DISAPPOINTING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 282, 28 November 1931, Page 11

DISAPPOINTING.

first wool sale.

§>0R START FOR SEASON.

£ Opening bid of 3jd

Saemers refuse to sell.

.threepence-halfpenny a pound!" ' per pound for 'females of good, honest fleece wool shorn hy a small farmer at Epsom. was the first bid foi the ' 66®injon's new season's wool clip. It |j£jpade at the Town Hall concert dutJoher this morning when Auckland, first on the season's roster, leiiia alew selling year. It is scarcely to add that the auctioneer did maccept the bid, and the line was M?B'ed unsold. . . this doleful beginning an accurate indication of what vii to follow. Any amount _of good flipca wool was offered and failed to KriDC better bids than 4d and sd, and if more than 6d, on the v a||fige, will be realised for fleece wool. Little Competition. Jtt was a particularly dull sale. Last Ta'nuary values were'at their lowest iince the slump began, but bidding was •S free'at the low levels. To-day rhe u»ual keen competition was lacking. ' fc often the broker would have to Wseteral seconds before getting a Itee'bid. Only on rare occasions was there the vigorous, snappy shouting {lit comes as music to the ears of the foSl auctioneer. The news of this unsatisfactory sale, with approximately only half the catalogue sold, will be received with feelings of dismay W the chief wool-selling centres.. of. the Dominion, where sales follow, closely on the Auckland sale, i* ■' Then and Now. ' - Four years ago , the Dominion's wool •cheque for sales in this country totalled over £13,000,000. Last year it had dropped to £3,500,000. What the receipts will'hfi for the new season it is hard to the'prospects are not encouraging.'- Recent event's had buoyed up far- ' hiers and brokers alike to expect somethin" quite "different. The suspension of &'gold standard was reported to have brought; about a revival in woollen manufacturing in the Old Country. Advanced rates in Australia for Merino fflblpand an improvement in the London. wbol sales, now in progress, for all •clashes .of :the sheep's staple seemed to warrant a hopeful view. It was most unfortunate- that - this morning cables should have come to land from London ' nbtiffing 'a decline in prices there. Whatever the cause, tho fact remains ' that at to-day's sale Bradford operators had their limits rigidly fixed at low levels, beyond which they were not pre- : pared%»'budge. The bulk of the buying in '® earlier stages was on Continental account and there was no evidence- that Japanese, who have been largely responsible'for excellent business at the Aus- ; tralian eales, were operating to any Extent.. ' f A. Broker's Estimate. At the time of writing the sale was still in progress, and it was impossible to fix definitely the range of prices realised, hut the following information was supplied unofficially by a leading broker. "Halfbreds are selling up to crossbredS, from 4sd to 6£d. These prices are for good wools. Bellies and pieces are fetching from 3d to 4d. - - "Generally Speaking," he added, "prices are Jd better than last November. Anything, below 50's in the half bred types is Id to\ljd better than 12 months ago. 'Wools held over, from last year have been.neglected, bidding being at 3£d to 4d for wools worth 5Jd to 6d. The'drop really-occurred after: the March sale of last ; jear, -and those wools shipped ,to London; at;'that time met with a very bad s«le. Some passed in here at 7d were ' sold in ' the London September series as low as 4Jd. . . ; "Prices are " selling fairly well, buying from the Continent being strong. As a matter of. fact, the Continent as a whole was making what market there .Wftg/f 1. ' ' - Tie-top.price paid for fleece wool is lldjfor six bales of extra ' superfine Corriedale, "Freshwater." The other prices' for *Freshwater" «lip were:— sogget,lod; .superfine Corriedale, 10Jd; Corriedale A, BJd; pieces, 6£d. This, though not a remunerative price, is considered to show that finer,wools, well got up, still attract attention. The owner of this clip is Captain G. HumphreysDavies, of Clevedon. Conditipn of Wool. .Until, last year it had been a matter of .congratulation that most of. the growers in the Auckland province had ,peen giving extra care to the preparation of their wool for sale, but the low pnees; ruling resulted in many farmers ' the get-up of their clips. f he same feature is again noticeable Wis year, which is as unfortunate as tne case of a dairy farmer who curtails •the use , 0 f fertiliser because butterfat js low in price. A leading Bradford a Star " representative that he had passed thousands' of bales .Without noting them for bidding simply ; ecause they had not been properly s . rted and classified. The bulk of the ■?/P.®-from the larger stations were up standard of past years, a'nd pro®®}y lighter in grease. There was .again a marked falling off in the numer„ bales binned and pooled. This method has proved of considerable t. small farmers, but with the prices so low there is 'not the same inducement to send small lots forward.