| Abstrakt: |
Merino wools from South Africa obtained from stud flocks were classified into visual crimp types, keeping in mind the way the crimp appeared to the practical wool judge. Wool samples were taken from 134 sheep from stud flocks. All but 18 were rams and ranged in age from Iambs to very old sheep. Staple length and number of crimps per inch were measured for each sample, and the Quality number was obtained from the Duerden scale (Duerden 1929). The number of crimps per 5 cm of length was measured on the wool staples, and a visual estimate of the degree of crimp development was made using five different descriptive terms : Bold, Excellent, Average, Poor, and Straight. Representative sub-samples were mounted and then projected at a rnagnification of ten times, and the width and depth of crimp was read in millimetres. The ratio of width to depth was calculated by dividing the former by the latter. The measurements obtained were arranged by width-depth ratio and corresponded very closely to the visual classes. The visual crimp types of the wools from these stud Merino sheep corresponded closely with the width-depth ratio of the crimp with the coarser fleeces showing the bold crimp in the ratio of 3-000 or less. The depth of crimp has more influence on the crimp type than the width. Based on these measurements, the following table of crimp types can be set up : Crimp Type/Wave Length-to-Depth Ratio: Bold/3-000 or less and 56s Quality; Excellent/3 000 or less and 58s or finer; Average/3-001 to 4 000; Poor/4-001 to 5-000; Straight/over 5-000. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
