THE CENTENARY OF THE WOOL TRADE

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1664, 20 January 1904, Page 28

THE CENTENARY OF THE WOOL TRADE

AUSTRALASIA’S PREMIER INDUSTRY.

REVIEW OF PROGRESS.

It is worth rfofcing that the present wool season marks the oentenary of the introduction of Australasian fleeces to the serious attention of English staplers. This was due to the efforts of Mr. John. Maoarthuir, o<f Not South Wales the father of the Australasian pastoral industry. So tong agta a® 1793 that enterprising . genuemaii became conv incod that the grass and. climate of New South Wales were adapted to merino sheep. About two years later he. obtained a ram and two ewes from Oaptain Kent, who had brought them with.some other stock for the supSly of' the infant settlement from the ape of Good Hope, to which place some of the pure-bred animals had been sent by the Dutch Government. Mr. Macairfbur irmnediately began l to cross his oaarse-flcoGed- sheep with meninoes, and. in ton'years his flock; which had consisted originally of seventy head, had increased _to 4000, although the wethers were slaughtered a© they became fit for food. In 1803 Mr. Macarfchiur visited 1 England to obtain British capital fo in,vest in Australian sheepfarming, and took with him six fleeces of fine wool to demonstrate the capability of the country for- pastoral pursuits. These samples he exhibited to a committee of manufacturer® who happened to be in London at the time, and they were so much approved that Mr. Mac&rthur appeared before the Privy Oonucil, and laid before that body his plans for rendering England -independent of foreign countries with regard to the supply of the best wool. The progress made in Australasian wool raising, as the result of the introduction of the merino, was early notice able. In 1801 thia heaviest fleece -shorn we : ghed only 3Hb (washed), but in the - following year the fleeces had increased to 51b -each. Mr. Macarthur failed in his mission of inducing English capital to exploit the Australian industry, tire general opinion at the time being chat the grass was net suitable pasture for sheep. Ho, however, was 'successful in procuring a grant of 5000 acres near the Nepean River, and dlose to Camden,, south-west of Sydney. He mus>b have owned more sheep than ail the other growers together, for it is recorded that “in 1813 the number of sheep in the colony was only 6514.'’' By 1827, however, the aggregate had been brought up to close on 120.000. The highest price obtained for fine wool to the latter date was 10s 6d per lb, but this-occurred only once —, the values for finest specimens not having exceeded in other instances 7s 6d, and Mr. John Maoarihliur was- the only grower who got thfovsum, owing to the fact that he had been for-some year© the sole possessor of the. purc-bredi merinos. Only about 2501 b annually at this

time realised 7s 6d, but a number of bales wiore sold at from 4s to 6a ait the London auctions. Goveirnpr King, of New South Wales, early, recognised; the importance of the newly founded industry, and) addressed) several despatches to the home authorities on the question. It was he who pointed out tha necessity pf allowing owners of stock to depasture their flocks upon Crown lands. In 1804 he laid the foundation of the system of 'Squatting, which, with, modifications, spread over the continent. A proclamation was issued in the following terms: —“Whereas it is necessary for the preservation and increase of the breeding stocks that portions of land should be reserved adjoining these districts, Where a number pf settlements have been fixed in small allotments bounded) by others, and it being impracticable to locate large allotments to all who now possess, or who hereafter may possess stock in order to secure to thear use paistnrage for rearing and maintaining cattle and sheepr-His Excellency lias deemed it expedient to allot by grants under His Majesty certain portions of grazing grounds hereunto stalled.. The leases will be made out in the names of those persons resident in each district Who are named by the rest and approved by the Governor.” l’rom the early days whan the sheep had to be “shepherded” as a protection against the natives and wild dogs the pastoral industry ha® evolved till at present it is carried oni with a certainty and security which at one time would have been thought well-nigh impossible. South Australia obtained its initial supplies of stock from Englla/nd and the Gape, as well as drawing upon the established flocks of the earlier settled parts of Australia. Larg3 numbers of sheep were travelled from New South Wailes and Victoria by men who became known as “overlanders.” In 1838 there were 28,000 sheep in N.S.W.; in 1840, 200,160; and in 1845 . 480,689. According to the latest official statistics the number at present is over five million

EXPORTS. As early as 1806 the first wool was shipped to London, 2451 b being sent from Sydney. In 1815 the totaJl exports from New South. Wales and Tasmania—-the pastoral industry had made rapid progress in the island settlement —reached 73,1711 b. At that date the freight on wool ruled at per lb, and in 1819 a duty of Id per lb was levied in Great Britain on Australian wcpl, which was increased to 3d in 1823 and to fid in 1826. I» 1825 fine Australian wool was worth 3s fid per lb in London; lambs’ wool, 2s; and ordinary, Is fid. The Society of Arts did it® best to .encourage the infant industry. It offered a gold medial to the person who, prior to February, 1824, imported into Great Britain the greatest quantity, not less than two tons, of fine wool, the produce of New South Wales; and another medal to whoever should produce the finest sample of wool from the oversea possession, the fleece to be equal to the best Saxon. It is a tribute to the stability of -the industry, as well as to the excellence of the staple that no such methods have been necessary for many years. . Australian finei-haired wool is eagerly sought for by all the leading countries of the world, even by those which would gladly shut out the .foreign commodity by imposing a .prohibitive duty if they darecL Nearly al.l the wool produced in Australasia is exported, the qu rntity retained for consumption by the local, industry amounting to less than 2 per cent. Exixxrts from South Australia in, ton-year periods! have been as follows: —IB3B, '*£77o; 1848, £98,582; 1858, £420.833; 1868, £1,305.280; 1878, £1,834,871; 1888, £1,353.632; 1893, £945,589; 1902, £1,061,809. Including' New Zealand, the value of wool exported; from Australasia in 1881 was £16,136,082; in 1891 £24,063,227; and in 1901, £18,920,803. The year 1895 marked high-water mark of production. During that'year-exports of wool from Australasia fell just under 2,000,000 bales, originally Great Britain was the jonly. and for many years the chief, market for our wool, bult of late years France, Germany, and Belg'um have taken increasingly large quantities. It is estimated that about half tffei Australasian production enters into consumption in foreign countries. An idea of the growth of the industry will be obtained from the follow-” ing figures for Australasia: —1831, 2,541,2051 b (exports); 1841, 12,399,3721 b (experts); 1851 41.810,1171 b (exports!); 1861. 88,087,6001 b (production); 1871. 257,605,800 lb (production); 1881, 393,341,7001 b (production); 1891, 661,229,3001 b (production); 1901, 673,914,3001 b (production). MARKETING THE CLIP.

It is worth mentioning that the imSxrtation of Australian wool into Great ritain was responsible for the institution of the public auction system as a method of disposing of the clip. Prior to that time England had drawn her supplies of fine merino wool from Spain and of Silesian from, Germany. The clips were carefully asaorfud and sold by sample. It wae impossible to do this with the Australian, commodity, and so the necessity for auctions arose. Up to 1859 the whole of the colonial clip was sold in London, but about 1860, when completion of the treaty betw&eui Napoleon and Cobdon .stimulated trade between Prance and England, some Roubaix operators thought it worth while to visit the antipodes. Thus the foundations of the local auction©' which have coma to be so popular were laid. Other circumstances assisted to bring about the same result. The two great exports of the ■ new settlements were gold and l wool. The former was purchased by the banks and the latter was consigned to ' well-known London houses which had identified’ themselves with the business. Merchants not in the charmed circle who had to make remittances to British creditors were compelled to purchase bank drafts at a considerable premium. They therefore welcomed a system which enabled them to purchase wool in the open market on the same footing as -other houses. Not till 1880 did the local auctions- assume much i q> portanee. In that year, however, Continental wool 0 firms began to make permanent arrangements for operating in the Australian capitals. At present nearly three-quarters of the wlool is sold before it is shipped from Australia.. Prior

to 1830 Australian wool was not quoted in England, but in thiat year the value of the best from New South Wales is given at from 3s to 5s per lb. Fipm 1855 the. range of prices for Adelaide greasy iis shown as follows: —1855, Sd to lldi; 1856, 9d to. 13^-d; 1857, 12d to 16d; 1858, 7£d to 13d; 1859, lid) to 14Jdj. 1860, 9td to 17|d. The sixties witnessed a great expansion of the pastoral industry, but prices of wool were not as high on the whole. In the middle of the sirties the Continent wais Visited with disastrous droughts, which proved fatal to many of the oldtime wool; Icings. Those who survived reaped a rich harvest. Upon the, conclusion of peace after the war, a wave of industrial activity swept over Europe, which caused wool to be greatly in request. The 'effect of this rise was fdlt in the colonics in 1871. when an advance of 59 per cent, was recorded at the October auctions. American buyers n-ppo. rod for the first time, and Riverina wool sold at from. 13d to 15d, and even at 16d per lb. Tlxe advance continued during the following year, when the average price of Adelaide greasy fleece in London was Is Id, whiie the value of a bale of wool worked out at £26 10s in London. For several years 'extreme rates ware maintained, but the inevitable reaction occurred, and in 1893 good. Australian wools fell below 10i. Again in 1899 a "boom” occurred, and. 1 wjooi, sold in Australia at up to 19|-d. Since then values have come back, thongh they are ©till' on a remunerative basis. The vailue of the return to Australia from its Hooks in 1901 is given as £24,017,000. of which £18,454,700 was\due> to wool. The weight of fierce per sheep has consistently increased. South Australia leads the way in this respect, the figures in ten yearly periods being:—lß6l. 4.69ib; 1871, 6.411 b; 1881, 6.93ib; 1891, 6.851 b; 1901, 7.91 b.

THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS. The process of producing and mauketing woo! is pretty well known in Austral a, but not so the method of manufacture, and a few words on this subject will not be out of place. The first process after shearing is that of sorting, much of which is now done on the station-;. From tine sorting room, cf a woollen mill the fleece is. taken to the washing ixont, and there put through tlxree courses of hot water, with which is mixed) a strong lye composed of potash, oil, and. tallow. Some year.-! ago the wool used to ba stirred about in the large iron bowls by men armed with huge Steel forks, b.rt nowadays this' process is performed by machinery, and by these moans the wool! is thoroughly cleansed, from all impurities. The next proosas is that of Warding. A “bard” is a machine which tp a stranger seems composed of nothing but rapidly revolving rollers and innumerable simaM wheels. The wool is placed on a board .at the machine and is slowly but surely drawn tlxrongh the rollers. All the burrs are taken out of the wool ns it comes in contact with the needleliks points projecting from, every rol Lor. NaturMiy, in it-J passage 'through the machine, the wod'L i 9 tom into small pieces. Instead emerging in fragment© P.l -e wool oon4.es- out. in the form of a long ■‘’•'diver/' or ribbon, which, through an arrangement for the purpose, is then wound into a large ball called. a ‘-ipp.” After the wool: is thus made into large balls it is taken into the combing room, and there several balls arre put into one comb;, and all run-together to make one thick “sliver.” • The object is bo diraw the wool out and make it as even as possible, and also to take out all the short hairs’. These short hairs, which are left after the combing process, go by the name of “noil,” and this noil is sold as waste, to be afterwards worked up into blankets and other thick woollen materials. After the wool has been combed and again made into large bails it ie taken to the drawing room. The object of drawing the wool is to get the “sliver” email enough and even enough to spin into a. thread. The process in itself is simple, and consists of six operations. When the balls of woo] are brought from the combing room they are run through a box, andi then wound on to. large bobbins, or “rovings,” each of which is then called a /stubbing.” The ©dubbings decrease in size every operation, until at the sixth they appear as small rovings., ready for tlie spinning frame, The process of spinning worsted is more complicated than that of drawing. The rovings which com© from the drawing room are made to vary in weight, and can therefore be spun to any number of counts from tens to hundreds. The “counts” represent the number of hanks (each containing 560 yards) to the pound. The threads of worsted severally intend to “warp” and “weft” can bo spun at the same time, the only difference in the two being that the warp requires to be made stronger than the weft, owing to the fact that a. greater amount of pressure is put on it in the weaving process. When the weft leaves the spinning room, spun on small bobbins, it is quite ready for the weaver’s shuttle. Not so the warp. Instead of going straight to the lespm, the warp- (now on small bobbins, just like the weft) is taken to the twisting room, where the bobbins are placed in a twisting frame, and two ends run into one, making by this process what is known a© a waip. This is clone to make the warp still stronger for the weaver. The warp then leaves the twisting room for the winding room, and is there wound on to lai’ger bobbins, which in their turn a,re placed at the back of a maieliine called a ‘‘creel,” when between five and six hundred end© are run off on to a large beam made of Wood, and is now called a warp. The warps are then removed to the sizing room, where they are sized or stiffened and afterwards dried. After passing through the hands of men called “warp-twisters” they ore ready for the loom. The weaving stage is now reached. Quite a variety of goods are woven in a large worSber mill. Cashmeres, all kinds of linings, crepdns, twills, heavy coatings for suits and overcoats, mixture, cloth of every conceivable 1 shade for dresses and costumes, and all tlik new-fashioned 1 lustra fabrics.—“ Register.” Jl r ■

About 90.000 tons of-butter is mad® yearly-in the United Kingdom.;