QUALITY OF WOOL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21371, 21 December 1932, Page 17

QUALITY OF WOOL

PROBLEMS FOR GROWERS THE QUESTION OF TYPE

BY H.B.T.

.At a recent wool sale I met a very disgruntled sheepfarmcr. He had a different kind of grouch from the general run, and maylio many others are to-day in like plight. Some years ago this farmer set out to improve his flock, and boing a capable and observant man he selected as his foundation ewes all thoso sheep in his flock which combined strength of constitution with the heaviest sound fleece which his country could apparently produce. Tho quality of the wool on these selected ewes was by no means his ideal, but he believed that by careful breeding he could improve this to a type which both woolbrokers and buyers then- proclaimed as desired by Homo and Continental manufacturers. Steady Improvement Year by year, with considerable expense in the purchase of rams of desirable type, and through heavy culling, the clip has been improved until now the fleece of oho sheep is almost indistinguishable from that on another. Tho wool is bright, sound, long-stapled and has " character " from root to tip, with far less than the usual amount of rnedullated fibre found in the average clip. Indeed, it so pleased the woolbrokcr to whom the hogget wool was consigned this year that he wroto stating it was the best wool of its type which' had come into the wool store for a long time, and so attractive that ho had taken a number of buyers specially to view it, all of whom had praised it. Yet, when it camo to the sale, this admittedly excellent wool brought only 4sd per lb., while clips from more or less neglected flocks in the same neighbourhood fetched 7d or even more.

Disgusted that his efforts to produce a uniformly good product should meet with so little appreciation from the woolbuyers, tho grower was in a mood to " let the flock rip," and grow " any old sort of wool." Low Price Explained The explanation of the comparatively low price is, of course, a beautiful quality of strong crossbred wool when to-day manufacturers want only fine wool, and will buy this at a higher price even when it is inferior in quality. The problem arises: Would it pay this farmer to introduce finer-woolled rams into his flock with the object of meeting the demand of the market, or maintain his strong-woolled flock which is admirably adapted to the country which it is grazing ? It has been noticeable in past wool slumps that fine wools have always maintained their values better than the coarser grades. This is chiefly wools can be used in a far wider range of fabrics than can coarse. Even should rough tweeds be in popular demand, fine wools can be worked into these to a considerable extent, so making them much safer buying than coarse grades which can be, employed for only a limited range of materials. Again, coarse wools usually carry a higher percentage of yolk <r grease than do fine crossbreds, which means that the scoured weight, on which the buyers base their values, will be greater. The strong-woolled crossbred has this in its favour, that provided it is grazed on country which suits it, it produces a much heavier fleece than the finer type crossbred. This difference is frequently as much as three pounds per fleece and would generally, I believe, average at least, 21b. Even so, the strong-woolled sheep clipping, say 81b., at 4£d, is still returning less than the finer type clipping, 61b., at 7d per lb. There is, however, another factor which must be taken into consideration, As sheep age coarser wool tends to maintain the weight of clips better than the finer grades do. Less Actual Difference There may thus be less actual difference in return between mixed ago fine and coarse flocks than is apparent at first sight. It is contended that more fineM'oolled sh'eep than coarse can be- carried on the same area, but I doubt if this is so where the sheep are of similar size. Whenever coarser fabrics in dress materials come into vogue t the grower of the lower grades of crossbred has a decided win, so that it is probable that, taking an average over a number of years, the strong-wool farmer comes out as well, if not better, than the fine-wool producer. Ilis plight at the moment is undoubtedly bad, but it is only a matter of degree when compared with the " lucky? " man who gets 7d per lb. for his fine crossbred. It would seem to be the policy of madness to try and vary the type of wool grown to meet the demand of tho day. It is attempted in too many instances, with the result that many of the flocks throughout the North Island are so mixed in wool type as to be hopeless from a breeding point of view. Whatever type of sheep and wool it is found that a particular farm or station will produce to perfection, that type should be exclusively and consistently bred for. Generally it also pays in the long run to breed for the heaviest fleece which the. country being grazed can produce to perfection, and in many instances this means the production of grades up to 44-46 counts, which at present is not enjoying popularity. However, if wo can J be guided by the history of value fluctuations of wool, the coarser, grades of crossbred are due to eorno into favour again in the near future, when the man with a first quality product of this grade will come into his own and reap the [ benefit of sound farming. <