WOOL PRICES

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 73, 19 December 1917, Page 8

WOOL PRICES

THE SYSTEM OF VALUATION

HANDLING SEEDY AND DIRTY WOOL

■ . "I am enclosing account sales for two ; bales of crutchings sent to Napier," says a Hawko's Bay farmer 'in a letter to The Dominion. "One kale of 2961b. was short, inferior ' cmtehingSj but clean and free from piri piri, and it realised lid. per lb, a remarkably good price. The other balo of 8361b.' wag good, long, clean, inshorn hogget orutchings, absolutely free from dirt, but bad with piri piri. It realised BJd. per lb. It is not a, fair thing for . the Taluers to put that margin between seedy and non-seedyjyool, as a man loses virtually two-th'irus of his income through letting piri piri into his country. This year, owing to the scarcity of shearers and the early maturity of tho piri piri, i great loss of reveniio must ensue.

"It is a recognised thing that ii most cases the piri piri disappears from the wool during the voyage to London, ■ .being dissolved to dust by tho chemicT constituents in the wool. I venture to suggest that the authorities putal l ■ seedy wool on the open market. There would then be no cause for complain! '■" at valuations, since tho open market is "the convincing ground as to values." ' Officers of tho Imperial Supplies Department, commenting upon this com-' .. plaint, stated that for the purpose oi .ascertaining tljo exact value of each .grade and quality of wool the schedule -of greasy values (based upon a 55 pet -cent, advance on pre-war prices) is -extended to its equivalent in clean -scoured wool. The wool is valued according to its grade, quality, and yield "on this basis. Thus the price paid for a bale of seedy wool would be the value'of the clean scoured wool obtain_ed from that bale after the seed had .been removed. Provision has been made in tho regulations that if an -owner is dissatisfied with the valua■tion placed uuon his wool he,.nmy ap~peal within forty-eight hours (exfend"ed to seventy-two hours on good cause "Leinc shown) to an umpire nominated bv the wool growers. A fee is payable before adjudication, in order to . deter frivolous and useless appeals, and —the.foe is returned if the appeal is t>p--lielu. The number of appeals last season was almost negligible. The handling (if seedy wool has been one of the problems confronting the Department. It is a mistake to state that this wool used to be treated in Germany. The Germans and the Belgians took a certain quantity of it before the war, but Bradford always received most of the seedy wool. Some of the seedy wool used to be unsaleable in pre-war days. The Imperial Government, on the other heud, is 'akinc, all qualities, audit follows that the values in some instances are very low. The piri niri was had last year, and a considerable ouantitv of affected wool had to be handled. .The Department has taken some wool, that admittedly it would not' pay the Imperial •Government to.receive at (my price, in ordpr that nn grower may;be left with wool on his hands. . i • "The farmer can 'be satisfied that he is rnttini' nn absnh'felv-fnlr and square .deal right through." saicl/n representative of the Department.; /"The growers -have never before gofc;s'unh scientific valuation as thev are getting now. It "is safo to say that at no time in the history of New Zealand wool sains haye .the 'get up' and condition of the dip Wn so sure of' getting a full return. The accident' of competition or want of competition being removed, each lot is valued at its strict relative valuation on.'a sound basis. There is'no inducement to the -valuer to fix other than a fair and just valuation as between Ihe grower and -the Imperial Government."