OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIX, Issue 250, 21 October 1915, Page 6

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER

FAULTY AND INFER 101! WOOLS

[from our cobuespondent:]

BRADFORD, Sept. 3

Last week we dealt with, the subject <of medium to good wools, epitomising dearly what constitutes the class of raw material figui-ing under this desoription. To-daj we feel disposed U* consider two more wool terms, namely, faulty and inferior parcels, for those are undoubtedly prominent in the wools of the entire world; As wo previously remarked, the sippiociatcf." something . boitlerimg upon the very god, but every iMuetie:il sheep nuui knows, the difficulty there is; in producing average to gcxxi •wools, climatic conditions, pasturage, and breed of sheep having to be present in exceedingly good propor- ! tions if very good fleeces are grown. No doubt it is good wool that tho trade is always hunting after, because of -the pleasure in working up same, ■and also the excellence of Hie resultant fabno. It is a fact that there are half a dov.cn buyers of good wools to every one wanting faulty and inferior parcels, and yet the latter cannot be.dispensed with, and no one desires to do so. As long as the world lasts and sheep t»<re bred and reared, faulty puroels will always be m evidence, only everyone knows that it pays best To»produoe the average' to good. When that cannot be done, a sheep breeder has to content himself with growing as good as he can, a,nd it is here where fa.ultjy and inferior wools largely predominate. This brings before our notice the subject alre:wly named, and in faulty s>nd inferior wools we hnve a big line of raw material* wbiV-h fills a, useful purpose, and which itself occupies a position in the wool world whioh even good wools cannot fill. i INFERIOR WOOLS DESCRIBED, j

There is no doubt th:it we live in oja age when very little indeed is thrown on to*the scrap heap, and the present day can be styled as a time in The history of the world, when, odds .and ends are redeemed; in other words, when nothing is lost, even the refuse being turned to good acount. That principle wry largely obtains in the wool world- -We have to face ±ho fact "that on all hands trades have been invented that'take the bottom dregs, as it. were Tho question therefore- arises, jonstrtutes faulty and inferior wools? -these can be described as fleeces whi* are very wastv, and also which : contain some characteristics which renders the wool by no means a perfect sample. But even in wooi grown up&n country, which lacks those feas tures which lead to excellency th.eie iTSually n certain part of the fleece which of itself is good, but of which, ly, three parts is faulty.«nd inferior. This way be caused by bad pasturage, i,d pScularly whero seed,, burrs and other - extraneous vegetable matter largely obtain.. . K^'P-^ vinrr faulty and inferior wooi.-> -no to which l.fvo been badlygrowiu which are greatly impregßaUw^h vegetable matter, and which m one sense or another are deficient in growth and appearance. Att«r fi^. l' f faulty grown wool " T^fcS" Mass manufacturing article: at least, it caauiot be taken and ussd for pioduS really good cloths. The writer h» seen both merino »^^f \f wool depreciated at least 2d per Ib because of the faulty nature of tho 3 an excess of yolk and sand or earth, poo ra o,,s of color, tlie pmsenco of larao quantities of seed, Sfliy and burr, i-.1l tending to produce '-=>«'/> £Swn. fleeces. This.is renlly the chief cause for producing wool for ■which sw» inferior price is paid und it behove wool growers everywhere to-minimise these characteristics as much :>s possible. HOW THEY ARE DEALT WITH, ft may seem strange, but no doubb trwe are inferior wools grown which tiro not impregnated with vegetable matter, but u& a rule tho two go hand in hand. If wools wre poorly grown, and iire ornly troubled with an excess of earth and sand, then the scouring process will eliminate these features, produowg a s«oured product which van be übed .striuglit away. Jhe. writer has often been struck with led | earthy wools, particularly from Queensland, being tender, notwithstanding that slicey have be<*n on good pastures throughout the year. We want to do the Northern State of Australia full justice, but should .say that more tender stapled woo's arc produced in Queensland than in any other part of Australia. What is the cause? • Various reasons have been assigned, but not to the writer's 'personal knowledge has any connection been attached to the nature 01 tho soil upon which sheep are depastured. Every practical man knows that black soil is preferable to red soil for sheep breeding, and yet there are many excellent clips produced in New "South Wales grown upon very red soils, which are sound and always co:tio a- good color. But somehow tenderness in wool is a fault, although wo do not include this feature in the subject which is now under consideration. We will leave tender wools to be discussed on some future ■occasion. What we want to point out i^; that if fleece'; are somewhat deficiently grown and they are not impregnated with vegetable n.atter. then, Utter scouring they can be used fttraight away, but otherwise they have to hp den-It with by chemical or morihan ieti 1 irra tinen t. We should say that in nine m.«es out oi ton faulty and inferior wools are evinced entirely during the process of growincr. Th«w*» wools as a rule consist of broken, piece:;, bellies, and looks; in other words, certain parts of the ficocy v.hich havo become more or lo^.s impreginvt'.'d with- extraneous m:itf°r which sheop ha-\o picked up during tho year's growth. Merinos espoci;illy are troubled with voget-ohlo matter, .and if there is not present in tltom, say. burr and shiv, as a rult* thoiT i.- soniothi'.-g that has to l(f> iN-alt witli either by mochnnioail or clipinical tresitni'Mit. Still, in tho majority oi' cases, faulty and inferior '

wools are those w"hich have been more or less affected by what sheep have tricked up during their year s wanderings over the pastures, an/1, beiore these wool? can be Avorked up they hnve to be treated in a manner that will rid them of these vegetable "substances. , ' Tt *s not our purpose to-day to go minutely into the methods of divesting fleeces of vegetable matter. Ir the wools are very hurry »nd faulty, then carbonising or extracting is the principal method employed,'the wools bein** treated with a -weak solution ot sulphuric acid and other chemicals whereby the vegetable fibre 'S attacked, really eaten awsiy, and tr.en after a furtlier scouring the wool is ready for use. The render can take it for granted that whenever wools are affected with vcgetaMo matter, t.he same has to be got ml of either by one method tvr another .beiore the wool can be used. FAtn/TY WOO^S AND THEIR USES We now come to look at the j urprses for which these inferior wools are i-sed and it is here where modern ingenuity coupled with the excellent machinery at the disposal ot the trade to-day and mechanical skiil nas wonderfully triumphed. When wooi has been cleansed of all impurities, even very short stapled wools like locks, be Ilv>v merino, crosslvvd, or English, all serve a very useful purpose, and they are very extensively used in the manufacture- of woollen and hosiery fabrics. As a rule very fault', wools arc never combed, unless "t be" on the Continent, where undoubtedly short stapled wor>'s can be put to a good purpose when rotnhed on die Sclilumbergpr maclWne. At the same tircu' these weols when combed have to be on a woollen mule, "he resultant yarns being very largely used roi hosiery purposes. ]?oally speaking it is the us<» of 'Jiese' ■ short" faulty w.iols which made the I textile industries of Belgium. Frjr.ce, and Gormany what they were before i the w.ii ceiium-nced. the big weights of mult" spun hosieiy yarns being the r.ioduct in a very largp measure of these shr.rt stapled faulty wools. But crcn apart fron- hosiery yarns, very big quantities of these wools are used by woollen nnnufju'turors in producing tweeds and sinulai fabrics. 'Locks do admiiably in the production

of flannels :;:v.l shirtings, and also other woollen ir&torials, it being surprising what IT-cdern machinery can do oat of such mfitenal as fai.lty locks \tx the same tune it behoves every" pastoralist to strain every nerve to produce a good fleece, .'.here is certain to be an abundance of faulty f.nd inferior wools when a sheep-breder has don*; ms best, and while this can be used" end serve a ,ery-g.!od purpose, yet evervono shou'd endeavor to bring forth that which will be a credit to lumsel) and also help to promote the interests of the entire trade \ Tlie poor huilty wool will alwavt, be with us m thn j trade, but the svpreme interests of evervpne should be +o. produce, ttie best ir every sense of the word. LOOKING .TOWARDS OOLEMAN

STREET.

The traders now looking forward with a fair measure of interest to the forthcoming London sales, which begin next Tuesday. Everybody is full of expectancy, hoping between now and Tuesday to s-ee th.s Government announce what it is prepared to do in regard^ to the export of both merinos and cros.sbreds. We strongly contend that it is in the interests of the entire industry that the law material should be allowed to be shipped to "safa destination" with all possible speed, f.nd it will do infinite good if 50,000 bales ot crossbreds are expoi ted to our 4.Uies and the United States. There is not much change in the price of tops in Bradford, and business ccntinues to be rather slow.