The mohair shorn from kids should be kept in parcels by itself, as it is usually finer and worth top prices. That of the does, if it differs from that of the wethers, should be packed separately. When the mohair is received by the mill it is sent to the sorting room.
Each goat's fleece is made up of a variety of different grades of mohair. Before a fleece can be spun it must be separated into these different grades as nearly as possible, and this is done by expert sorters, who select from the raw material about seven different degrees of fineness of fiber. They also take into consideration freeness from kemp and color. In separating the fleece much dust is liberated, and as some mohair is liable to carry the bacillus of anthrax, or other dangerous material, this dust, if allowed to circulate in the air, would become a serious menace to the health of the sorters. Wool sorters' disease is by no means uncommon, and one of the American mill owners reported that his sorters had such a dread of a foreign mohair which came packed in a distinctive package, that he had to stop handling this particular lot, although it was profitable stuff to spin.
[Illustration: MOHAIR TRANSPORTATION IN CONSTANTINOPLE, TURKEY.
To obviate this danger as far as possible each man opens the fleeces on a table covered with wire screen, under which circulates a strong exhaust current of air which is mechanically generated. Thus small foreign particles and dust in the fleeces are drawn downward. When the fleece is opened the sorter selects that part of the fleece which is known to be the coarsest, _i. e._, the breech and a strip along the center of the back, and puts this in one lot. Next he selects a narrow strip along the side of the fleece, which is known to be the finest part of the fleece, and puts this in another lot. Now the neck and the belly are separated and thrown into their classes. If the whole fleece were a fine one, and free from kemp, it would be sorted in the same way, but different parts of the fleece would go into proportionately higher classes. The lots which these sorters make are known to spin comparatively definite qualities of yarn. Thus the low breech and the back of most fleeces will not spin over No. 20 to No. 24 yarns, and the sides of good fleeces are fine in fiber and will spin No. 40 to No. 60 yarn.