Word: wool
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...result of research by Department of Agriculture scientists, an unskilled la borer can now equal the speed of a shear er by literally peeling wool from a sheep with his bare hands...
...phenomenon was not lost on Terrill, who is chief of the Agriculture Department's Sheep and Fur Animal Re search Branch at Beltsville, Md. If the effect could be produced only when the sheep's wool was long, he reasoned, the fibers could easily be pulled, instead of sheared from the animal. And the un skilled farm labor needed for the simplified job would earn only about $2.50 per hour, sharply reducing costs to the wool industry. Taking up the project at Terrill's suggestion, Agriculture Biologist Ethel Dolnick and Physiologist Ivan Lindahl began feeding varying amounts...
...dose either killed or sickened the sheep, and too little failed to produce the desired effect. But the researchers soon discov ered that a dose of about nine milligrams for every pound of the sheep's body weight produced just the right result. The drug affected the wool fiber only where it is produced, in follicles below the surface of the skin, and acted for about 24 hours before being dissipated by the body. During this period, cell growth was retarded, producing thinner than normal segments on each fiber before normal growth resumed. Six or seven days later, when...
Scientists found that they could then peel off the wool with no more effort than it takes to remove adhesive tape from skin...
...peeling process is painless to the sheep, avoids the occasional scratches or nicks left by shears, and assures an even cut of wool. Although researchers will continue to test for possible damaging side effects, the process seems to have done no harm so far to the wool or meat quality of properly dosed sheep. The new technique provides an additional fringe benefit for the sheep. If the wool is allowed to continue growing for as long as three weeks after the drug is administered, the constricted segment of the fibers is pushed about an eighth of an inch beyond...