YORKSHIRE. WOOL LETTER.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVI, Issue 116, 14 May 1912, Page 3

YORKSHIRE. WOOL LETTER.

IMPROVING SOUTH AFMCA& • WOOLS. (From our Special Correspondent.* BRADFORD, April 5. The fact that during the past forfc- ' night' considerable? quantities of Csipe I tops have been sold in consuming centres, directs atention to Soutii African wools. I have said verylittla ■about these during recent months, for the simple . reason that, they r-in so regularly, like a pair of horses- ma- . carriage, and can be said1 to work "hand in glove" with the Australian,] combed article. It is this ciroum- ' stiuice which deserves attention, and is certainly worthy of being nofc»-.l carefuly by ell, whether they bo growers or sellers. I was speaking on Bradford Exchange last Monday to one of the largest handlers of Cape tops, who frankly stated that his firm ' has done a veiy satisfactory business j during the Ivst few days, while a' ! second1 party ventured the opinion ; !. that South Africa'would turn out a ■ sensibly increased quantity of wool ! this season compaired with a year a£»o. jlt is this latter fact which cannot i'ail ito bo regarded with great satisfac j tion, for it shows that sheep-farmers j and wool-growers in that pairt of Great Britain's domains are forging i ahead at a most commendable pace. | What else can be expected when tip-to-d'ate methods s.nd «, forward policy are in vogue throughout the length and breadth of the landi? It is quite true that in some districts there i» ample room for still greater improvement^ and an accelex-ated speed is certainly desirable. Still, in the wof 1 i world, as everywhere else, we'have to jbe thankful for small mercies, and :we are glad, that there is any adi vancement a-t all to be reported. Som# i few- months ago letters appeared in a leading Australian pastoral organ i?ifr which a restriction in the ' ■exports--■ tk-n of stud sheep to South Afric* ! was advocated', but I certainly think j that such riews were the product of a. very parochial policy, and that there was no justification whatever for the .writers taking ,up such an attitude. It does sepm a pity that there should be any -talk whatever about putting a duty on the expoi't-\----tion of stud sheep, and I am glad to be «ble tp say; that there., is littl* .likelihood of■ any such measures ever' taking actual shape. THE "NEED-.FOR AUSTRALIAN BLOOIX .Soixth African wool lias- alwMys shown n high standiai'd' of quality, and so far as that particukr character.•=tic is concerned Australian stud sheep .cannot possibly have any influence upon Cape wool. Many people uso i^he term "quality" in a wrong senses, the word really signifying the small ness or fineness of th® fibre, or in other language its spinning property Tlie AS'ord "quality" is used instsal of the word; ''character," there being- ■& great difference in the meaning r.f these two wool terms'. Tlxe former. as I have already said, signifies to what count the''wool will'spin, while the latter denotes the general features oi (!. shorn fleece. These points arc will worth remembering by all pastoralistsi the wide world over. I repeat that South African wopls^ have never been lacking in the essential feature of quality, the bulk being 64's to'7o's, It'is not liere ..where tlio'r-e is any deficiency, South Africa as a. whole favoring the production c f a fine fleece of wool. '■■ What the raw material has lacked, whether grown m th-o Cape, Orange Fre-a State, Transvhhl, or Natal,, has been length, soundness and robustness of staple.. Let no one take the latter to imply something which is not meant. It tins often been remarked' by users of Cape wools that they were too lean i>i staple, and devoid of life, vitality, and elasticity. To the ordinary 'sheep-farmer this may not appear to be of much importance, but it is-<•]!-important to "those who buy'the ravv materiid j».nd turn it into yarns. v»,ivi' pieces. Wool that lacks life and vitality will never r.pin like that which is full of elasticity, ' for not only is there more waste, but the recults obtained in the finished piece «re never-as satisfactory us when the wool is full of the essentials already rfumedi T hnve maintained for years that it its exactly here where the in--fusion of Australian, bloodi would im- ■ prove the South'. African aa-ticle. and the- results attained on many flocks during the past, two years confirm what I have said. I could mention many clips which have shown an allround* improvement of 15 to 20 per cent, by the introduction of Australian blood, for \vhile the clip may not have improved in quality or finaness, it has certainly become better in .spinning capacity. This is as it should bo, and I am positive that ih/i last word has not been spoken in regurd to the raising of the standard of pei-fection of the "South African clip. I am not an expert jn cTealing with the law'y of production, but there' is no d^ubt that the long years of inbreeding adopted, by merino sheepowners a.t the Cape luas been entirely responsible for thje deficiency to which I 'have already glluded. Some five to ten years ago a very strong prejudice existed in the minds of many -spinno'rs against _ South African wools, and I am satisfied that the reason is. the one just given. It is a well-known fact that-yS'TOo and pieces made from South African wool never exhibit th -a' full handling property possessed by fabrics made from Australian fleeces, the former being "lean" and somewhat "papery." This is due to the lack of vitality in the material used. | but experience has proved tbat if the spinner runs up a Gape top with, three or four Australian tops, in th-3 drawing operation, he gets excelleit ]-e.sult,s. One eminent Bradford .•mihority has brought out this fact d-.u'ing the ps st winter in a. popular lecture on So-nth African wools, ;:nd I i m in a position to say that theno. fleeces t^ro more appreciated to-da v than they have ever beenl in the his toi-y of the trade. Every reado.v knows thfrt for 25 ye.",rs the Cap»v gj-oAvn article has been under a. clo-j'J, and -that South African wools were the first to bo affected by a,.;decli'io in values. .During the pest five years t'iey have mr.de considerable headway,- snd now occupy a much more favorable position on, the m:!rkets"f K'.irope than previously. Everybody rejoices at this, and I see no reason why with care and attention South African wool should not rise to a. position equally as good 'as that occupied1 by the material grown in the Commonwealth. But let no reader think that the same high price will be forthcoming for Cape wools (I am speaking just now of the whole of South as can be obtained "or the Australian product. I have ,'xa.l jainfy letters from sheep-farmers in ■ Various pnrt.s of -South Africa wanting to know why Australian greasy merinos frequently make up to Is''id per lb, while Cape wool seldom fetches' above lid. The reason is not far to

seek, and it centres around stylo, quality, handle, ?:nd condition. When Australian fleeces realise above, say, Is 2d per lb in-the greasy state, it : can bo taken for granted that they are a speciality, the ordinary wools oi' the Commonwealth fetching no mo-o than lid to 12d. There has certainly . been during the past two years a marked improvement in the "getup" of many South African clips, and this has helped to bring back the lots name.of the Cape article. Still. . there, is-. further, room for improvement, and there is a need on the part of the rank .and file to cease shearing six months, and to lock and, skirt their fleeces in a better way. ; It is a... foolish idea for any woo- ] grower who does not skirt his fleecer: to think tluat he will get the sanio { price as the man who carefully and j systematically prepares his' clip for i market in a proper, business-like \ 'fashion. TW methods adopted t>y j Austr&lian pastoralists are the standard for the world, and what they do cun be safely imitated by wool-gi-owei-s everywhere. I see no reason why South Africa cannot increase its annual output by . another 100,000 bales, and even then with the steadily ; increasing wants of the manufactur- J ing world there will be no surplus wool. WOOL. PRICES FIRM. The week has not been so deficient in actual business as the two previous ones, this notwithstanding the ap- . preaching holidays.- There lias been more buying of tops during the past ten days than one might have expected, and jt certainly is remark- j able that there should have, been any movement at all, considering the unpleasant outlook. in tne ' industrial world. It is true that the future m \ brighter, but the, financial condition of millions of workers who have been thrown into, enforced idleness cannot be anything but' very rmsutisfactory. However, wool keeps up its end' i.o----m-a.rka.bly well, and now all eyes ura turned in the direction of Cole-man Street, where.the next series of sales are due to begin next Readers'will know the opening resaits long before this letter,is printed, but | a iiiiirly..confident feeling- obtains, and as fai" as one can see there will probably be & very good demand for all combing merinos, while crossbreds.-arc expected to move upwards about "5 per, cent.. The .trade has been ,>furnished with an opportunity to get rid of some fairly heavy direct imports, and Ihis should; put everyone into better heart for operating. But for the strike, I am certain ■ there wo-.ild have been, an excellent series, with probably a slight improvement m values. As things stand .at present many fail to see that higher prices will be paid, but we all know that it is often the unexpected which happens, iand we (may witness it again. Tho price of a good 64's top is> 25d, alt-hough- id more is being made by those making a better.article. Bradford export houses state that they are doing a little better with the Continent, carded tops, as well as single 30's ■ysmais, moving somewhat moro brightly. This is very encouraging, and shows that trade is still to be done. What we now want is a very satisfactory series of London sales, and although buyers will be in Coleman Street- well on towairds a month, yet, sifter the _long vacation ' there should be no difficulty in lifting she wool available. There has. lately been more doing with^ the United States, chiefly in crossbreds and Engish, and taking things altogether there is a chance of business shaping better when all mills and factories begin to work full time again. It is possible to obtains fraction more lor noils--'owing to the lessened output,, but even yet they axe cheap compared with the initisd cost of: the raw material.