A FEW STATISTICS ABOUT WOOL.

Press, Volume III, Issue 285, 29 September 1863, Page 3

A FEW STATISTICS ABOUT WOOL.

The new covered market, recently erected in . this town, and the increased supply of the "staple," are subjects of interest to our agricultural friends and readers generally. We observe '. from a table compiled by a gentleman of Hull, that since the years 1815 and 1818, English long wool had not been so dear aa in the present season. It is impossible to give the average price for the whole year at present, but taking the opening clip-day prices, with the present, the average for mixed parcels of hog, ewe, and wether wool will be ls IOJd per lb. Li 1829, j we find the average was B£d, and that was the lowest year for fifty years past. No doubt the immediate cause of this increased value of wool arises from the scarcity and dearuess of cotton, the advance upon which is much larger in progjrtion than upon our home-grown commodity, efore, however, this American war, English long wool had attained a considerable advance, ancf for some years past " consumption had overtaken production." When clip-day arrived, we have found buyers eager to secure the new wool, and any amount of wool in farmers' hands was not to be met with on one farm out of a hundred. Ask a buyer of wool and he will tell you, that of late years farmers have not held their clips over a year. Even at the present time, scarcely the middle of July, nearly all is cleared from the growers. Now, what does all this prove ? Either the grower is satisfied with the current prices, or that he generally unable to hold it forward. When, as in 1829, the price was unremunerative to the grower, twice the quantity was retained by the farmer, and, consequently, much less in the hands of the dealers and consumers. It shews, we think, and proves too, the great progress and increasing wealth of the long wool buyers. In the course of six or eight weeks, nearly the whole of one year's clip of wool passes from the hands of the grower to the wool-stapler and spinner. Now, if in former years they were unable to " buy it up," when the price was so much lower, it shows a marvellous increase of wealth to find them, when prices are almost doubled, buying and holding every fleece of wool that is grown. We are writing more particularly of English long wool; almost indigenous to a few Midland aud Northern Counties, which enjoy natural advantages in producing long bright wool that Southern Counties and Foreign parts are unable to produce. As the prices are so favorable to the grower, we think it desirable he should increase his growth of wool, if possible, for no " produce of the farm " gives him such a return, and nothing he produces is so exempt from competition. We have heard it said over and over again, that you may grow corn in most climates, and cotton is being produced in States, besides those disunited in America, whilst long lustre wool retains its "pride of place" to a few English counties. A manufacturer, uear to Bradford, informed us on Saturday last, that he bought on the previous Saturday fourteen sheets of wool containing 750 fleeces, for which he paid £750. The wool was grown in the south of Lincolnshire, and consisted of hog and wether fleeces, ju our own neighborhood a single fleece, being a tup hog, weighed a little over 211b, a very valuable fleece indeed, not less than £2 2s in amount, and we question if a single fleece of one year's growth ever realized more The new market will be amply sufficient in area for the remainder of the season, but we trust the Corporation will enlarge its dimensions at an early opportunity, to accommodate the increasing quantity to be brought here for sale. We subjoin the table above referred to, as also another "The Wheat prices for 200 years," both of which we extract from a circular, issued by Mr. P. Deane, of Hull, and which we feel sure will interest many of our agricultural readers :—

wool prices for 57 years.

wheat prices for 200 years.

The remarkable fact may be deduced from these figures that, up to the year 1790, the average price of wheat for any ten years never exceeded 50s. per quarter, and was generally below tliat rate. The highest average for any one year was 113s. lOd. in 1800, aud the lowest 225. Id. in 1743.— Doncaster Chronicle.

YEAR. 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1S1S 1819 1S20 1821 1822 1823 1S24 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 ]ier lb. s. d. 1 1 0 11 0 9 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 2 1 64 1 11 1 3 1 2 2 0 1 4 1 4 1 1 0 11 0 11J 1 04 1 64 0 104 0 10_ 0 9 0 84 0 94 1 I 1 1 1 3 1 8 YEAR. 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 18-16 1847 1848 1849 J 850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 per lb. s. d. 1 6 1 74 1 0 1 4 1 3 1 0 0 10 0 10 0 94 1 0 I 1 1 0 o 104 0 9 0 9 0 llj 1 04 1 1 1 4i 1 0 1 1 1 5i 1 5J 1 14 1 5i I 9 1 5 1 8

in the ten years between 1660 and 1669, the average price was ... Between the years 1670 and 1679 ... 16S0 1889... 1690 1699 ... 1700 1709... 1710 1719... 1720 1229... 1730 1739... 1740 1749... 1750 1759... „ 1760 1769... 1770 1779... 1780 1789.. „ 1790 1799... 1800 1809... 1810 1819... 1820 1829... 1830 1839... „ 1840 1849... „ 1850 1859... s. d. 44 10 44 10 37 9 50 0 35 0 43 0 37 3 31 6 31 8 37 5 40 5 44 3 45 9 54 10 84 5 91 2 60 3 56 4 56 0 53 5