THE GET-UP OF WOOL.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 330, 17 October 1908, Page 3

THE GET-UP OF WOOL.

CONTRARY VIEWS. . . WHAT FARMERS SAY. Tho article by "Specialist" in Wednesday's Dominion on "tho get-up of wool" has; .attracted considerable attention. Our Wairarapa correspondent, who interviewed several prominent farmers with reference to some of tho opinions expressed in the article, states that several practical sheep men admitted that tho writer was correct in. a number of his points, such as co-operation in shearing and the carelessness of skirting by somo farmers, yet they were inclined to disagree with the statements regarding the difficulty of obtaining wool-classers. Any number of these men. and experts, too, may be obtained from the fellmongery firms, states Mr. John Strang. Mr. Strang, who has a particularly fine flock, has always taken the greatest care in skirting his wool. His own knowledge on tho subject is just about equal to that of almost any wool-classer, and he is a firm believer ■ n placing each staple by itself, and never including "bellies", or stained wool with tl)e fleeces. - He is aware, however, that some farmers do carry out this practice, and up to the present'they have commanded as good prices as obtained by himself. Mr. Strang has a co-operative shearing shed at Gladstone, which has been of great use to his neighbours until they had fitted up their own sheds with machines. The scheme worked very well, as far as obtaining firstclass shearers who were attracted by the big shearing—something liko 35,000 sheepl- - it hardly paid Mr. Strang at £2 per hundred. Mr. Strang is positive that the pooling of the wool from different farms under one brand would not be a' success. There are so many different ways of attending to flocks, and each farmer has his own favourite method. Then, again, says Mr. Strang, the i qualities of itlie clips of adjoining farms might be quite dissimilar according, in many ways, to the ability and also the wealth, of the respective owners. The system proposed might come'into vogue when tho quality of the clips was more general, but certainly not now. Mr. W. Perry, the well-known Penrose breeder, expresses practically the same opinions. As to tho suggestion that the Government should import wool-classers in order, to inipart knowledge, farmers altogether scout-the idea. Farmers know very well t they say, where they can obtain the services of' classers, provided they like to pay for their services. A wool-classer on a big station is usually paid £1. per working day, with board and lodging, but, if they like, farmers, with small flocks .of good wool can class quite well enough to suit, the requirements of the market. The' trouble has been in the past, however, that growers have believed that wool brought just as good a price with no classing as-with it, and many fanners '.naturally preferred the easiest method. With wool down now at'- a' low price farmers will havo to devote moro care to the'selection of their fleeces OPEN HOUiSES FOR POULTRY. Models of the open poultry houses which Mr. Hyde, the Government poultry expert, is finding 1 so satisfactory at Milton are oh view, at his office in. Customs Buildings. at Wellington. The open, house ias numerous economic advantages. It is open on one side only, and its other walls are air-tight. There is, therefore,- an abundance, of afresh air always in the house, but' no through draught. As a'result of this, it is possible to keep :n • such a n hoWS* ! lh"'g6'63 "health'- , many"''times a; many birds as could be'well kept in a closed house. There would be less bad air breathed. by the birds roosting in an open house uncleaned for a year than, there would be in a closed house containing • only two days' droppings. -In a' closed house) : under tho best conditions, smells begin immedi-ately'the-birds settle to rest. So in the open houses the cost of housing is cheapened, because, less space is necessary. As to tho birds taking cola on windy nights, Mr. Brown, the assistant poultry export, says. he believes less tuberculosis,, would ba found among birds so housed than among birds -in closed houses. , And the openhouse birds at Milton- are laying as well as tho others. SHEEP STATION NOTES. '.;, Docking should be finished this week in the Wairarapa (writes our correspondent) and with fine weather shearing will probably become general around Masterton during the next three weeks. Mr. J. O; Bidwill, of South Wairarapa, 'has, already, finished his clip. Bowlanas began , a few days . ago, and Brancepeth, Te l'arae, and some other places will possibly be in the thick of the business in the course of the next fortnight. Speaking of his annual lambing, which generally ran to over 100 per cent., a Wairarapa sheepfarmer : informed our correspondent that ho did not believe in the six weeks' limit of running rams with the'ewes. If this were done in large paddooks, he said, farmers would soon find, out that the percentage would be falling. His practice was to turn the rams out, then to muster them when he found that they were gathering into,little mobs by themselves and discussing • the situation, as. it were. He then -knew that the" animals considered that they had finished their task, and they were retired' accordingly.