Australian Wool Research Pattern

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30739, 1 May 1965, Page 8

Australian Wool Research Pattern

A study of the organisation of wool research in Australia has been undertaken by Dr. I. E. B. Fraser, of the Wool Research Organisation, who has returned to New Zealand after spending just under a year as a guest worker with the Division of Protein Chemistry of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Australia. Dr. Fraser has talked with wool scientists in Australia about the programme envisaged by the Wool Research Organisation so as to avoid duplication of effort.

Dr. Fraser says that methods of increasing wool production have been under investigation for many years and since the 1930 s these studies and application of research findings have been greatly expanded, but extensive investigations to ensure the best possible use of wool in the textile field dates back to only 1949. Before that a limited amount of work was done in mainly Britain, and to some extent also in Germany as far back as the 19205. These investigations resulted in very important findings which to a large measure set the stage for many of the wool processes developed in the 19505, but the knowledge accumulated about wool in those early years was rarely used for the improvement of wool or wool processing. Some attempts were made to incorporate research findings in wool processes, but little success was achieved largely because of. wool’s unchallenged superiority as a textile fibre in those days, and also to some extent to the reticence of many textile manufacturers to incorporate new techniques. Knowledge But with the passage of time and the knowledge of the form and gross structure of wool and other natural fibres, and the expenditure of vast sums of money, the manmade fibre industries had grown to be highly competitive with wool. The properties of synthetic fibres, which were believed to be more suitable than natural fibres for certain ty-pes of living, and their durability and strength which made them more suitable for some non-apparel uses, together with their more stable price, had resulted in close to a complete replacement of wool in some markets and a severe reduction in the use of wool in others.

This competitive pressure placed on a rather complacent wool industry in the mid 1940 s had been instrumental in initiating extensive and highly co-ordinated investigations into wool on a broad front ranging from the handling of wool at the source through to the finished product. In the 1940 s few countries, even primary producing countries, contributed significantly to an effort to ensure that wool continued to hold a place in the textile world, and it fell to Australia’s lot in 1949. for obvious reasons, to stem the growing threat of synthetics. Since 1949 studies in Britain had also been re-

vitalised and a number of wool research centres had also been developed in various parts of the world—notably in America, Western Germany, South Africa and more recently in New Zealand in the Wool Research Organisation, financed by the Government and the Wool Board. These national efforts, some late in initiation, would for some time to come be of vital importance to the wool industry as a whole, and also equally important to each country itself in dealing with its own particular problems and" allied problems Discussing the organisation of wool research in Australia, as the best example of what a country should aim to achieve in full or in part, Dr. Fraser said that at the present time the allocation of funds for sheep and wool research was. the responsibility of a committee of the Australian Wool Board known as the Wool Textile Research Advisory Committee. This committee, which included representation from woo) textile manufacturers, the Australian woolgrower, the Commonwealth Government Department of Primary Industry and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (C.5.1.R.0.), allocated finance for research to assist the wool textile industry' and other fields of wool use. The C.5.1.R.0.’s intensive programme of wool research had begun in 1949 with the establishment of three coordinated divisions with their centres in Sydney, Melbourne and Geelong. These efforts were supplemented by the development of Wool research programmes in several Australian universities. Procedures The division of Textile Industry at Geelong was concerned mainly with putting into practice procedures for modifying or changing the wool fibre and textile processes, including their mechanisation and automation. The work of this division was also concerned with degreasing or scouring of wool and the use of by-products of the fleece. The Division of Textile Physics at Sydney studied the physical properties of wool. The work of this division was concerned with the mechanical and water sorption properties of processed, chemically modified and greasy wool. Work on wool strength, yield and fibre fineness as well as better methods of baling, dumping and form for transportation were in progress. The third

division, the Division of Protein Chemistry, was concerned with research on the structure and chemistry of wool. Allied chemical studies on muscle, blood and skin proteins were also made. The work of the first two divisions mentioned would seem logical enough to most people, said Dr. Fraser. The development of successful and economically competitive methods for incorporating such qualities as shrink-proof-ing, moth-proofing, permanent setting (pleating), wrinkle recovery etc. into wool processes, along with the production of .fine textured light cloths, stretch fabrics, lightweight apparal felts and various weave textures etc. in progress at Geelong were of extreme importance. This work co-ordinated with the studies at Sydney on the mechanical, electrical and insulation properties of processed fibres and fabrics and the effect of moisture on these as well as on wool in the clean and greasy states, were all of very direct importance in maintaining the position of wool in the textile world. The nature and importance of the work in progress at the Division of Protein Chemistry was perhaps less obvious. Its work, in short, was to chemically modify wool so as to suit the greatest variety of uses. Complex As wool was an extremely complex composite protein—the result of the binding together of more than 50 separate proteins, which was a process occurring within the skin of the sheep—a full understanding of its chemical composition together with a knowledge of how the individual proteins were joined together—its structure in other words —were essential if successful modification of wool’s normal properties was to be achieved. This sort of modification was aimed at adding to wool all of the most desirable features of competitive fibres, while retaining the unique and most desirable properties of wool itself, as dictated by any particular environment. As an example Si-Ro-Set, a method of permanent-setting, could have only been developed to its present successful stage with a knowledge of how the various proteins within a wool fibre were joined together. The study of protein chemistry was also of importance in its relationship to wool production and wool quality at a chemical and nutritional level, and it also played a valuable part in solving problems involved in human and animal systems of protein composition and synthesis. The part that it played in wool production and quality was demonstrated by the fact that certain superior wool types, with high production efficiency, could be produced by selected forms of feeding. These wool types had incorporated in them either new proteins or a different proportion of normal proteins

and these changes promised to be beneficial in certain processing techniques. This was certainly worthy of much consideration by a wool producing country like New Zealand, said Dr. Fraser. But while much was being achieved.in wool research by Australia, and to a less degree by other countries, the 'field was still growing rapidly and much still had to be done and the establishment of the Wool Research Organisation in New Zealand would, at least, allow this country to effectively play its part in strengthening the position of wool and helping to safeguard markets for our own wool. With the establishment of the Wool Research Organisation in New Zealand work had begun on improving this country’s position in the carpet wool trade, as about 25 per cent of the wool exported from this country was destined for this trade and synthetics were highly competitive in this field. Methods of eliminating the tendency of these wools to develop a yellow colour whiRJMn transport were under investigation, along with work to improve the strength, durability and processing performance of the fibres themselves.

As methods of wool packing for transport were of considerable economic importance, this was also receiving considerable attention, and the Wool Research Organisation had also begun work on the study of protein chemistry and protein formation, the aspect of wool research which was vital to the ultimate application, of processes modifying the fibre and textile procedures and also to certain aspects of wool production and quality.