OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2437, 28 November 1900, Page 6

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

(Fros£ Otjr Special Correspondent.) BRADFORD, September 28. QUALITIES OF WOOL AND THEIR. MEANING-. Every woolgrower knows that in speaking of the quality of "his clip, or the grade of any X^arcel of wool, it is not sufficient to simply say whether it is merino or crossbred, these terms being but vague and insufficient and oftentimes misleading, but it is necessary to be more particular in defining what that qualiAy. ia^ hence jt is customary to s^eak of that

wool as being of 60's, 50's, or 40's quality,just as the case may be. By so doing, a man with any practical knowledge of wool* will be able to form a correct estimate ofi\ what grade the wool is, and at once be able * to estimate what purpose such a quality is C fitted for. By this arrangement the whole ' trade has its best interests served, and all quibbling is done away when the quality in numbers has been specified. But while users or buyers perluips understand best the varied qualities of wools, has the grower, in; whose interests this article is most penned, a clear idea of what is meant when a wool is spoken of as being "40V or "60's"? Leb me lee if I can shed a little light upon thisimportant matter. How far will it spin? is a question almost; analogous to saying, What quality is it? This is a question of great meaning in the woollen and worsted trades.. Each and every quality of wool has its limit to which it wilt spin without the yarn becoming imperfect — • i.e., unsound, uneven, and unwearable, and this is always determined by its quality, spoken of as 32's, 36's, '40's, 60's, or any other length or number that is mentioned. In the worsted trade the highest limit to which each quality can be carried fixes the counts, and! these range upwards from 32's to 80's, beyond which only the very choicest lots are spun. These counts in their turn become the standard qualities of the trade, whether applied to the wool at the time of. sale or after sorting, "the tops after the combing process, or the spun yarn, whether spun to its limit or any thicker count. This classification relates, really, to the processes through which wool goes in its manufacture, commencing with the wool-sorting, arid differs rather from the more general classification at the London wool sales, country markets, and ordinary wool fairs in general, where the classification is that of the breed of the sheep in its widest sense, and the locality where grown. When the quality is quoted by counts, it denotes that the wool is no longer in the- fleece, but has entered on its -syay towards the production of a piece of fabric. Taking, then, a 32's quality as the lowest standard employed in the manufacture of worsted coatings, serges, and woollen goods/ for" any quality below 32's ' always shows a sprinkling of dead hairs, named "kemps" in the trade, and which refuse to be dyed, vve may ask what does 32's quality really mean? Answering that question simply means that a 32's quality wool will spin to the limit of 32 hanks to the pound weight, each hank containing 560 yds. In other words, s&oyds multiplied by 32 gives the total of 17,920yd5.. this meaning that there are that number of yards' length of yarn to lib weight when it ia spun. To speak of a 60's quality wool simply means that there are 60 hanks, each hank measuring 560 yds each, to weight lib; or, in other words, there are 33,600 yds of spun yarn of this quality to every lib weight' of material. 80's quality is a much finer quality woo l still, and this means that it will spin. < to 80 hanks of 560 yds each before it will weigh lib, or rsally a production of 44,800 yds to every pound in weight. Such a statement, which is actual fact, lends itself to much imagination, foi such yarns, when spun, are indeed small, one single pound of 60's reaching over 19 miles in length. To growers of the staple such facts musfc appeal in a most .powerful manner, and they nrast see how important it is that their fleeces ba, grown in as perfect a manner as possible. When a wool isjsoifnd and full of elasticity these immense lengths can be secured without the least diffictilty. it' being only when the fibres are damaged and rendered! harsh and brittle that difficulty is experienced in the spinning process. Quality to-day stands, first in the eye 3of the woolbuyer, and ever will be. When fleeces degenerate on. this head, it always means a less price per lb, simply because it will not spin to such a long length, hence every grower must maintain a good general excellence throughout' hi 3 flock. CURRENT WOOL PRICES. Concerning the position of things this week", it- is becoming more evident every day that in regaid to fine wools the market is going to have to wait for the opening of the next series of London wool sales before greater prices will be made. Things in the aggregate are certainly no worse, though the movement in merinos is decidedly slow, with prices no better. A few odd sorting-up lots are cleared, but the weight of transactions still runs on medium and coarse crossbreds, and during the past month, for these qualities the heaviest weight has gone out of hands. There is every indication of these grades remaining in prime favour owing to the fr.ct that clothiers' samples nearly all partake of the nature of the sharp, crisp crossbred fee!. Mohair ha? been more active than for months past, spinners having held oil until they saw what the' , next season's 4rade was likely to be. The following table shows the full course of prices during the past month, whence it will be seen that a very steady time has been experienced: —

Description of Stsple. t 55 "I X 2 CO. Lincoln hoges Lincoln vetheis Deep-grown bopgs Deep-grGwn wethers White Euper hoggs . Whi* c supi r wethers Irish hopes Irith ••wetbers Shropshire, hoggs Shropshire wethers Oidioary halibied hoggs... Orel in -try halfbied wethers Wiltshire < own tegs Wiltshire Down ewes ... Ordinary 6O'-s, Buenos Aj res tops Ordinaiy 60's, colonial tops Super 60's, coloni&l lops ... OrninarjMO's, colonial tops Ordinary 36"5, colonial tops Turkty aveiageruohair ... I'np. 1 tii«ts. nifihaii 1 ... d. 81 l\ 7h 7 8 71 71 7 10 9i 8" n 72 12 d. S£ 7 7i 7 8i P 71 »i »l P* S 12 12 d. f 7J 7 ?i 7i Si 71 % ? 12 12 d. 8J . 7 - 74 1 7 H 7i Si 7i »l 8 12 12 d. ? It Si 7i »i ? 12 12 m m 10i IS I ".611 18 ]9 2'i JOJ ; 9i iat> i m: 1» 10* 18 I : lev m IW. lf'l • 91 | 18 17i U> 104is 16i