LONDON WOOL SALES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 105, 27 January 1908, Page 10

LONDON WOOL SALES.

A VERY, IRREGULAR MARKET. .(from.; QUE SrEQIAL CORRESPONDENTS.) ■ ■■■■■ j jONnON) December 6. The course of things in London from a woolgrower's standjoint is very disappointing, for I'am "unable to report any improvement whatever on opening values. This week we have had another splendid show of new clip wools, ;but.. the. prices, realised "are nothing like what .they .were, in .September. Everything I call down, from , a penny, to 3d. per 'lb., and we are now bncic.in somo cases less thaji tiio. rates ruling last July. The strongest demand continues for good, • long combing grease wools, because these ara rather scarce. The biggest bulk of the Australia;! clip this year is shorter than usual, and this is where the weakness comes in.-There-is plenty, of quality, but the staple lacks density and shaft. The trade seems as if thero is a surfeit of 8-J's and 70's wool, but good shnfty 60's wools are exceedingly scarce, and these are selling .relatively better than the short, hne wools. Competition is fairly general, and pretty evenly divided between the Home and Continental trades, all sections alike buying" lilier'ally up to a certain point. Some scribes talk about the sales showing spirited competition, but I fail to see it, and when good new clip grease is only making 12d. that h iny mud u.

no. indication of spirit. and enquiry, but the reverse. America is buying .very littlo indeed, arid I don't think that so far more than TOO bales have been taken for that quarter. Both grease and scoured is . faring alike, the best scoiireds 'being down . 2d. to 2jd., and the medium classes 2d. to 3d. Goo(I greasy iambs sell about, ns well as any thine, and I don't call tliotie any more than -Jd. down, and scoureds Id. New Zealand slipes,. because of their scarceness, nre selling relatively better thnn straight greasy merino, while nice halfbreds cannlot. bo called more than Jd. to Id. decline. Loose, sliattery parcels aro down Id. to 2d.,; and withdrawals are very numerous. One"-big Kivr.rma grower cablcd to withdraw all his wools from Tuesday's catalogue, and I think a mistake has been made. The change that has come over the situation is very radical, and, to bo candid, I can't see where any improvement can take place until tlie financial stringency ia removed. Tho market to-day lncks confidence, nnd until there is a rcstoratio nof that important factor, wool values must of necessity remain weak and unsatisfactory. VEGETABLE MATTER .IN WOOL. Another meeting of the committeo considering this question met at Dalgety's office in Biskop'jgate Street last Wednesday afternoon, and 1 accordingly went. Things nave not yet got very much "forrarder," tho whole subject bristling with great difficulty. I inspected soveral sample bags that were there on show, but not one could be called satisfactory, because on rubbing my coat slfceve on the surface of tho bag the loose hemp fibre came off.. The secretary reported that he had got news from America, of a gentleman there''bringing out. a patent which he claimed would / entirely remove all the loose fibre, but. as yet ho had no samples to show, and the process, was strictly private. He also said that ho hope; l in . two or three weeks' time to have for sho in allwool tafo which he thought would cost between Gs. Gd. and 7s. 6d. each. If the committee expects woolgro were to use such a pack without buyers paying the cost, I am afraid they are reckoning without their host. Mr. Acton Adams, Tarndale, Canterbury, to my mind, is fighting the battle of the growers single-handed, and yet doing the work remarkably well. His contention is, if possible, to got a superior tare, and for tho buyer to share the cost. Ho told tlie committee emphatically that if they expect the' Australasian woolgrower to adopt' a radical reform and pay entirely for it, that they were reckoning without their host;, but meet them half way, and lasting good will be done. Hcwever, as the committee had no new tare to recomipend, the question as to cost, etc., was left over till a further meeting.

It will be remembered that tho committeo last October decided to issue a circular for circulation among woolgrowers throughout the world, and at Wednesday's meeting a final draft of the circular was approved. It contains nothing but what I have previously said upon this subject in past letters, for it simply points out the difficulties and tho cost which vegetable fibre causes to manufacturers, this almost entirely arising through pieces of hemp and thd "fluff" from off tho inside of the tare getting or to the wool.- This is found to be the most fruitful cause of. tho mischief, .and to secure a bag entirely freo from "fuzziness'* inside the tare is the primary object of the committeo. They then suggest remedies for the evil, which'aro as follow:— First and foremost, the general adoption of a woolpack of such a character that it will not deprecisto tho valuo of the wool it contains. Tho committee are pursuing enquiries in regard to the provision of a better bag.' They hope shortly to be ablo to give further information, and to recommend an improved wool- 1 pack for general use. . ' Tho adoption of such a standard.pack, made of good, clean, hard twisted jiito or hemp yarn, carefully sewn, so that the,pack does not need to bo "cut down" at the corners in tho baling press, and provided with a separate pieco of canvas'for the top of the balo would do. a vast deal, to mitigate the evil. The systematic emptying of, tho pack before it is put into tho press. It is found that frequently b-'ts of the canvas and ends of sewing twjnc come inside tho new packs from the factory.' Ca,re should be taken,.to see that .these are shaken out. ' .

In tho shearing shed, in the ; classing . and packing of wobl tho utmost care 'should bo used to prevent loose bits of twine, rope* or bagging coming near the wool or boing swept up with wool from the floor. Tho tying of flceces ought to be avoided entirely, and tho hard' twine u?ed for sewing up tho bags should bo blue or other dark colour. In stores and warehouses where bales aro exposed ° for sampling, tho 'necessary opening , of the tare should be done so as to damage it as .ljttle ;as' possible. • Bales should be opencdrat • th'e Yearns,by.- cutting the sewing-, twine 5. andjall "frayed edges'and'loose, bits should be reindved and destroyed. It is recotnmondftd that printed cards should bo,provided for hanging in shearing 6lieds'nnd warehouses in the following terms:— 1 '' FOR SHEARING SHEDS.. •' 1. All straw, ctc., should be carefully removed from the shearing shed beforo actual shearing is begun. , 2. Turn out each bag before.-packing 'tho wool, ,v..d see that it is clean arid free from bits of hemi). ' , '3. Loose .bits of twine,. bagging, or. straw should bo carefully kopbnpart from the wool. FOR WAREHOUSES. 1. All bales must bo opened at the seams only, by cutting tho blue twine. 2. Any frayed edges or loose pieces of string should .'be removed carefully and at once by men whoso special caro it is to watch tho wools when "011 show.'' . . 3. Warehouse "pullings" should be carefully looked over beforo being restored to tho bales. COURSE OF PRICES. Bradfjrd hardly, wears that; depressed air .-it it did last week, and Coleman Street has produced a steadying effect all round. Quotations are at tho lowest point, and the following shows tho course of prices during the past month, Bradford terms:—. Nov. Nov. .Dec.

1. 22. G. <1. d. ' (1. Lincoln hogs ... . ... 12.J 12 12 Lincoln wethers Ill 11 11 / Yorkshire hogs ... 13? is- 1-> Yorkshire wethers ... 121 11 j llfi North hogs,' ... ••• 13j 13 North wethers ... 124 12 12 ■ Halfbred hogs ...12} 121 "121 " Halfbred wethers ... 12* 12} 121 Shropshire hogs ... 131 13J 13} Shropshire wethers ... 13 13 13 Super Stafford liogs ... 13 13 13 Super Stafford wethers 12J 121 12|Kent wethers ... ■ ... 121 ' 12 12 Irish hogs 12} 121 121 Irish wethers 11} 11J 11 j Wiltshire Down ,tegs 141 11 Wiltshire Down ewes 14 1,'iJ 13} Devon greasy. ... ... 81 81 81 Hampshire Down ... 141 1' 11 Sussex Down ... ... 15 15 15 Cheviot hogs, super ... Ill 111 111 Scotch blackface ... 8} 8} 8 Turkey average mohair ■ 18 18 18 Cape firsts mohair ... 15} 15J 15} Cape winter mohair... 121 121 121 > 70's Colonial tops ... 31 29 28} G4's Colonial tops ... 30 28 27} GO's Colonial tops, super 29 27} 27 56's Colonial tops ... 25 24 23} . SO's Colonial tops ... 22 211 21 46's Colonial tops ... 17 16} 1GJ40's Colonial tops ... 16 15 15 36's Colonial tops ... 15 14J 14