OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 177, 21 April 1908, Page 10

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER

THE WOOLS OF THE WORLD. 11. A CHAPTER TO WOOLGROWERS. (FROM OUR SPECIAL COItUESrONnKNT.) Bradford, March 6, 1908. The surprise of tlio wool world during • the past twenty years lias been the rise and progress in the production of crossbred wool. This really, is only a recent development, but the phenomenon is here,to stay. Messrs. H. Schwartze and Co. hand me a few dotails touching upon this very aspect of, the trado. >Thc following figures show tho production of merinos and crossbrcds since ISB9, and they relate only to Colonial and' River Plate wool, as shown in tlio imports into this country:— Proportion of Year. crossbred. 1869 - ... 17.2 per cent. . 1893 23.1 1899 ... ... 45.G 1901} ... ... : ... ... 50.7 1 „ 11101 ... ' ... «.l -1902 ... 45.1 1903 ' 51.3 1904 ... ... 51.8 1905 49.2 „ 1908 40.8 1907 ■ 45.0 „ Tho above makes a wonderful showing, as exhibiting the changed character of.. the bulk of the world's wool product during tho past fifteen years. And it is worth special mention that New Zealand and the River., Plate are entirely responsible for this great change. It is doubtful if, ever crossbred values will get back to the low level cf 1901-2, and neither us&r nor producer want to see them. Still, the fact is there that crossbred woils, if the product of England and America is coupled with that of New Zealand and the River Plate, are to-day being groivn more largely than fine' .wools are, this being due entirely to a recognition of the increased carcass value of crossbred sheep over the merino. As everyone knows, these crossbred wools aro filling a gap' which merions could never fill, and their Igeneral • utility is now recognised the wide world over. Crossbred wools really start at 32's quality, and range, up to 58's, and are spoken of as being .coarse, medium, and find. Plenty of buyers V-ill .-ay (hat coarse crossbreds really , begin at 3G's, and below that we come to the carpet'stock. To'a. large extent this is truo, as will be seen from tho fol-

lowing table, in which I set out tho method of classing crossbred wools:—

J?ine crossbreds ... 50's to 56's quality. "Medium crossbreds 46's to 48's quality. ' Coarse crossbreds... 40's to 44's quality. ;. Low crossbreds ... 36's quality and below. - LEADING DIFFERENCES. . " A collection of representative samples of the wools "grown in the world, affords data for many comparisons* Not only do we see a great differences in ..quality, as already said, but also in length in staple, as well as many othor characteristics.' 1 The reader can easily see that wools only one inch long cannot be put to tho same purpose as any Lincoln hogs' with , a 12inch. staple, and vice versa. Then-each country's wool differs considerably, in point of. general appearance, growth, and manufacturing .capabilities. For \some' 'purposes, - English, wools cannot yet be beat by even corresponding qualities grown elsewhere, while even .Australian merinos rank as the best grown anywhere. The wools of South Africa can well do with an improvement, for, they are still.' far behind, generally speaking, those of Australia, notwithstanding they are of merino origiii. New Zealahd crossbreds still outstrip those of the River Plate, both ' in'' spinning- property '■ and handle, though if. a', manufacturer .wants to make a fabric that handles sharp and firm like a serge, then South American wools fill tho bill admirably. One grand thing about tho wools of tho world is the good, general, useful properties, and sheep-breeders have simply to encourage their flocks to produce;tho best wool possible by maintaining character and breed. In buying wool, every user studies his special requirements, arid he seeks out, that clafcs* of raw.produce which most fully meets his ideal. Herein lies the art of manufacturing, and'it will pay any class of sheep-breeder to still maintain the maximum degreo of excellence ho possibly can. In.-the future,, success will be reaped only by thatman who looks, after every, point which determines both a good sheep' antl good wool,: for the latter never did grow, and never will, upon a mongrol type of sheep. In tho manufacturing world there is. room for ovory' class and,, quality, and whother it be bright Lincoln,-crossbred, or fine merino, all alike can be put to serviceable use. To my thinking there are already enough' qualities, tho next stop is.'that of consolidation, and' a producing of the.-best. ' ■ ~.•'.' CATtPET WOOLS. Carpet wools are not such a big representative class as other descriptions, still they N 'fill a very, useful sphere. In this article I touch only upon.the Scotch black-faced wools, which are still almost -/entirely used for that pur-, pose, at least so far as domestic W;ools. are concerned. Other, 'competitive 'wools 'are v grown, but' they, do not ;excel, for this''purpose, .the wools grown in'the';Nortli of' England, throughout Scotland, and certain parts of Ireland.. Like many other sheep, men, the wide world over, even Scotch- sheep' breeders this last,, five or six years have gone in'.for growing a thick, dense fleece, with a corresponding sacrifice of quality. America still proves to be a-very valuable customer for thescwools, and as bright a'future is before the Scotch sheep breeder as any other class. Wherever one looks in' the sheep-breeding' world, it is impossible' to overlook the forward policy which-is everywhere in vogue, and'one rejoices that neither, sheep-breeding nor wool-growing is yet a decaying industry. Fair good prices still obtain for. the man who takes a pride iu seeing that his sheep grow good, useful wool, and this should do an incentive to everyone to do his" best. - THE FALL IN PRICES.

As every, reader knows, since last October prices have fallen rather seriously, and this is bound affect a largo number of, New Zealand sheepbreeders,.. whose last clip''is . yet to sell. It is very unfortunate that this has happened, for twelve months- ago it looked as if values would not relapse seriously, for., a •long time to come. Bnt the fact is, confidence is-lost the wide world over, and nothing but fear and . temerity occupies men's minefs. It is isimply. the backward .swing of the pendulum, and'this reaction is the, after-effect of three • years' boom.. Crossbred wools to-day are at a very useable price, but, no doubt, the trade in every manufacturing country is. suffering •acutely from heavy loses entailed 'upou tile large purchases at Australasian 'selling centres, the Cape, and Buenos Ayres., How.ever, the ..sooner the bottom is touched, the better it will be. In-the meantime, manufacturers seem to think that prices now being so reasonable will create a demand itself, but we (ire not likely to see this just yet, and confidence will have to return before there is any, material improvement. COURSE OF VALUES. ' The past week has 6hown no (improvement ;whatever, and, if anything, prices are. lower. A very, depressed feeling prevails,! and, business v is entirely absent. The following table shows the course of prices during tho past month, arid it is significant that almot every quality has fallen:— ' Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. , 7. 14.' 21. 28. d. d; d. d. Ljncoln hogs ~. .11 10J 10J 10| „ wethers ... ... 10 ~ 9| 9| 9J Yorkshire hogs ... ... 12 '12 12 12 „' ■ wethers 10| 101 105 101North hogs 12-J 12j 12J 12 ! „ wethers ... ... llj 11 10} 10i Halfbred hogs ... 12 llj ll| 1U „ wethers 1H 11 10} 10| Kent wethers ... 11J 10} 10J 10} Eastern Counties Down tegs 12j 12- 12 12 ~ ewes lli 11J HI 111 Irish hogs, super ... ... 12-J 12J- 12 12 Irish wethers, super 12 11J ]1J uj Pick Shropshire hogs ... 12J 12{ 12J 12 „ „ wethers . ... 12 *12 - : 12* 111 Southdown tegs ... ... 15 14} 14i 14i „ ewes 141 14J 14, 14 Wiltshire Down tegs ... 1+ I3jj 131 13.J owes 13J •13 13 13 Cheviot hogs, super ... ... II 11 11 n, Scotch black-faced ... ..." 7£ ■ 7i, 1\ 1 Turkey, average mohair ... 17 17 17 17 Cape, first mohair ... ... 13J 13J 13J 13 70's, colonial tops ! ... ... 28 - 274 27J 27 Gl's, „ „ 27 2fi| 26 26 GO's „ ~ super ... 26 25J 251 251 sfi*s, „ 221 22 21= 2U ■50's, „. „ 18J 18 171 17J IG's, „ „ prepared 16 15J 15 14J ■40's, „ „ „ ■ 13 12J 12 11? 3G's,. ■ „ • 12J-.;11J-'UJ' 11 ; 32's, „ „ . „ 12 lli 11 11 '40's, English tops 14 ,13J 13 13