OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 686, 10 December 1909, Page 10

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

■~ TIMELY -.TOPICS. ■■:■ (From Our Special CorrcEnondenU '..' : '-. . Bradford,. October 22, 1909.' ■' There is nothing very pronounced' to be said in connection with wool at this writing, there being no burning question agitating :tho mind of the trade. ...All eyes arc turned in the direction' of Australia, and cable news this week has been practically: a blank. I have often thought that a daily cablo ought to be sent by Houtcr or some commercial preEß agency when important, sales are being held two or three days in ..succession in. Melbourne or-: Sydney, but such is not Hie caeo. After every Adelaide sale. Messrs. Elder,. Smith, and' Co., Wα., send tho boot cable that ever comes from Australia, ar.d the gratitude of the whole trade, is of no mean order, ail aliko approving'of that course of conduct. There are limes' and (Masons when a- cable would bo o! little Rood, but at tho .beginning of a season when tho trade hardly knows which way to'turn for tho best a report from the Commonwealth would be n valuable factor. However, not o, great deal pan bo said of tho standing of the raw mntc"al. There is no chango of importance, the whole fabric holding intact ''uot thi same as was tho case a week ago. II anything there is a somewhat better ..tone, a little moro business has been astir, arid there is a shade better feeling. ■ -. ■ ;

- THE FASHIONABLENESB OF MERINOS. Finq w001,.0r the product of the merino sheep, occupies to-day, a front-rank position l in tho eyes of tho manufacturer, and, whereas from 1902 to 1905 crossbreds occupied tho box scat, merinos to-day havo the reina in hand,' and are driving-strong.. That is entirely because fine, soft-faced good 3 ■ are fashionable, and will bo if prices , remain a* all- reasonable. Thero is to-day r.o factor ■ except extravagant rates that can' dethrone merinos, and that is tho only'fear-which users > have. I was talking the othor day to one of our best: and most reliable wool-brokers hero in the city, who said, he had been talking to one of the biggest Hud-, (lersfleld worsted. manufacturers, and it was hie firm conviction that wholcsalo: fabric buyers would not follow for long very • high wool prices. Ho nut it like this: .They wore justabout - beginning to show iiow cloths f at the winter season o! 1910-1911, and. they, had been forced to raise, their cuo'.ations to a parity of 2s. 4d. for a.'64's top. Said he omphatically: ' up to tho present we ■ have sold everything on a, basis of 2s. Id., n,Dd when it comes to b question of figuring the cost on heavy-wcittbt fabrics for winter, it moans 'something/ . The reader can well sco that when vel'y. lino heavy worsteds set! wholesale at 7s. to Bs. por yard, tho garments are going to cost a good amount beforo they reach the wearer's back, and it. is: when the woollen merchant aska for tho "next best that it ,is time to look out. There is reason: in all. things,, and- I havo been, long enough in the trade- to know that exorbitantly high prices never last for long, and if'worsteds get very dear then woollens, aro coon taken under the ■ wins of tho mw&ant, wholesale clothier, and retail house, and are pushed for all they aro worth, under tho excc:o of being /"quite as good,- and muoh cheaper." . I don't say that, tho industry is to-day fiffering much on that account, but tho fact is very significant that Scotch tweed makers over tho Border ara busier than they havo 'bcei- lor years, and tho outlook with them is distinctly bright.

. . . THE HUTTON TBADE. English shcep-f araers .this year have felt very keenly indeed the serious fa!! in the' prico of sheep and lambs. I\ read:tho other day an advertisement in a Scotch.paper that Glasgow batchers wore prepared to cend "carriago. 'paid" Rood Scotch fresh-killed mutton, at: the rato of lid. per !b., if a customer would takes half a saecp. Several. of my. friends have haft to' take from IPs. to 15s. less per head for their haUbrcd fat lr.mbs than they; actually madb two years ago, and tho price of sheep has come down at least a sovereign per head.' This is very, sorious, and a3 far.as one.can make out tUo outlook la .by'no mean.l entertaining." An unfavourable aspect' , of the preWnt depression is that retail butchers report a faUing-off in tho inquiry-lor'.mutton from' their customers. How;has.it come about that mutton seems to bo.lOEo appreciated- than formerly? is a question,, that cannot bo :answered in an off-hand way, • It ii vrel! enough! known to all stock-, raisers in this,country how the frozen mutton , and' lamb industry has. grown,"and . how, it in .that British markets have to bear tho brunt of tho competition with this product. There is practically no market on the Continent for mutton,- ;but colonial exporters'will doubtless now turn their attention to tho' possibility o! scouring how., markets in;. Southern ■ Europe, either in Franco ..or .Italy., in order .to save themselves from a repetition of tho unprecedented . slump in prices which haa characterised this season's trading. ,■ '■'.' ■ . . •To. begin with, , tho "forward" buyers have lost heavily. .However favourable tho ! wool position may ; fce, tho price scoured.for. the. mut--ton\or. lamb' carcasses :'. is: as importaat' to • the colonial producer;. for thing, land valuee havo Brcatly increased :ust because of.thoMonecontinuod ruh of .'Satisfactory prices; and it would havo tco.uired a continuance of; these prices, to enable: tho colonial producer to faco his liabilities.: A- moderate estimate of tho depreciation in value on ..this -year's trading alone .would- b>s''io.Vp!acd;it "at 0£1,60p,0Q0 on"'tho. .quantities imported "from i'January' 1' dowa\ to the end of Aujnst. ;■• This ip on . the basis' that prices- 'ha'ro fallen on an .average about- 10s, :.por: cwt. , . but as:thero.has recently boon a furjthor fall in., price,., with .small; prospect of a recovery.{or. fome time to , come: tho'loss on the supply imported, baforo the end of this year .'will certainly exceed iE2>SCO.OOO; 'when compared - with prices current', for .some years past.' A good deal of >:tho blame for. .low prices seems to be. due"to tho.unpopularity of muttpn ■as an. article of food. Tho prjco of beef, all through this year has been unusually high, and tho public tasto has: not boon in favour 'of mutton to tho same extent as formerly: ' Afpw English iou-nals aro'trying, to.- console their farmer friends ; that. "frozen . mutton is ways particularly.,- satisfactory. . as, .a/ flesh food;" but seven-tenths; of tho butchers' -.'shops in London retail both; colonial and Biver'Plato, ■frozon imutton, and if tho' carcassos are-well /thawed it is hard to toll, the-difference between them and.fresh killed.■...,■ : ■

■T'. thick'.the* glut- ha 3 been very largely, re- ■ sppnsible for the'great .slump in;prices. With Australia now carrying rich largo eheop.stocks, coupled with", more: shesp, in' Now , Zealand, the. .amount of Jrozen mutton hamshown a'colossal incro?.s"i. Nothing has'struck the writer more than- tho largo number of. shops in'manufac. turinz districts in tho < West Hiding that sell frozen. mutton and chilled beef, every important company in London, having branches in all fho big villages and towns throughout Lancashire and,.Yorkshire. : I am unable to Bay :what.is the' cxtcr.t of their business,: but, full shops on Thursdays;, and Fridays seem to be empty on Mondays,, and it appears to a casual onlookcr v that' a. good trade is being done. . The demand has''fallen off in the aggregate, whiliv at the. samo - tirao,, {here. havo been largo .increase from , South America, Australia, and New Zealand. -■' . ;

: A.NXIOUSLY AWAITING DEVELOPMENTS.''. The. market has not travelled very far when, compared with a weolt ago, everything' more or IO3S marking time. The predominant feature oontinuja to be a strong/;desire, on tho part of overyono ito acquire . cheaper wool, and all alike arc ..anxiously waiting.jp see things lower. 'Business for tho timo being continues to bo very slow, and'iVia mostly confined" to future months. Importing topmaners are • not. risking a very great deal, , although they, are. selling forward if. they.get,'the,chance, but their quotations -aro not low enough for the majority of spinners. Plenty will buy ■ and : buy heavily when they feel : that the time is opportune, and although prices; have :como down ■ ljd. from the : ,high'es't point,, yet everybody .almost, ia expecting to get. in at less before they. are. actually compoUod to again oomo into the market. Tho feeling andsontimont is hardly eo bearish ae last week, and some are.of ths opinion that users will have to again como into tho market'ar.d buy at no distant 1 date.' -Jtorinos continue to bo well held,' although if is poseiblo to buy even'for spot'delivery at a good penny under what could bo done a. fortnight ago. The high prices quoted at the last London sales were never realised, and, the ■•; trndo is more sceptical. than ever about < last sales' prices being maintained when wool becomes moro plentiful. What this whole district wants ia an adequate supply of fine wooln at a cheaper rate, and given reasonable prices' a , big trade will be done. Spinners aro a!! taking in doliveries at a; rapid rate, ar-d consumption is well maintained. The supply of fine tops is comparatively. , light, though it is • surprising' when markets'..turn Eomowhat. slack how ■lots of wool and tops como out and aro offered. Crossbreds are steady and firm, particularly 46's and upwards,. but there ia . less doing in strong sorts,. and .Wβ still .stick. There_continues to .bo a healthy demand for 50's, and supplies here are exceedingly liqht. America is buying freely oS: wools suitablo for its requirements, and some nice weights aro bointt shifted both of English and colonial fleeces. Noils are again quieter, and pricea somewhat sag. There is also no great amount of activity tin mohair though thcro continues to bo some fair transactions at the'Bonrccß of supply. Taking things as a whole, machinery is being well' Tun, and trade continues good. ,'- : •: