OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2363, 8 June 1899, Page 6

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

(From Otjr Special Corpesi'oxdent.) BRADFORD, April U. HINTS TO BOTH BUYERS AND GROWERS OF WOOL.

Wool may, as a rule, be classed under two heads — viz., of a good or an inferior character. If, for instance, it is stated that Sydney wool lias a better character than South American wool, this does not refer to every individual case ; there may be a La Plata wool with much more character than a Sydney or English wool, 'although the latter will probably have a coarter fibre. Character of a wool is a combination of all those qualities which mako it more or less adapted for spinning into yarn. This plays an important part in the selection of wool for either carding or combing, for each of which a special wool is used ; and though the best descriptions of each class vary greatly, there are intermediate graduations where the wool may be fit for either purpose. Taking our departure from this medium, we find, either way, that gradually the qualities of the two classes differ increasingly: softness, finene->=, length of staple, disposition to fpJt, strength, yolkines*?, all become altered. A buyer ot wool ha<- to consider all these qualities, and muf-t at the fame time see whether any deficiency in one direction or another is the result of accident or bad breeding. If, for instance, a wool is good in it«elf. Imt lia= been damaged in shearing, by bad leccling, illness, etc., thus reducing its life and elasticity, rendering it weak and brittle in f-laplc, it may ."-till be used, for its defecl< may bo paitly remedied in the process of manufacture, but this would be impossible where the fault was hereditary.

The character of the wool i.s so very important, because it affects the lustre, feoftne&s, cover, appearance, and colour of the cloth. All goods made of carded wool may be divided into two clas^e.--, such as broad cloths, which have a cover, and which are much milled or felted, and those liko trouserings, which ere not milled to such an extent. For the

former class of goods wools of good character are absolutely necessary, because the desideratum is softness, elasticity, disposition to felt, etc. A spinner, on the contrary, who spins yarn for the better class of cloths looks mainly to the fineness of the wool he buys.

Tho character of a wool may be fairly ascertained by the following qualities. When the hand is put into a lot of wool it should feel like fine cotton or silk waste, showing that the wool is soft and silklike. A buyer should not feel with the points of his fingers only, but should plunge his .hand well in, and pull the fleece out. The silklike feeling is the result of a uniform smoothness and pliability of the hair, and is a consequence of careful treatment of the animals, and is generally a sign of other good qualities in the wool. Such wool has mostly a dull, but evenly distributed, gloss, and produces a cloth of a soft and fine touch. It is well to note that a soft wool has generally the yolk evenly distributed. When knotty, dry, and hard, it is a fault as far as its character is concerned, and it is not to be met with in soft wool, unleßs these have been dried by long storage, and it then occurs mostly at the end of the staple. On introducing the hand into a soft wool, it will be noticed that the fibres separate easily, and follow the direction given by the separating fingers with a sensation similar to that produced by handling washed wool which has been greased afterwards with clean oil- When formed into a, ball, by closing the hand and then opening it quickly, the wool ought to spring back into its original shape slowly ; this is a criterion that the wool is elastic," and also that tho natural development -of yolk has -Been evenly, made. '

It lias been stated above that a soft wool feels like silk; hard wool, on the ether hand, has the'touch like that produced by handling tow. Anyone who wishes to experience the difference in the sensations has ouly to place a bundle of silk waste and one of tow before him and experiment.

Hard and brittle wool does not open out with elasticity, because the single fibres are not pliable; it is generally alsouneven in the staple, and irregular in growth ; its nature is not yolky. but merely gumray, 'causing the different fibres to -become attached to one another. Such wool . feels dry and stiff and brittle by arrested development. An inferior breed of sheep will always produce bad_ and brittle wool, but the most developed varieties may, through bad management and want of food, give an equally bad under hair, for the fineness of the wool is quite independent of its softness or britllenoss. ' One may appropriately compare the pkin of a sheen to a meadow. When properly manured and damped, the grass will bo oven and soft; but let the ground get dry and then the produce will be coarse and harsh, and the growth irregular

SCRAMBLE FOR MERINOS.

Business in wool has been resumed after the holidays in a most encouraging manner, at least so far as merinos and fine crossbreds are concerned, and' to some extent the better influence has [slightly affected. English sorts as well. Everybody; is aVlast impressed with the strong cpnvictiQii that fine wool is not going to hold .out npr mept the needs of consumers, and ,there..is a., strong prospect 'of there 'being nothing short of _a scramble for fine grades before many. months have -passed. Here in Bradford there is "a very strong' inquiry for merinos, in fact for anything down to 46's there is a most healthy -and encouraging demand. Spinners are pressing topmakers to make delivery of any orders they have booked forward, and not a few are in a most pitiable yet deserving position. Bradford to-day can boast of a few "philanthropic" topmakers who last December when the year was closing and nobody anxious buyers were foolish enough to make contracts for forward delivery of 60's at 20d to 20^1,- and -some are to-day called upon to make, delivery of some decent weights, at that price. Their feelings can be better imagined-than described when we state that to-day «ood 60's tops are selling at 23d, and 70's at 24d ; a price not touched before since 1891. This is a rise of a full halfpenny since the holidays, and the feeling is general that the top has not been touched. . Even at these prices thejre is a material increase in business, buyers -seemingly having courage to act upon their convictions as to the future. Holders of fine wools are in no sense free sellers, wanting, of course, to make the best out of their Rmall stocks. In English sorts of the best qualities there is a strong disposition on the part of holders to be doing something, but their asking more for stock checks business. Still, there is a decidedly better feeling, and one more akin to real transactions* Mohair is steady, bu? quiet at late rates.

Yarn spinners report inor6 orders stirring, and there is more doing on export account. The home trade continues healthy, and spinners are well employed though they complain bitterly at the. unprofitableness of trade owing to dear raw material?. There is likewise a good volume of business cTcing in pieces, the present season's trade being good.