Winter - Classical Mileend Alpacas

Fibre Curvature
5
King Richard is a coarse
alpaca, especially for a
two year old. There is no
data in King Richard’s standard
histogram that is impressive.
His fi ber curvature is fairly low
at 25 deg/mm, which coincides
with the undesirably high MFD.
This general profi le coincides
with Table 1 in the Case for
Crimp article referred to in the
text. The fl eece appearance is
fl at with low frequency and low
amplitude crimp. For processing
purposes this is the least
desirable fl eece of this group.
The identifi cation of a certain look will
aid in culling and selecting for breeding.
But, what if a percentage of the fl eeces
that don’t ‘look right’ actually have all the
qualities desirable for processing? We
need to keep in mind only about 10% of
the fl eeces going through the mills in Peru
are baby or better (20–22µ). Interestingly
a recent nationwide study in the US came
up with a similarly low percentage. The
challenge is to identify fi ne fl eeces with
little or no medullation.
In the Case for Crimp article there are
two separate pictures of crimp on page
44. One picture shows a high amplitude
(deep) crimp and bold crimp (fewer crimps
per linear measurement). The other
sample displays a higher frequency (more
crimps per linear measurement) that is
low amplitude. Both these samples are
of the classic corrugated undulations we
have all learned to appreciate as crimp
in alpacas. The impression that could
50 Alpaca World Magazine Winter 2004/05
be drawn from these two pictures is
that these types of crimp represent the
breadth of what constitutes curvature in
alpacas. Not so, the story doesn’t end
here. When we look at Table 1 in the
same article (page 43) we see vicuña
(12–14µ and a curvature of 88.00 (many
small crimps per cm) and guanaco
(15–18µ with a curvature of 81 (similar
to vicuña). The same table assigns Royal
alpaca (19.5µ at 56.00 curvature), Baby
(22µ at 54.1) superfi ne (26µ at 46.00
curvature) and so on. The idea is the
higher the microns the greater the crimp
– but what kind of crimp? There is an
important point here worth absorbing.
To the naked eye vicuña and guanaco,
which have the most curvature per linear
measurement of the South American
camelids, don’t look like the two samples
shown on page 44. Instead, in the wild
camelid species fl eeces are characterised
by a crinkly look (see photo 1A). There
Group 2 – No. 4 is an
adult paco vicuna of an 6 unknown age. The animal’s
overall histogram is impressive.
Note the mean curvature of 55.4
deg/mm, which is at the upper
range for alpacas. Vicunas have
even greater curvature than
alpacas, usually between 60
and 80 deg/mm. The fl eece of
this paco vicuna and vicunas
are characterized by a very fi ne
and crinkly look. Even though
the curvature is great it is
diffi cult for the casual observer
to assess.
is curvature and a great deal of it (high
frequency and very low amplitude)
but it is nearly microscopic in nature
(detectable with very close inspection or
a magnifying glass) and easily missed by
the casual examiner. Are there alpacas
with this kind of curvature and look? It
would make sense that there are since
vicuñas are the wild ancestor of the
alpaca. In my travels as a screener of
some 12,000 alpacas throughout the
Andes, Australia, and Europe I have seen
many, many fi ne, uniform fl eeces that
could be characterized as well crimped
and displaying bundling. This style of
fl eece is common in many areas. There
are also populations with a more vicuñalike
appearance that are just as fi ne and
uniform.
Figures 1 through 3 show the
appearances of several fl eeces and
their histograms including curvature.
In a small sampling of 15 randomly
selected alpacas tested at Yocom-McColl
Testing Laboratory I found some of the
samples didn’t fi t the profi les provided
in the Case for Crimp article. A phone
call to the originators of the study in
Peru revealed not only that just 100
alpacas were involved, but also that
the graphs that correlate a specifi c
micron count to a specifi c curvature
test result are approximations based
on this small sample. According to Luis
Chavez, who commissioned it, this is
only a preliminary study with a much
larger one in the works. Chavez, who is
known as a forward thinking processor,
says the study and other ones stimulated
by discussions around the world are
aimed at understanding fi bre to improve
the comfort factor in the garments he
manufactures. Some low micron fl eeces
(20–22 microns) have much lower
curvature than the table indicates they
should have. Violet (Figure 1) typifi es a