WOOL INDUSTRY

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 113, 9 November 1933, Page 12

WOOL INDUSTRY

SITUATION REVIEWED

IMPROVEMENT DESIRED

Efforts made to bring about an improvement in the quality of the wool clip of the Dominion were reviewed by the Prime Minister (the Et. Hon. G. W. Forbes) in a report presented to the House of Representatives yesterday. Tho report was referred to the Agricultural and Stock Committee £or consideration.

Mr. Forbes said-that in no product; had the fall in, prices been so pronounced as in'wool. For four successive seasons Dominion wool growers had been forced to market their production under extremely unfavourable j market conditions, the- return received being well under the cost of production. Under those conditions there must be a serious danger of deterioration-, and the Government was seriously concerned at the prices realised, particularly for .crossbred wool. After quoting prices received for wool during the last few years, the Prime Minister said that the j growing, handling, and marketing of wool was admittedly a very complex problem, the reason for that being tho great variation in diameter, length of fibre, grease content, etc., not only in different fleeces, but within the samo fleece. Unlike many other primary products, wool did not lend itself to simple standardisation which would form a suitable basis of marketing, and- at the same time standards on which improvement could be gauged by the producer, as, for example, in the case of butter* Moreover, there was little definite knowledge availablo to, the wool grower, apart from opinions often based j on insufficient fact, as to the lines along which improvement in" quality and price realisation could be planned with sufficient certainty to enable him to devise with .more exactness the lines along Avhich' a long-range scheme of improvement should be directed with safety. At the present time each breeded "pursued his own fancy," with tho resultant varied condition, particularly in North Island wools. CROSSBREDS AFFECTED. Unfortunately, there ivas a dearth f>t j exact statistics to provide a complete! answer to the questitfn of the. extent to which the fall in prices was the result of general world economic conditions, or how much was due to a possible falling off in. quality, or change in demand as regards various types of wool. It was very definite, however, that the fall in price , had been most serious in the case of theteoarser crossbred wools which constituted the Dominion's main production than in the case of other varieties. Mr. Forbes reviewed at length tho trends in use of tho various types of wool, and stated that it was plain that any propaganda, standardisation, or research to induce manufacturers and consumers to use more wool must be done by the. producers of the raw material. That was so obvious that it was remarkable that there had been such a marked lack of co-operation between the wool grower and the wool user. He also made reference to the effect of possible trade restrictions, and stated that as there was more likelihood of continued free marketing conditions in wool tjian for any other products, it would appear that tho sheep and wool industry was of paramount importance to the country's future. "With closer settlement and smaller holdings, there are fewer big farmers who can carry out the large scale breeding practice to produce finer and more even wools with improved carcass," he said. "Moreover, even for large farmers producing a clip possibly superior to that of their smaller or less informed neighbours there is still tho influence of the trend of the whole industry, and the competition of substitute materials organised on a large industrial scale with controlled production as regards both quantity and type. Consequently, some corporate and integrated action by the whole industry is necessary in both1 research and dissemination of reliable information to producers."

Mr. Forbes reviewed the steps taken recently to raise the standard of the North 'Island clip, and stated' that it appeared essential that some- action should bo taken to improve the present outlook of the wool industry through tho adoption of a long range policy tending towards greater stability in tho future.

One person out of every four of Britain's population uses the Post Office Savings Bank; there are now 1,000,000 more depositors than there were in 1912, while the average balance is'so per cent, higher than it was twenty years ago,