concentrating at one point the clips of several growers to the end that the increased volume of the product will be conducive to greater competition among buyers. This plan has met with some success in the Rocky Mountain region, notably in Utah, where a very large proportion of the wool is of similar grade and character. The wools are sold in the original bag without being graded. Sealed bids are submitted by interested buyers. Another plan of cooperative wool marketing which has been suc- cessful among small flock owners of the middle western and eastern states involves bringing in, on a certain predetermined day, all of the clips to be sold through the pool. A grader is employed. All wool of the same grade is pooled, a record being kept of the amount of each grade in each clip. This method has not been used in California, and it is doubtful whether its adoption would be of any material benefit to the growers. Another plan similar in principle to that outlined above involves shipping in the original bag the wool of many growers to a cooperative agency which grades the various clips and disposes of each grade on its merits. Such an agency may handle several pools from various sections of the country, considering each pool as a unit and making returns through officers selected by the growers. This plan has an advantage among small flock owners, who by cooperative shipping in 38 CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE [CiRC. 12 full carload lots, receive the benefit of lower freight rates. Handling the pool through an agency which does a large volume of business is also an advantage. There are at present two marketing agencies in California which are organized for the purpose of handling the wool grower's clip for him. One of these, the Pacific Cooperative Wool Growers' Associa- tion, of Portland (Oregon) and San Francisco, is a strictly coopera- tive, non-profit organization ; the other, the Northern California Wool Warehouse Company, at Vina, Tehama County, is a stockholders' concern and is cooperative in the sense that all of the stock is owned by wool growers whose primary purpose is selling their wool. The Northern California Wool Warehouse Company leases ware- house space. Under its plan of organization, the grower contracts to deliver to the company all of the wool grown by him over a five-year period. The grower, after delivering his clip to the warehouse, is given a choice of three methods of disposal: (1) he may sell at any time to any buyer; (2) he may allow the warehouse company to sell the clip in the original bag at a price determined either by the grower or by the warehouse officials; (3) he may have the clip graded and then sold by the warehouse company at a price deemed fair by the management. If the wool is graded, the company reserves the right of sale. The wool specialists employed by the concern advise the grower regarding the shrinkage of his clip and its probable value. Many of the patrons of the company have sold their clips in the original bag and thus retained control of sale. This feature of the organization appeals to some growers. The annual volume of business during the past three years has been, in round numbers, one million pounds of wool, thus assuring the interest of buyers. Most of the wool handled is grown in counties contiguous to that in which the ware- house is located. When sale days are observed, bags of wool representing about 10 per cent of each clip to be sold in the original bag are opened and displayed as samples. Sealed bids are submitted by the prospective buyers. The management reserves the right to reject bids; if any lot does not bring the price established by the warehouse or by the grower, it may be held over and disposed of later at private treaty or at the next public sale. The company is licensed under the federal warehouse act and is therefore in a position to issue to growers ware- house receipts upon which money may be borrowed from banks. The Pacific Cooperative Wool Growers' Association is strictly a cooperative concern with no capital stock. Contracts requiring the delivery of all of the grower 's wool over a five-year period are manda- 1927] WOOL PRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA 39 tory. This organization differs from the Northern California Wool Warehouse Company in several important respects. It is interstate in scope, doing business in California, Oregon, Nevada, Idaho and Washington. Its warehouse locations in San Francisco and in Port- land facilitate shipment of wool from most points in the states men- tioned. The concern undertakes to sell all the wool for the grower and at present offers no optional methods of selling as does the Northern California Wool Warehouse Company. All of the wool which it receives is graded except a few well grown lots which may run so predominantly to one grade that their sale in original bags is warranted. The Pacific Cooperative sorts the short and defective wool, blends various sorts, and superintends the scouring and carbon- izing of such wools. Sales are made only at private treaty at any time. Advances may be had up to 60 per cent of the current value of the wool, at the same rate of interest paid by the Cooperative to the bank making the loan. The monetary advantages of selling wool through a cooperative depend to a great extent on the efficiency of management of the cooperative. Under any well managed and properly organized plan of cooperative wool marketing, it is probable that the grower will receive more for his wool over a five-year period than would be obtained by direct sale between grower and buyer. The grading of wool before its purchase by a manufacturer is almost a necessity for reasons previously explained. It is logical to expect, therefore, that under good management the advantages of selling graded wool will accrue to the grower. It must be admitted, however, that the growers of the better class of wools, especially those of combing length and of light shrinkage, will benefit to a greater extent through coopera- tive marketing than will the grower of the inferior or heavy clip. The present tendency of buyers toward an established rate of prices for wool sometimes offers to the producer of an inferior clip an oppor- tunity to sell at a higher price than he could hope to obtain, were it graded and sold on its merits through a cooperative agency. A further disadvantage of cooperative marketing, in the opinion of some growers, is the necessity of waiting for returns, although returns under any selling method are usually made only once a year. Many growers operate during at least part of the year on borrowed capital and wish to sell their clips as soon after shearing as possible. The advance which may be obtained upon the delivery of the wool at the coopera- tive warehouse is a loan upon which the grower must pay interest. Many growers who may be convinced of the soundness of cooperative wool marketing hesitate, nevertheless, to market their own clips 40 CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE [ClRC. 12 through the cooperative agency because of the necessity of obtaining money immediately. One of the greatest advantages of cooperative wool marketing lies in its educational value. It is probable that the wool grower knows less of the factors determining the value of his product than does the grower of any other agricultural commodity. The problems incident to production preclude the grower from obtaining the experience necessary to a thorough knowledge of his product. The grade reports which the cooperative organization submits to the grower after the clip is graded, constitute an index to the progress being made in the production of a good clip. Even though the wool is sold in original bags, the grower is still in a position to receive invaluable advice as to its character, shrinkage and probable value. 1927] WOOL PRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA 41 GLOSSARY OF WOOL TERMS Bahy combing. See French combing. Blendmg. Mixing two or more lots of sorted grease wool. Braid. The seventh and coarsest of the United States market grades of wool. Britch wool. Wool from the lower parts of the thighs, often coarse and hairy. Carhonizing wool. The process of removing by chemical means the vegetable matter from wool. The term is a mis-nomer, as the process carbonizes the vegetable matter and not the wool. Carding wool. Short wools suitable for making woolens. A process in manufac- turing by which the wool is carded. Carpet wool. Coarse, hairy wools used in carpet manufacture. Character. The crimp and life in wool. Clothing wool. Wool too short to comb. Combing wool. Wool long enough to comb on the English or Noble comb. Common. The sixth of the United States market grades of wool. Condition. The amount of yolk, dirt, and vegetable matter in grease wool. Cotted. A fleece felted or matted before being shorn from the sheep. Crimp. The natural waviness of the wool fiber. Cross-bred wool. A term used in the United States to describe wools produced largely from a cross of long-wool and fine-wool sheep. In Australasia the term means any of the medium and coarse wools. Defective wool. Burry or seedy wool. Delaine wool. Fine strictly combing wool originating in Ohio and similar states, not necessarily from the Delaine Merino breed. Fine. First of the United States market grades of wool. Wool of small diameter of fiber. Fall wool. Wool shorn in the fall of the year. French combing. Wool too short to comb economically by the English system but of sufficient length to comb by the French system. Fribs. Small greasy and heavily conditioned locks of w^ool. Frowsy wool. Wool of lifeless appearance, lacking character. Grade. The average diameter, expressed in arbitrary terms, of the wool fibers in a fleece. Grease wool. Wool which is in its natural condition. Unscoured wool. Half-blood, three-eighths-blood, etc. The names of official grades of wool. Kemp. A lifeless fiber produced in the fleeces of sheep and Angora goats. It may be associated with mongrel breeding. It will not take dye as hair does, and has no value in manufacturing. Line fleece. A fleece which in diameter of fiber is midway, or on the line, between two grades. LocJcs. Heavy, dungy bits of wool. Lofty. Wool which is full of life or shows many of the characteristics of the ideal. Long wool. Wool produced by the long-wool breeds of sheep. Luster wool. Practically the same as long wool. Most of the luster wools grade as braid. Medium wool. Wool of medium fineness of fiber. 42 CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE [CiRC. 12 Noils. Short fibers removed in the process of combing wool. ' Off ' sorts. The portions or sorts of a fleece which are less valuable than the main or regular sorts because of paint, stains, etc. Pulled wool. Wool which is removed from the skins of slaughtered sheep. Purity. Absence of fibers other than white. Quality. Fineness or diameter of fiber. Sack-hurned. Changed to a permanent bright yellow color by packing too moist. The change may also occur on the sheep's back. Second cuts. Short bits of wool resulting from shearing twice over the same area in an effort to clip the wool close to the skin of the sheep. Seedy. Wool which contains a liberal quantity of seed or chaff. Soundness. The strength of the wool fiber. Spring wool. Wool shorn in the spring of the year in those sections where shear- ing twice a year is practiced. Shrinlcage. The loss in weight which grease wool incurs in the process of scouring. Shrinkage is expressed in percentage. Scoured wool. Wool which has been scoured to remove yolk, dirt, and other natural impurities. Shorts. Small short bits of wool which fall in the process of sorting the fleece. Sortirig. Separating the fleece into its various manufacturing qualities. Spinning counts. Arbitrary numbers, such as 60 's, 64 's, etc., which denote . the fineness of wool. Originally, the figures signified the number of hanks of yarn which could be spun from a pound of top of that particular grade. Stained. Wool which has become permanently colored from contact with manure or urine. Staple. A lock or small sample of wool from a fleece. In some of the western states, the term refers to wool of strictly combing length or longer. Suint. Dried perspiration from sheep. It is present in all grease wool. Tags. Heavy, dungy wool. Tar. One of the 'off' sorts; made up of wool stained by the paint brands used on the sheep. Tender. Lacking in tensile strength; unsound. Territory ivool. Produced in certain western states, largely those in the Rocky Mountain area. Top. A continuous mitwisted strand of wool, made up wholly of the longer fibers, resulting from the process of combing. Woolen. Fabrics made from uncombed wool. Worsted. Fabrics made from combed wool. Yolk. The grease in wool secreted by the sebaceous glands of the sheep's skin. rUBLlCATIONS AVAILABLE FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION No. 253. Irrigation and Soil Conditions in the Sierra Nevada Foothills, California. 261. Melaxuma of the Walnut, "Juglans regia." 262. Citrus Diseases of Florida and Cuba Compared with Those of California. 263. Size Grades for Ripe Olives. 268. Growing and Grafting Olive Seedlings. 273. Preliminary Report on Kearney Vine- yard Experimental Drain. 275. The Cultivation of Belladonna in California. 276. The Pomegranate. 277. Sudan Grass. 278. Grain Sorghums. 279. Irrigation of Rice in California. 283. The Olive Insects of California. 294. Bean Culture in California. 304. A Study of the Effects of Freezes on Citrus in California. 310. Plum Pollination. 312. Mariout Barley. 313. Pruning Young Deciduous Fruit Trees. 319. Caprifigs and Caprification. 324. Storage of Perishable Fruit at Freez- ing Temperatures. 325. Rice Irrigation Measurements and Experiments in Sacramento Valley, 1914-1919. 328. Prune Growing in California. 331. Phylloxera-Resistant Stocks. 335. Cocoanut Meal as a Feed for Dairy Cows and Other Livestock. 339. The Relative Cost of Making Logs from Small and Large Timber. 340. Control of the Pocket Gopher in California. 343. Cheese Pests and Their Control. 344. Cold Storage as an Aid to the Mar- keting of Plums. 346. Almond Pollination. 347. The Control of Red Spiders in Decid- uous Orchards. 348. Pruning Young Olive Trees. 349. A Study of Sidedraft and Tractor Hitches. 350. Agriculture in Cut-over Redwood Lands. 352. Further Experiments in Plum Pollina- tion. 353. Bovine Infectious Abortion. 354. Results of Rice Experiments in 1922. 357. A Self-mixing Dusting Machine for Applying Dry Insecticides and Fungicides. 358. Black Measles, Water Berries, and Related Vine Troubles. 361. Preliminary Yield Tables for Second Growth Redwood. 362. Dust and the Tractor Engine. 363. The Pruning of Citrus Trees in Cali- fornia. 364. Fungicidal Dusts for the Control of Bunt. 365. Avocado Culture in California. 366. Turkish Tobacco Culture, Curing and Marketing. 367. Methods of Harvesting and Irrigation in Relation of Mouldy Walnuts. 368. Bacterial Decomposition of Olives dur- ing Pickling. 369. Comparison of Woods for Butter Boxes. BULLETINS No. 370. 371. 372. 373. 374. 375. 376. 377. 379. 380. 381. 382. 383. 385. 386. 387. 388. 389. 390. 391. 392. 393. 394. 395. 396. 397. 398. 399. 400. 401. 402. 403. 404. 405. 406. 407. 408. 409. 410. 411. 412. 413. 414. Browning o^ Yellow Newtown Apples. The Relative Cost of Yarding Small and Large Timber. The Cost of Producing Market Milk and Butterfat on 246 California Dairies. Pear Pollination. A Survey of Orchard Practices in the Citrus Industry of Southern Cali- fornia. Results of Rice Experiments at Cor- tena, 1923. Sun-Drying and Dehydration of Wal- nuts. The Cold Storage of Pears. Walnut Culture in California. Growth of Eucalyptus in California Plantations. Growing and Handling Asparagus Crowns. Pumping for Drainage in the San Joaquin Valley, California. Monilia Blossom Blight (Brown Rot) of Apricot. Pollination of the Sweet Cherry. Pruning Bearing Deciduous Fruit Trees. Fig Smut. The Principles and Practice of Sun- drying Fruit. Berseem or Egyptian Clover. Harvesting and Packing Grapes in California. Machines for Coating Seed Wheat with Copper Carbonate Dust. Fruit Juice Concentrates. Crop Sequences at Davis. Cereal Hay Production in California. Feeding Trials with Cereal Hay. Bark Diseases of Citrus Trees. The Mat Bean (Phaseolus aconitifo- lius). Manufacture of Roquefort Type Cheese from Goat's Milk. Orchard Heating in California. The Blackberry Mite, the Cause of Redberry Disease of the Himalaya Blackberry, and its Control. The Utilization of Surplus Plums. Cost of Work Horses on California Farms. The Codling Moth in Walnuts. Farm-Accounting Associations. The Dehydration of Prunes. Citrus Culture in Central California. Stationary Spray Plants in California. Yield, Stand and Volume Tables for White Fir in the California Pine Region. Alternaria Rot of Lemons. The Digestibility of Certain Fruit By- products as Determined for Rumi- nants. Factors Affecting the Quality of Fresh Asparagus after it is Harvested. Paradichlorobenzene as a Soil Fumi- gant. A Study of the Relative Values of Cer- tain Root Crops and Salmon Oil as Sources of Vitamin A for Poultry. The California Poultry Industry; a Statistical Study. Planting and Thinning Distances for Deciduous Fruit Trees. No. 87. Alfalfa. 117. The Selection and Cost of a Small Pumping Plant. 127. House Fumigation. 129. The Control of Citrus Insects. 136. Melilottis ivdiea as a Green-Manure Crop for California. 144. Oidium or Powdery Mildew of the Vine. 157. Control of the Pear Scab. 160. Lettuce Growing in California. 164. Small Fruit Culture in California. 166. The County Farm Bureau. 170. Fertilizing California Soils for the 1918 Crop. 173. The Construction of the Wood-Hoop Silo. 178. The Packing of Apples in California. 179. Factors of Importance in Producing Milk of Low Bacterial Count. 190. Agriculture Clubs in California. 199. Onion Growing in California. 202. County Organizations for Rural Fire Control. 203. Peat as a Manure Substitute. 209. The Function of the Farm Bureau. 210. Suggestions to the Settler in California. 212, Salvaging Rain-Damaged Prunes. 215. Feeding Dairy Cows in California. 217. Methods for Marketing Vegetables in California. 220. Unfermented Fruit Juices. 228. Vineyard Irrigation in Arid Climates. 230. Testing Milk, Cream, and Skim Milk for Butterfat. 231. The Home Vineyard. 232. Harvesting and Handling California Cherries for Eastern Shipment. 234. Winter Injury to Young Walnut Trees during 1921-22. 235. Soil Analysis and Soil and Plant Inter-relations. 236. The Common Hawks and Owls of California from the Standpoint of the Rancher. 237. Directions for the Tanning and Dress- ing of Furs. 238. The Apricot in California. 239. Harvesting and Handling Apricots and Plums for Eastern Shipment. 240. Harvesting and Handling Pears for Eastern Shipment. 241. Harvesting and Handling Peaches for Eastern Shipment. 243. Marmalade Juice and Jelly Juice from Citrus Fruits. 244. Central Wire Bracing for Fruit Trees. 245. Vine Pruning Systems. 2-4 7. Colonization and Rural Development. 248. Some Common Errors in Vine Prun- Mig and Their Remedies. 2 19. Rpi)lacing Missing Vines. 250. Measurement of Irrigation Water on the Farm. 252. Supi)orts for Vines. ■_*53. Vitu-yarrl Plans. 254. The Use of Artificial Light to Increase Winter Egg Production. CIRCULARS No. 255. 256. 257. 258. 259. 261. 262. 263. 264. 265. 266. 267. 269. 270. 272. 273. 274. 276. 277. 278. 279. 281. 282. 283. 284. 285. 286. 287. 288. 289. 290. 291. 292. 293. 294. 295. 296. 298. 299. 300. 301, 302. 303. 304, 305, 306. 307, 308. Leguminous Plants as Organic Fertil- izer in California Agriculture. The Control of Wild Morning Glory. The Small-Seeded Horse Bean. Thinning Deciduous Fruits. Pear By-products. Sewing Grain Sacks. Cabbage Growing in California. Tomato Production in California, Preliminary Essentials to Bovine Tuberculosis Control. Plant Disease and Pest Control. Analyzing the Citrus Orchard by Means of Simple Tree Records. The Tendency of Tractors to Rise in Front ; Causes and Remedies. An Orchard Brush Burner. A Farm Septic Tank. California Farm Tenancy and Methods of Leasing. Saving the Gophered Citrus Tree. Fusarium Wilt of Tomato and its Con- trol by Means of Resistant Varieties. Home Canning. Head, Cane, and Cordon Pruning of Vines. Olive Pickling in Mediterranean Coun- tries. The Preparation and Refining of Olive Oil in Southern Europe. The Results of a Survey to Determine the Cost of Producing Beef in Cali- fornia. Prevention of Insect Attack on Stored Grain. Fertilizing Citrus Trees in California. The Almond in California. Sweet Potato Production in California. Milk Houses for California Dairies. Potato Production in California. Phylloxera Resistant Vineyards. Oak Fungus in Orchard Trees. The Tangier Pea. Blackhead and Other Causes of Loss of Turkeys in California. Alkali Soils. The Basis of Grape Standardization. Propagation of Deciduous Fruits. The Growing and Handling of Head Lettuce in California. Control of the California Ground Squirrel. The Possibilities and Limitations of Cooperative Marketing. Poultry Breeding Records. Coccidiosis of Chickens. Buckeye Poisoning of the Honey Bee. The Sugar Beet in California. A Promising Remedy for Black Measles of the Vine. Drainage on the Farm. Liming the Soil. A General Purpose Soil Auger and its Use on the Farm. American Foulbrood and its Control. Cantaloupe Production in California. Tlie publications listed above may be had by addressing College of Agriculture, University of CaliforniUy Berkeley, California. 12TO-4,