A study of wool growth: Part II. Mean fibre thickness, density of fibre population, the area of skin covered by fibre, and the mean fibre length

Abstract

SUMMARYBy measurement of single fibres from tattooed squares the variation in hip region mean cross-sectional area, mean fibre length and area of skin covered by fibre substance in a small flock of Romney sheep has been studied for a few years—see Part I.We find that under good growing conditions the area of skin covered by fibre is a constant percentage of the skin area for all sheep in all years. The number of fibres per unit area varies from sheep to sheep, and the mean cross-sectional area is inversely proportional to the number of fibres per unit area. The mean length/day is a constant for all sheep. When conditions are unfavourable the percentage of the skin area covered by fibre on a particular sheep falls below the good growing conditions percentage by an amount that is smaller the bigger the skin expansion ratio, but is greater the worse the season.