OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 183, 28 April 1908, Page 8

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER

THE GRADES OF WOOL. HOW QUALITY IS CALCULATED. (FROM OUtt SIMXIM. CORRESPONDENT.! ' ■ Bradford, March 13^ Have readers a clear idea of. what' is meant when one speaks of 60's wool and 40's wool? I sometimes think that iwoolmen employ technical trade terms in the-most glib fashion without thinking about tho-general reader . being able to follow, and understand what is tho real significant meaning; and, by way of,a change from tho ordinary routino of matters'usually discussed at considerable length, I will, with tlie editor's permission, try to'turn this article into an educative one,, and say something of practical moment to one and all. PUKPOSES TO WHICH WOOLS ARE PUT. In an articlo of this nature, it is impossible for me to describe the various features' and construction of .tho spinning frame! or to enter into the mechanism ol' the varied machinery omployed in manipulating wool by converting it from the greasy, messea-up appearance' to the nice linisned fabric as seen in tho manufactured articlo. When a buyer goes to the London sales with ,]tho object ' of purchasing wool lie first of all asks (he question: "What class of wool du I require, and what purpose shall it bo put to when it enters my mill at home? If I want wool for the manulact'ure of ' worsted coatings of a nico soft quality; or raw, material for tho , production of ladies'" dress goods known as 'cashmeres,' then I should pass by every bale of crossbred wool that is grown in New Zealand-, or tho Ttiver Plate, and confine myself to merinos. capable °of spinning no less than 35.1M0 yards to every pound weight, of clean' material." ' Thi>. r.iay seem a big longtli to spin out of ono pound weight of auy material, but it can be accomplished with tho greatest caso if the fibre is fine enough, and the circumference equally small. Headers may not know, but the principlo of spinning-is such that a man can spin down a wool to a thicker count of yarn when it i.s impossible to spin ,up a wool or produce a Smaller -yarn than what the wool will spin to. It is this fact that has brought about wool to be known as of .GO's rrualitv. 50's quality, 40's, 32's. and even 28's, as the caso may be, and a practical man used to, and conversant in, handling wool'can tell in a moment now far it will spin, or, to be more precise, what quality it is. THE TWO PRINCIPAL GiiADES OP WOOL. Ihe wool trade of to-day centres around two decided and distinct heads, separating itself into two -departments, and known as merinos and crossbreds. Tho'. ancsstors of the writer have, not many years ago, pointed to the day when they sat in their own home, as the custom then was, and with the use of a< handcomb used'to comb out the fibres of the staple; and hand-coinbing in Bradford was the indus- • try from which the present massive trade has sprung. In those days, when combing was done by the hand and done on the jenny; turned and' worked' by the hand, crossbred wools were only used on account of the length, and the longer tho staple tho bet- ? ni i ,', nore valuable was the wool. It was this fact that made the English Lincoln breed of sheep so valuable, and when other shorter stapled Down wools were on the market, Lincolns and Leicesters Tiowled everything else out. At that time Australian merinos and crossbreds were a thing unknown, the first merino wools arriving in_ England coming from Spain. At that time the question of fineness was not such an important characteristic as was length of staple, and ltis only within the last thirty to forty years that machinery has become perfected and able to manipulate fine wools that these have assumed such an. important position as they have done. . Siity. or seventy years ago the question asked was: How long is tho wool? pnd not: How fine is it? To-day, it is ■just reversed, and quality or fineness ranks as tho firs., consideration in wool buying. If. the past history, of tho wool trade of Bradford could speak, its voice would tell of marvollous , changes that have .been effected, results accomplished were thought absolutely impossible, and which to-day figure in the . world of wool, manufacture as marvels of • the past. lion, to-day are "not very greatly troubled about the ength'of the staple in mor lnos, even thousands of, bales every vear now beiiig combed of six months'- grown, wool, 'the majority of Cape' merino sheep men' shcarinc twice-a year, and'all-.thst topmakers do is to provide a. few moro'. bales that are longer-in staple to' act as ■' throughs," and' then the lot goes. through the. combing machino, and'what is known as o. weft" top is producc-d.. At the same tirno a.good "warp" wool, say, 2iin. to' dm. long, is 'greatly preferred'-bjvall users for topmakingi purpb'sc's.' METHODS' OF CALCULATING' QUALITY; the question which overy wool buyer asks as ho sallies- forth' oil his errand of wool buying. ' Merino' ' wools L'm i g, J at ' d a , s suchif tS ey will spin out to GO hanks, each measuring 560 yards, before weighing-one pound r or,- in other words; ono pound of memo. wool,. of Op's . quality will spin out to 33,600 yards before weighing' ono -pound.- Let it -never be forgotten that' ho merino wool is spoken of as such unless it ISL'?I,» i° , to tlus .length, GO's". quality being the lowest .recognised standard: in the . anything;, abovo 60's-Hsav, 6-I's ■(0 s, -80 s, and ; gome tihSer the' J\ am ?. o£ merinos: .In judging; ineriuo'■• -wool ,tho broad general principle: to work upon 'in ascertaining the '.count is to know how far it will spin,' and according to" this depends °fl'Mc ri as - tO/ .-wality. position 'L ' , i I. '.seem strange to the general roader, but- certain well-known superfine-Aus-tralian, merinos grow, a. quality of' wool that is spoken -of and known as go!s—this meaning that.a pound ot clean wool 'from:these flocks wiU. spin out to SO hanks of ' SGO yards each before it will, weigh..one- -pound,'" or really a production. of 44,800 ■ yards' to ' every" pound i"'f'VP'Sl}!;- Such-.a. statement is an actual faqt, and can be proved, by any man • obtaining a ■ pound- of this■ class of - single ' yarn . Rttv 1 ,n lV. find ' V tying' 'one end to a stick and walking along, that before the end comes, of the. kst 89 lianks he will- have covered' over- 25 ,miles. There is no doubt, that .the science., of..sheep -breeding and obi growing, has- now. reached a 'high pitclr o£ pelfcction, and the merino: wools 'of Aujt'-a-lfsia can-claim the premioiV,position of similar uools- grown in any other counti-y in the known world.. The AustraliarifclinJte esr.eciallj seems, to favour the merino, ivhile New bred" n 1S undoubtedI * . the home of: the : cioss : TYPE AND .QUALITY Op'' GKOSSBI!ED^ ,' In speaking of crossbreds, thisiis the rcßeial term used in' the' wool trade ".of -Yorkshire to fml° nn ß • V °° S , that ran ?? Wo* 53's. qu'alit v nf' ic "K t&W** 58 «■ alid 60's is spoken fl A® s , : ? r "- as '' loW: acc'ordl'l I ex Pr ess wn Of: the person thnv, " 1 -111I 11 ®'»'°ol .spin 'no'more 58s 'count it. .come?..under- thbl category of crossbreds. ...Some readers ' inay say this- is ravher a vague' term, ahd' so > is;! so in c-rde'r' to fimphfy . matters the; trade, cuts ilp ib'is' bi-paa . expression, and-speaks- of crossbreds as -d fi e i^ m, „f ? H d . "■ c P arse ■ crbssbred,- . wool's. Ihe iMsdoni .of, this .is--seen:-in the ' fact of there -.being - such. an to' work Upon, anything from the; coarse wool "of the Scotch blackfaced sheep .up', to l'the' first- cross 9'v.? 1 :, merino .owe .and .-a Lincoln', ram all . ciinlng under- .the term 'of ■ crossbred - wools. In :to_ :.mako' matters more' plain and distinct,-the .trade :speal;s: of fine'cioss-.breds-when;it refers to woolsr'offrom ,50's to 5j s quality, medium crossbreds • signifyinp- 44 s to- 50s,' and. coarse crossbredsifrom-'-S2 ! s to 44 s. " -i r -f'.V PRONOUNCED DEPRESSION^)' " The slight improvement'; reported 'two weeks ngo melted like snow, before;'a Uibt sun, and the teeling of depressionVpior e ' br less in evidence this year has deepened.' It' is verv difficult indeed to, find, a single bright spot, and prices are inevitably 'drooping: - The past week has been characterised by- ; very, few - sales and prices arc".not even' steady-in'.i merinos,- v-lnle crossbreds are still very depressed and i-'resu-ar. Many firms of :topmakers : :have this W.eik been-willing sellers,at lid. for ; 4o's,Did this nguro-has been .more frequently taken.- Even a lower price is named, b ( ut I cannot confirm the statement However,'medium and ciarse crossbreds are-in.the gutter,' and- the resent state of _the . market ,1 ; eall :wprso, and the lecjing of depression is. more pronounced', than at, any time since 1900.' As the hour lefore the dawn is considered to -be the 'darkest, so itit to, be- hoped that, we - are hot far off-- the break of day, for words cannot aticivaielv convey : ,a true conception 1 of: the stagnation that prevails. Topmakers say, they uin sell now.t, and - spinners are in the same boat. No better accounts come,from Germanv, arid no' fresh ' orders are coming "through at nil Thcro aro less second-hand \yi\rhs : knockinc about,-but even low prices do not tempt either shippers or Continental . manufacturers tho reply, being the: same nearly in all coses''We want nothing,, at any price." There is nothing now to do but to waif developments and m tho meantime to "hope 'for the best' It looks' to-day as if crossbreds must fall next Tuesday a good penny to Ud.' per, lb. to bring SS's to; 4G's wool into- .line with ' Bradford' . priccs to-day. , ■ . Merinos are no firmer than thev should be and it, is: possible .to buy'from eve'rj- topmaker but one ,at }d. _ less than ' last week, it is hard to. say . what 'it all means; Some seem' to think that importers , aro ' selling at" the best.' price- they, can make, but I still, think tliat long : fine wools are worth auite as muoh as they wore last'series.