Originally uploaded by Lowder Colours
My first encounter with Bond, also called the Commercial Corriedale, was a sheet of samples mailed to me from Australia by Cyril Lieschke. The fine, moorit and silver wool samples immediately caught my eye and I ended up selecting a silver one to be shipped to me from his station in New South Wales.
The Bond breed was developed in Australia by Thomas Bond around 1909. He bred his Saxon/Peppin Merino ewes to imported Lincoln studs to produce a line that suited his environment in eastern Australia. The breed is known today for it’s large frame, it’s high fertility and on average produces more wool in a finer micron than Corriedales. Lambs reach market weight quickly and have a desirable carcass.
The wool is long stapled and ranges from 22-29 microns and in appearance looks like corriedale, except finer. Moorit Bond has become available here in the US thanks to the work of Gleason’s Fine Woolies who imported some of Cyril’s stock in 2000. As a result, other farms have been able to add Bond and Bond cross’ to their flocks.
Bond; moorit, white, silver, no matter the color, this wool is bound to please.
Joanna Gleason’s Bond wools are absolutely exquisite. I have admired them from afar, but finally got my hands on some this year. Oh, my.
Comment by Deborah Robson — September 4, 2009 @ 10:28 pm |