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ALPACA

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 722 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ALPACA , one of two domesticated breeds of See also:

South See also:American See also:camel-like ungulates, derived from the See also:wild huanaco or See also:guanaco. Alpacas are kept in large flocks which graze on the level heights of the See also:Andes of See also:southern See also:Peru and See also:northern See also:Bolivia, at an See also:elevation of from 14,000 to 16,000 ft. above the See also:sea-level, throughout the See also:year. They are not used as beasts of See also:burden like llamas, but are valued only for their See also:wool, of which the See also:Indian blankets and ponchos are made. The See also:colour is usually dark See also:brown or See also:black and the coat of See also:great length, reaching nearly to the ground. In stature the alpaca (Lama huanacos paws) is considerably inferior to the See also:llama, but has the same unpleasant See also:habit of spitting. In the textile See also:industries " alpaca " is a name given to two distinct things. It is primarily a See also:term applied to the wool, or rather See also:hair, obtained from the Peruvian alpaca. It is, however, more broadly applied to a See also:style of fabric originally made from the alpaca wool but now frequently made from an allied type of wool, viz. See also:mohair, See also:Iceland, or even from lustrous See also:English wool. In the See also:trade, distinctions are made between alpacas and the several styles of mohairs and lustres, but so far as the See also:general purchaser is concerned little or no distinction is made. The four See also:species of indigenous South American wool-bearing animals are the llama, the alpaca, the guanaco and the See also:vicuna. The llama and the alpaca are domesticated; the guanaco and the vicuna run wild. Of the four the alpaca and the vicuna are the most valuable wool-bearing animals: the alpaca on See also:account of the quality and quantity, the vicuna on account of the softness, fineness and quality of its wool.

In the See also:

early days of the 19th See also:century, the usual length of alpaca staples appears to have been about 12 in., this being a three years' growth; but to-See also:day the length is little more than about See also:half this, i.e. a one to two years' growth, although from See also:time to time longer staples are to be found. The fleeces are sorted for colour and quality by skilled native See also:women. The colour of the greater proportion of alpaca imported into the See also:United See also:Kingdom is black and brown, but there is also a See also:fair proportion of See also:white, See also:grey and fawn. It is customary to mix these See also:colours together, thus producing a curious See also:ginger-coloured See also:yarn, which upon being dyed black in the piece takes a See also:fuller and deeper shade than can be obtained by piece-See also:dyeing a solid-coloured wool. In See also:physical structure alpaca is somewhat akin to hair, being very glossy, but its softness and fineness enable the spinner to produce satisfactory yarns with See also:comparative ease. The See also:history of the manufacture of this wool into See also:cloth is one of the. romances of See also:commerce. Undoubtedly the See also:Indians of Peru employed this fibre in the manufacture of many styles of fabrics for centuries before its introduction into See also:Europe as a commercial product. The first See also:European importations would naturally be into See also:Spain. Spain, however, transferred the fibre to See also:Germany and See also:France. Apparently alpaca yarn was spun in See also:England for the first time about the year 18o8. It does not appear to have made any headway, however, and alpaca wool was condemned as an unworkable material. In 183o See also:Benjamin See also:Outram, of Greetland, near See also:Halifax, appears to have again attempted the See also:spinning of this fibre, and for the second time alpaca was condemned.

These two attempts to use alpaca were failures owing to the style of fabric into which the yarn was woven—a species of camlet. It was not until the introduction of See also:

cotton warps into the See also:Bradford trade about 1836 that the true qualities of alpaca could be See also:developed in the fabric. Where the cotton warp and mohair or alpaca weft See also:plain-cloth came from is not known, but it was this See also:simple yet ingenious structure which enabled See also:Titus See also:Salt (q.v.), then a See also:young Bradford manufacturer, to utilize alpaca successfully. Bradford is still the great spinning and manufacturing centre for alpacas, large quantities of yarns and cloths being exported annually to the See also:continent and to the United States, although the quantities naturally vary in accordance with the fashions in See also:vogue, the typical " alpaca-fabric " being a very characteristic " See also:dress-fabric." The following See also:statistics, taken from See also:Hooper's Statistics of the Woollen and Worsted Trades of the United Kingdom, give an See also:idea of the extent of the trade in yarns and fabrics of the alpaca type; unfortunately statistics for alpaca alone are not published. Alpaca, Vicuna, and Llama Wool imported into the United Kingdom. Year. Peru. See also:Chile.l lb lb 1854 1,247,015 124,946 15,573 1,557 186o 2,334,048 263,635 520,402 58,443 1870 3,324,454 388,969 563,782 65,996 188o 1,412,365 98,644 890,627 64,621 1890 3,114,336 190,703 564,606 30,694 1900 4,236,566 205,839 1,148,694 51,116 1902 5,038,998 259,927 1,028,171 47,610 1905 2,301,522 119,321 2,302,650 112,367 See also:Note.—In 184o the imports into, exports from, and consumed in the United Kingdom of mohair, alpaca, vicuna, &c., amounted to L5o,o0o. Exports of Mohair and Alpaca Yarns for 1905. See also:Russia 1,288,800 lb £168,596 Germany 9,851,200 „ 1,145,795 See also:Belgium 316,400 „ 40,409 France 2,006,700 „ 223,605 Exports of Alpaca from the United Kingdom to the United States. 1881 . fI,256 1900 . 30,631 1890 .

— 1905 • 4,954 Owing to the success in the manufacture of the various styles of alpaca cloths attained by See also:

Sir Titus Salt and other Bradford manufacturers, a great demand for alpaca wool arose, and this demand could not be met by the native product, for there never seems to have been any appreciable increase in the number of alpacas available. Unsuccessful attempts were made to acclimatize the alpaca See also:goat in England, on the European continent and in See also:Australia, and even to See also:cross certain English breeds of See also:sheep 1 Grown in Peru but shipped from See also:Valparaiso.with the alpaca. There is, however, a cross between the alpaca and the llama—a true hybrid in every sense—producing a material placed upon the See also:Liverpool See also:market under the name " Huarizo." Crosses between the alpaca and vicuna have not proved satisfactory. The preparing, combing, spinning, See also:weaving and See also:finishing of alpacas and mohairs are dealt with under Wool.. (A. F.

End of Article: ALPACA

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