TOO MUCH ROMNEY

Evening Star, Issue 19637, 17 August 1927, Page 3

TOO MUCH ROMNEY

' H.Z.'S WOOL CUP CRITICISED AN AMERICAN COMPLAINT (SPECIAL tO THE ‘STAH.’] WELLINGTON, August 16. Learning of a conference of cioruiiiior woolgrowers, tindev the auspices oi the Bradford Chamber of Commerce, at which growers’ attention was called to uspeets’of the industry detrimental to wool users and likely to influence buying, the Boston Wool Trade Association has forwarded its testimony in a letter received by the New Zealand Farmers’ Union. After discussing the question with many large importers, the Executive Committee of the association states its belief that American buyers will _be forced to discriminate strongly againsi ca ps which arc poorly bred, irregularly classed, and carelessly put up. The Boston Association complains of the present tendency of breeding and of methods of marking sheep, classing and shipping- wool, and the indiscriminate use of the Romney ram in breeding. It is stated ‘ that this has resulted in fibres of uneven length and quality in tho same staple, and this makes close | sorting of wool impossible, with the rej suit that the wool must bo valued at i the lowest of the qualities that are I apparent. The largest American importers and 1 users of New Zealand wool prefer the I Leicester and Lincoln strain, because ’ they produce the long staple and a 1 more lustrous and better spinning woo! than the Romney. The desire for the | mutton carcase has brought about the j uso of rams which have a. tendency tc produce black hairs in tho fleece of their offspring. It is impossible to sort out these black hairs, with the result that the value of the wool is depreciated. Also, since the war, in ' American opinion, New Zealand wools j have not been classed as carefully as j previously, and it is pointed out that I extreme care should bo taken in wool i classing if active American rompeti- | tion for wools is expected. The wool | is not suitable unless it is carefully classed.

The hope is expressed that now methods of branding sheep will he devised to reduce tho big losses of manufacturers, and that now packing methods will replace the present hemp burlap, the fibres of which, in, spite of every possible precaution, are constantly getting mixed with tho wool. H3ST GROW TO SUIT COUNTRY .Loading Wellington wonlhrokers agree that the complaints nl the Boston Association are well founded, hut hope that tho United States purchases at wool sales will not he largely affected, since it. is considered that present position is not to ho altered easily. “It is perfectly true that a largo percentage of the rams in tho country are now Romneys,” said a broker acting for one of the largest firms in the dominion. “In fact, Romneys now form by far the majority of our rams. They do not breed the best wool, and they do not breed the best mutton, hut they strike a, good average between the two. It must be realised that in New Zealand wc have to grow sheep to suit the country, and not to suit the market. Tho Romney suits New Zealand very nicely, and .in the south especially it does well. The trouble, I think, Is that in the past there has been ton much breeding from old owes, and not enough use of the best rams. Wo ,re trying to get this altered, but you will understand that at a moment such ns the present, when times are, fairly hard, it is difficult to get. people to spend money on good rams. “ As to the complaints about Now Zealand woolclaesing, I cannot narco that there has been any falling off in the cpiality of this work since the war. “The question of woolpacks is a most important one, and a world-wide problem. It seems impossible to keep into from the wool, and. though all-wool-packs have boon tried, they have generally proved to be not strong enough, when manufactured at a reasonable ('rice, and ton expensive when they have been turned out heavy enough to stand the strain put upon them. Of course, thev can be torn to pieces and roused. ‘Paper-lined packs have been tried and found unsatisfactory. hut experiments with jute packs lined with rubber solution arc being made in Australia at present, and may prove of value. You will realise just bow important a. problem this is when I tell you that in Bradford alone manufacturers spend .CoO.nOO a year on what they call ‘hurling and mending’—removing jute pieces from tlie wool.”

Out of every 100 marriages in Britain one ends in the Divorce Court. Two out oi' every three divorced .men marry again, hut only about one-halt of the divorced -women remarry.