When a bag of domestic wool is opened the fleeces are taken out one by one and put into baskets according to the grades in the first column. The grader simply decides what the majority of the fleece is and puts it into that class. When he has filled a basket with, let us say, half-blood fleeces, this basket is given to a sorter. He takes each fleece, shakes it out, and, first of all, skirts it. Then he separates it into the various sorts it contains. Fleeces graded as half-blood will probably sort into mostly half, some fine (full-blood), and a considerable quantity of three-eighths blood. The best wool comes off the shoulders, then the sides, then the back, then the thighs, and finally the britch and belly. Usually a fleece will not contain more than three sorts. If this were a bag of Australian, South American, or Cape wool, the fleeces would in all probability have been bagged according to grades, so that only the sorting operation would have to be performed by the merchant or the mill. When the wool has been sorted it is put into bins, and may now be said to be ready for the first of the manufacturing processes for which it is destined. Sorting is sometimes done by the merchants, but more frequently by the manufacturers. [Sidenote: _Off-sorts_] Kempy or cotted pieces, tags, stained or painty wool, etc., are called off-sorts, and these are put through a number of processes for the purpose of reclaiming as much of the wool as possible. [Illustration: _Scouring Machine_] CHAPTER II WORSTED MANUFACTURE 1. SCOURING When the wool has been graded it is sold either to worsted manufacturers or to makers of woolen goods. The two industries are entirely distinct and separate. The first cog in the worsted machine is the wool comber, or top-maker. Sometimes he buys assorted grades, known as matchings, from a wool merchant; sometimes he buys and sorts his own wool; but most frequently he sorts and combs the wool on a commission basis. Many of the big worsted mills do their own sorting and combing. [Sidenote: _Blending_] Tops are usually made from blends of various kinds of wool, and this blending is done after sorting, before the wool is scoured. [Sidenote: _Scouring_] Scouring is nothing more or less than a glorified washing. A machine closely akin to a gigantic laundry machine removes first the yolk or grease in an alkaline solution, and then rinses out the dirt and suint in a series of soap and water baths. The last bath is pure water, and from this the wool is taken on a belt through the drier. From the drier it is usually blown through tubes to the carding room. [Illustration: _Worsted carding Machine_] Approximately 20% of the moisture is allowed to remain in the wool in order to facilitate subsequent processes. If the wool is still warm it is easier to card. 2. CARDING [Sidenote: _Opens Fibres_]