THE PRODUCTION OF WOOL.

Press, Volume XXIX, Issue 3988, 7 May 1878, Page 6 (Supplement)

THE PRODUCTION OF WOOL.

Some very interesting statu ties oa the production and consumption of wool have just been published by Messrs. John L> Bowles and Brother, of Liverpool, in their "statistics relating to wool and sheepskins." The principal sources of the supply of clothing wool for Europe are Australasia, - the Cape, and the River Plate, and the prioe of wool from these countries and the United States governs values in Europe. It is the figures regarding the production of wool in these countries which are, therefore, of vital importance. As almost none of the wool produced in the Australian colonies is used there the exports thence tell, of course, the actual production; but as regards the States, recourse has to be had to estimates. Taking these as nearly approximate, the result is as follows .* —The total production of cleaned or pure wool in Australasia, the Cape, the River Plate, the United States, and California has risen from 77& million pounds iv 1855 to 363 million pounds in 1876. The most notable share in this augmentation has fallen to Australasia, where production has risen from 32 million pounds in 1835 to 159 million pounds in 1876. Next follows the River Plate, with an inoreaso from 9J million pounds to 77f million pounds. California has risen from almost no export at all to 22 million pounds, and the Cape has mora than quadrupled its yield in tho samo period, heving exported 84 million pounds of purs wool in 1876. The greatest general increase was in the period between 1863 and 1859, when the gross total rose from 1144; million pounds to 280 A million pounds, and the increases over the three periods 1855 to 1862, 1862 to 1869, and 1869 to 1876 were 48 per cent., 145 per cent., aud 29 per,ceni respectfully. The progress in.the middle period has not been maintained, therefore, and Messrs. Bowles do not look for another such increase in the future. They say— "Notwithstanding the prodigious iaouity with which sheep of the merino blood procreate in suitable climates, there are many causes which point to a diminished rate o! increase. Droughts and storms are of frequent occurrence in the latitudes where luoh sheep thrive the best, and, a3 the countries in which they grow are thinly populated, it is impossible to neutralise or mitigate the effect of them ; the difficulties of communication between the seaboard and the interior of such a country as Australia act also as a bar to the profitable extension of sheep breeding. In California it is probable that further and important progress will be made; for, although it has already been great, the movement is still in its infancy. It iB not likely, however, that the wool produced would be of the highest degree nf fineness, for sheep bearing a medium quality thrive there the best. In Australia, also, the proportion of merino wool grown: is diminishing, owing to the desire to increase the size of animal and weight of fleece. This movement has already made considerable progress in most of the colonies, ana in the auctions held in August last 18 percent of the wool offered was cross-bred." Notwithstanding the rapid increase in production, prices have been maintained. The avenge price of unwashed Australian wool was 12Jd per lb in the first period, lljd per lb in the second, and 13£ din the period ending with 1876. These statistics relate to "clo&in? wools only, the figures for other descriptions being too imperfect to admit of'anything like accurate comparison. Such as they are, they appear, however, to show that the production of combing and of carpet wd blanket wools increases much more slowly than that of clothing wool—Sydney "Town and Country."