Sheep Pocket Guide (continued)

AS-989, May 1996

Wool

Grade of Wool
Wool Classifications
Wool Terms

Grade of Wool

Diameter of individual wool fibers determines the grade of wools. In the United States, grades of wool are designated by the American Blood System, the Spinning Count or micron diameter.

The Blood system was originally derived from the fine wool Merino sheep. Their wool was called fine. If a sheep was half Merino breeding, their wool was called 1/2 Blood. Today this system no longer refers to breeding background, but is used to describe typical fiber diameter.

The Spinning Count (Bradford) system is a more technical classification of wool in terms of fiber diameter. This count refers to the number of "hanks" of yarn, each 560 yards long, which can be spun from 1 pound of clean wool. For example, a 64s wool would yield 35,840 (560 x 64) yards or 107,520 feet (20.4 miles) of yarn.

The micron system is a more technical and more accurate measurement of the average diameter of wool fiber using a micrometer. The micron (1/25,400 of an inch) is used as the actual average diameter measurement.

Wool Classifications

		  Spinning 
  American         Count         	 Micron 
  Grade            Grade             Diameter(s)
------------------------------------------------------ 
  Fine         Finer than 80s        Under 17.70
  Fine              80s              17.70-19.14
  Fine              70s              19.15-20.59
  Fine              64s              20.60-22.04
 -----------------------------------------------------
  1/2               62s              22.05-23.49
  1/2               60s              23.50-24.94
 -----------------------------------------------------
  3/8               58s              24.95-26.39
  3/8               56s              26.40-27.84
 -----------------------------------------------------
  1/4               54s              27.85-29.29
  1/4               50s              29.30-30.99
  Low 1/4           48s              31.00-32.69
  Low 1/4           46s              32.70-34.39
 -----------------------------------------------------
  Common            44s              34.40-36.19
  Common            40s              36.20-38.09
  Common            36s              38.10-40.20
  Common      Coarser than 36s        Over 40.20
------------------------------------------------------

Wool Terms

Bellies - short and less desirable wool from the belly of the sheep.

Britch or Breech Wool - wool from the hindquarters of the sheep, usually the coarsest on the body, often approaching hair in characteristics.

Crimp - the natural curl in the wool fiber, gives wool its natural resilience and elasticity.

Fleece - the wool from a single sheep in the shorn grease state.

Grease Wool - wool as shorn from sheep, not washed or scoured (raw wool).

Handle or Hand - a term referring to the actual feel of wool.

Hoggett Wool - also called virgin wool, first fleece shorn from a sheep when about one year old.

Keratin - a complicated chemical protein substance, major constituent of a wool fiber.

Lamb's Wool - wool taken from a lamb not over seven months old.

Luster - determined by the amount of light reflected by the fiber.

Pelt - the skin of the sheep with wool still on the skin.

Pulled Wool - wool removed from pelts after slaughter, also known as "slipe."

Scouring - actual washing of dirt, grease and foreign matter from grease wool.

Shearling - shortest wool obtained from sheep sheared about a month before slaughtering, about 1/2 inch in length.

Skirting - a practice of removing from the edges of the whole fleece, at shearing time, all stained and inferior parts.

Staple - the length of a lock of shorn wool. In the trade "staple" refers to wool that averges 2.5 inches or more in length.

Suint - salts of perspiration present in the raw wool fleece.

Woolen Yarn - yarn spun from wool fibers which are short.

Worsted Yarn - yarn spun from wool fibers which are long.

Yield - amount of clean wool derived from grease wool in the scouring process.

Yolk - natural grease and suint in sheep's wool, when purified is known as lanolin.

Weights and Measurements

Weight Equivalents

1 lb = 453.6 gram (g) = 0.4536 kilogram (kg) = 16 ounces (oz)
1 oz = 28.35 g
1 kg = 2.2046 lbs
1 g = 1,000 milligrams (mg)
1 mg = 1,000 micrograms (ug)
1 ug = 0.000001 g
1 ppm = 1 ug/g or 1 mg/kg or 453.6 ug/lb or 45.36 mg/100 lbs
        or 1.1 g/ton. ppm = parts per million 

Length Equivalents

1 in = 2.54 centimeters (cm)
1 cm = 0.394 inch
1 ft = 30.48 cm
1 yd = 0.9144 meter (m)
1 rod = 16.5 ft = 5.5 yds
1 m = 39.37 in = 3.28 ft
1 km = 0.6214 mile
1 mile = 5,280 ft = 1,760 yds = 320 rds = 1.609 kilometers (km) 

Capacity Equivalents

1 tablespoon = 14.79 ml
1 fluid oz = 2 tablespoons = 29.573 ml
1 cup = 8 fl oz = 236.58 ml
1 pint = 473.167 milliliters (ml) = 0.473167 liter (l) = 2 cups
1 liter = 33.81 fl oz = 2.1134 pints = 1.057 quarts
1 gallon = 3.7853 liters
1 kiloliter = 264.18 gallons 

Water Equivalents

1 gal = 8.34 lbs = 231 cu in = 0.1337 cu ft
1 cu ft = 7.48 gals = 62.4 lbs
1 cu ft per second = 448.8 gallons per minute 

Temperature Conversion

F = [9/5 x (C + 40)] - 40
C = [5/9 x (F + 40)] - 40 

Area Equivalents

1 sq in = 6.45 sq cm ; 1 sq cm = 0.16 sq in
1 sq rd = 30.25 sq yds = 272.25 sq ft
1 acre = 160 sq rds = 4,840 sq yds = 43,560 sq ft
       = 0.4047 hectare (ha)
1 ha = 2.471 acres
1 sq mile = 1 section = 640 acres
1 township = 36 sections = 23,040 acres 

Volume Equivalents

1 cubic centimeter (cc) = 0.061 cubic in
1 cubic meter = 35.31 cu ft = 1.3 cu yd
1 cu in = 16.387 cc
1 cu ft = 1,728 cu in = 0.03 cubic meter
1 cu yd = 27 cu ft = 46,656 cu in = 0.7646 cubic meter 

Associations and Organizations

North Dakota State University Sheep Resource Specialists

Fargo
— NDSU Department of Animal and Range Sciences . . . 231-7641
— Diagnostic Laboratory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231-8307

Hettinger
— Tim Faller, Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567-4324

North Dakota Animal Health Department
— State Veterinarian, Bismarck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328-2655

* Phone 250-4211 for health permits

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AS-989, May 1996