OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2545, 24 December 1902, Page 7

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

(Fuojc Our Special Corbxsfoxoxnt.) BRADFORD, October 31. THE INFLUENCE. OF TEMPERATURE ON THE GROWING FLEECE. Various opinions seem to bo held by various authorities on this important subject, but some appear to mo to be erroneous. For instance, Youatt tells us that while the natural tendency to produce wool of a iertain quality is the came, "sheep in a hot olima'te will yield a comparatively coarse wool, and those in a cold climate '-will" carry a finer, but at the same time a- closer and a warmer, fleece." I rather incline to think that actual facts prove the opposite of this, the coarsest-fleeced sheep being found in Scotland, where cold reigns- supreme, and the finest in Australia, where the heat' is at times intense. To put the merino on to the Highlands would be to court death in six months' time, and I question very much if fine-wodled breeds could over be acclimatised. It is also well known that in the hottejstjparts, .of say in., . New South Wales and Queensland, 'the • ." merino has a. tendency, if left to itself, to grow a -finer and a, lighter fleece,, the- introduction of ' the Vermont - merino .being on p'lirpose to. • counteract this tendency . by increasing weight and~ar"less fine quality. . ' The natural instinct of the sheep would. " seem to teach woolgrow'er 'the .advantage, of attending to the influence of temperature on the sheep. The unimal is evidently .impatient of heat, and feels it at times very keenly. In the open fields, and where no shelter is near, he climbs- to the highest" parts of his walk, that if the rays of the sun must still fall on him he may, nevertheless, be cooled by the breeze ; but if bhelter is near, whatever kind, >very shaded spot is. crowded with sheep; A writer of high authority in his day thus - expresses himself: — "Sheep carried from a cold to a warmer climate soon undergo a remarkable change in the appearance ol their fleece. From teing very fine and thick it becomes ..thin and coarse, until at length it degenerates into hair. TSven if this change should not take place to its full extent in the individual, it will infallibly do so in the course of one or two genera- . tionss. The sheep tha f we see covered with hair ar*> not, therefore, in"- reality a different species from tho^e^that are woolly, nor is wool in' its nafture sdpeeifically different from hair — it is only a softer .-and' -finer, kind of hair. The effect of heat is nearjyt !; the same on the _Jiajrs of other animals. ' The came species that in Russia, Siberia, and North America produce the most beautiful and valuable furs have nothing in the warmer climates but a coarse and thin covering of hair." It will be evident from -whatf Eas" fb"een. already said of the gradual change from hair -to wool that this account must be received, with very great limitation. Tempera* ture and pasture have influence on the fine-* nees of the fibre, and one which the sheepbreeder should never disregard ; but "he may, in a great measure, counteract thi* influence by careful management and selection in breeding. The original /tendency to." the production of a fleece of mixed material^ existing, and the longer coarse hair covert ! qjj (mi <**sfw<Hae tha cfeaxiar and softeti

wool, nature may. be gradually adapting the animal* to his, new locality ; the hair may increase and the wool may diminish if a man is idle, all the while, but a little attention to the principles of breeding and management will limit the extent of the 1 evil, or prevent it altogether. A better illustration of this cannot be found than in I the fact that the merino has been trans- : planted to every latitude on the temperate zone, and to some beyond it — to Sweden in > the nortb, Australia, in the south — and has retained its tendency to produce wool exclusively^, and wool of nearly equal fineness and value. If the manner in which, wool is produced ■were more accurately noticed; if the effects of ohanging seasons were more diligently noted ; if care were 'taken to preserve the fleeces which *n individual had grown in different situations, and under various treatments, so that they might be compared with each other, and if the staple were measured and marked at regular intervals of time, we should ascertain a number of fatfs respecti ing the growing of wool which we are at present ignorant of. COURSE OF PRICES. "Wool conditions in Bradford to-day show little alteration to what they have done for some time, but, if anything, things are no worse. Some think there has been a trifle more inquiry during the past few days, and more tops have changed hands ; but, generally speaking-, merino men are not wanting to . sell until prices move sensibly upward. The . consumption of crossbreds }3 .'certainly increasing — in fact, it is possible ! to sell anything above 40's as easy as 60s. Not a great deal has Jieen said about Australian sales, bite holders have made up their minds that merino tcps cannot be made at -the prices offering here, and until there is an upward move the few fine tops that are in stock will have to remain where they are. It is now very certain that by holding topmakers have everything to gain and nothing to lose, and their minds are made up to wait. Consumption and work are fully up to the average. The following table shows the full course of values during the past month : — ■

* O I S _£ Description of Staple. o o I i d. d. k d - d. Lincoln bogus Lincoln wethers Deep-grown hoggs... --... Deep-grown wethers ... White super hoggs White super wethers ... Irish hogfcs Irish wethers Shropshire hoggs ... ... Shropshire wethers ... Ord. halfbred hoggs ... Ord. hilfbred wethers ... Wiltshire Down tegs Wiltshire Down ewes Super 60's, coj. lops Ordinary 60s. col. tops ... Ordinary 40'g, col. tops ... Ordinary 36's, col. tops ... Ordinary 60's, Buenos Ayrea tops... " : Turkey -average mohair . . . Cap* firsts, mohair ■ 71 4i H 8 10i 24 23 ?r 71 f 7 51 | it 7 'f 58 24 23 8 i ?J F 7 5i c* 5A 7i 7 -? f 7i 5 5| 5 7 51 5* V 6! 6 10J ]0J 24* 23* 8" 7i 7i 5 I ! 7 5) V. 7 I" 10) •m 8 71 22*' 15>* 12 1 1 23 H2. 23 15 12 I 23 I 15 1 12 23 J5 12