OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 3998, 31 July 1913, Page 2

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

LAMBS’ WOOL: SOME PRACTICAL POINTS FOR GROWERS. [FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT] BRADFORD, June 20, 1913. The question of lambs’ wool is one which is of practical interest to pastoralists in every country in the world: Without the yearly increase in the flocks, wo cannot* hope for any development, and tho lambs prow an article of commerce which in the textile industry occupies a very unique position. Lambs, like the spring, are always welcome, and their advent is of more than ordinary importance to both sheep man and wool man. The § rarest news received by the wool uyer twelve months ago was that which spoke of tho ravages of drought among tho young members of the flock. The fact is, lambs’ wool is exceedingly useful, and quite apart from tho specific uses to which it is put, the trade as a whole could not possibly keep afloat unless voung stock were continually coming in to keep up tho stamina and quality of the flocks. To be told week by week of the great mortality among the new born stock carried with it something more than the mere words conveyed. Why ? Simply because lambs’ wool is an article used in very groat number of mills which cannot be substituted by either combing or clothing wools, lambs’ filling, a special position in the production of fabrics where longer wools would be a complete failure. Particulars are not to hand at present, but we suppose that when the final figures.-for the current wool yearare issued in July ; details will be forthcoming, showing the sales of lambs’ wool at the various centres in the Australasian markets. The figures will form an interesting comparison with the previous season, but this week we have information from Sydney to tho effect that only about 15,000 bales have been offered for the wool year 1912-13 compared with 30,900 bales for tho previous season. This shows that tho supply of lambs was practically cut in two, and the same remarks will apply not only to Sydney, but to-every other market in tire Commonwealth as well as London. WHY ARE LAMBS SO USFFI L?

The outstanding feature of lambs’ wool is its general utility, and the more practical knowledge one has of the woollen, flannel and hosiery trades, tho more it suscs are appreciated. Anyone who will carefully examine the handle of lambs’ wool cannot but be impressed with its springy nature. A man can take either combing or clothing wool, and wc will undertake to say that if a handful of combing is pressed hard in one hand, and a handful of lainbs in the other, and then released the lambs’ wool will rebound and fill a larger space than T.he combing, and it is surprising, what a difference there is in the appearance and handle of a fabric made Horn lambs’ wool compared with combing. In fact, for certain purposes combing or clothing would be entirely useless. This is not due to any deficiency in the staple of these descriptions, but simply to the lambs’ possessing inherent characteristics which are present in no other description of raw material. One can almost hear a pastoralist say that locks are probably more like iambs’ wool than any other staple, and while that may be so, there is not the handle or appearance that we find in the fleece of the young sheep. It is therefore in order to say that lambs’ wool possesses characteristics which arc found nowhere else, and which have been turned to good account in tho production of many useful classes of woollen and hosiery fabrics. We have known lambs’ wool be combed; in fact, one firm in Bradford makes a speciality of producing lamb tops, and they serve a special purpose. Of course they are mostly combed on the French princi. pie. where shorter stapled material can be better utilised than on the Noble or Holden comb. Lamb tops are combed and. spun on the French principle to bo utilised in tho production of the finest class of underwear CHARACTERISTICS OF LAMBS’ WOOL.

J here arc several leading features about lambs’ wool which make it valuable or textile manufacture. We hiue already dealt with the question ot handle, and this aspect of the case cannot be overuono. Jn the [Deduction of soft spongey fabrics lambs are par excellence. Take for. instance flannels. One has only to have an intimate knowledge of. the London sales to know that every bale of lambs’ wool is carefully valued bv a good bakers dozen of Yorkshire "and. Lancashire flannel manufacturers who largely set the pace for them. The best descriptions are mostly secured by hosiery manufacturers, "and as a rule the very high-priced parcels go specially for underwear purposes where price is no object. "'The firms buying these superior lines of lambs’ wool know that they must purchase them when offered in. December and .January, otherwise they will not be there at any succeeding series of London sales. Jhe same thing, obtains in Adelaide, Melbourne, and Svdnoy it being the handle and biobb'iness ’ of ibre which makes them so appreciated •by the trades named. But apart from handle there is also the question of color, which is well worth considering. Every practical woolman knows tnat color is an important asset in a clip or woo], and none more so than ’ll Jj l ’. n H is well-known that Port I lullip Jambs, give tho best color of any grown in Australia, though we certainly think that those produced in the south-eastern, portion of South Australia are equally as good. Still there is hardly as much “bloom” in Adelaide lainbs as in those of Victoria, especially those from the Skipton district. Of course, this is a feature which is entirely determined by climate and pasturage, but all the same the lambs grown in South Australia are good stock, and lire appreciated by tho various sections of buyers. The red earthy lambs hardly sell so well'as those grown on black soil, but all the same they usually fetch a good price if free from burr and fine in quality, due to them coming off stock that grow deep stapled, shafty wools'! Me do not know how far it is possible to class lambs, hut wo have often thought when we have seeu strong haired lambs mixed with those that were finer, that if the former could have been removed it would easily liave put Id to 2d upon the finer descriptions. Of course these are bought where softness of handle and fine quality are not of such importance as in Victorian lambs, and Adelaide lambs serve admirably for producing fabrics of a second-class order. For instance, those producing fancy tweeds in the neighborhood of Huddersfield, Leeds and district can use Adelaide lambs quite easily, and they are very largely consumed in the production of woollen cloths at from Is 6d to 3s. per yard. The woollen trade can deal w’itJi lambs that are burry and have to be carbonized better than the hosiery trade, in fact we know several firms of hosiery spinners who will not purchase a bale of lambs that lias to be carbonised. Of course, this operation rather helps'to destroy the bloom and renders the staple somewhat tender, but the 'carbonizing that is being done to-day by a few firms affects the color and strength of the staple very little indeed.

Lambs’ wool is very useful for mixing with adulterants'in the shape of cotton, mlingo or shoddy, • and here the springy nature of the fibre is seen at its best. We need hardly tell readers that this is a very common practice, and is largely done every day in tho West Riding in hundreds off mills. When lambs are used for blending purposes, and the cloths come to be milled and finished, the wool fibre in the. piece rises to the top, and as it were conquers the cotton anjl shoddy,

causing the piece to present an appearance more like an all wool fabric. Many manufacturers of medium class fabrics are prejudiced in favor of lambs’ wool, and where a good effect and a full handling fabric is wanted there is nothing to (mat it. WOOLLEN TRADE SLOWING DOWN. The situation has not undergone any material change during the week, but there seems, to bo a more general recognition that quieter conditions obtain both in the woollen and worsted branches of the industry than we havo seen for some considerable time, there being a distinct slowing down of. new business during the past six weeks being quieter, but when it continues wee kafter week, they begin, to look round and wonder what is about to happen. Everything indicates that a quiet time has been struck, and there is nothing for it but to wait patiently and see what the ultimate outcome is going to be. On. the whole mills are busy on old orders, and that is the best that can be said. It is more than ever patent that wholesale fabric buyers have now . come to close grips with the inevitable. They have been confronted: during the past month with the fiact that they will have to pay sensibly increased values compared with 12 months ago, and the prices named are such that they are not being as freely paid as manufacturers expected. A real struggle is taking place between the producer and consumer, and the present spell of quietness is due to wholesale buyers refusing to place further contracts in anticipation of prospective needs. It is generally recognised that no advantage is to be gained by buying largely' on forward account, and that it is nolicy to go from hand to mouth. The industryhas also reached the period of the year known as between seasons, and this also is emphasising the present period of inactivity. There is a general slowing down in the movement of all textile commodities, but at the foundation the situation appears to bo sound, and although slight concessions can be obtained where actual business is placed, the wav English wools are moving shows that many have confidence in the future.