A survey of moisture content in some greasy wool from New South Wales.

Abstract

A study of fleece moisture content showed that it was not evenly distributed over the body of the sheep. The lower mid side of the fleece showed the highest average moisture content, while positions such as mid shoulder, lower shoulder, flank, and belly showed moisture contents above the mean value. The mid side and mid hindquarter positions showed means approximately equal to the average for the entire fleece. Positions more exposed to the air, such as upper shoulder, upper side, and upper hindquarter, showed lower amounts of moisture. Change in relative humidity during shearing affects slightly the initial moisture content of the wool. High-yielding wool shows a higher affinity for moisture. A strong wool strain of sheep had a significantly higher moisture content than medium and fine wool strains run together in the one environment. Wools of different origin in New South Wales on the showfloor of a wool store exhibited marked and statistically significant differences in moisture content both between and within districts. The variations within districts are greater than the variations between districts. Wool packed in bales, although stored in Sydney for a period of 6 or more weeks, had not reached equilibrium with the coastal atmosphere. Differences as large as 7 per cent. were found on the showfloor. Evidence collected in this study suggests that expert wool valuers and buyers cannot or do not take into consideration moisture content differences which are as large as 6 per cent. Although existing practice in commercial yield estimation apparently does not affect the wool merchants, individual growers selling wool grown, or shorn, or both grown and shorn in drier atmospheric conditions may be losing substantially.