Making a goat of wool

Press, 18 January 1979, Page 1

Making a goat of wool

Mohair, the fibre produced by the Angora goat, left wool well behind when auctioned at the end of the wool sale in Christchurch yesterday.

It is believed to have been the first auction of mohair in New Zealand. Pure ■ mohair attracted prices from about $7.60 to Sl4 a kilogram, the top price being paid for 23kg of kid fibre, shorn from an animal about a year old.

These prices compared with the top price for wool yesterday of 290 c a kilogram for Southdowncross.

For better-style mohaircross fibre, prices ranged from about $4 to $5.50 a kilogram. The mohair was auctioned by Pyne, Gould, Guinness, Ltd. The manager of the firm’s wool department (Mr J. D. De-

vine) said that the fibre had come from about 20 growers throughout New Zealand mainly in small quantities and totalled about 400 kg. With about 250 kg of the fibre being pure mohair, it represented a big improvement in quality on an earlier sale Pyne’s had held by tender, Mr Devine said. While there was half again as much this time, still more was needed to attract more buyers into the market. Yesterday three buyers were competing for the mohair.

Crossbred wool prices had picked up slightly for the second time this week when the sale ended. For individual offerings, prices reached high levels — up to 290 c a kilogram for Southdowncross wool.

Report, Page 18