OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2808, 8 January 1908, Page 8

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

(Fbok Our Special Cobresponbent.) BRADFORD, November 15, 1907. " SKIN WOOLS.

Tbe trade in skm wools is of considerable importance, and during the last few years has grown tremendously owing to the development of the frozen meat industry in New^ Zealand and the River Plate. Here in England the word "slipes" is never used when speaking of wool taken from" butchered sheep, the term "skin wool" always being employed. In .almost every centre there is a fellmongery, andH? Is no imcommon thing for the cart from such a place to travel a radius of ,six or seven milea, »Jid some considerably more, in. order to pick up afc the killing establish-n-ents in country villages all the sheep and bther 6kins available- Bradford users largely buy these woole, and after sorting" they are very frequently blended^ with Gther' wools for top-making purposes. They no, doubt serve a very useful purpose, but aro not like good fleece wool. Still, it would never do -to throw overboard the ■wools coming from these slaughtered sheep, It is certain that English skin wools are not so carefully put upon the market as are colonial and River Plate slipes, and it is not an uncommon thing for English fellmongers to make a contract with some Biadford stapler for that firm to take all the output for, say, three to six months, During the last three months there has been, formed in England a Fellmongers'

book entitled "The WooU*»n »"<! "Wonted Industries," written by J. H. dapham. ProfessnT of Economics in the University of Leeds. From the very beginning it is Dlai» to be seen that the author hae an excellent grasp of his subject, and has treated almost every Dhase of the woollen and ' worsted industries in a real interesting, up-to-date, and practical manner. The hook is above the averaee, and to say that it comes from a professor of economics and not a nractical wool T nan is i" tKo more surprising, but the writer andoubtedlv has studied his sulnVct well, and presented facts which are reliable in every detail. If anyone interested in the colonial wool trade wants to waAn a better grasp of the 7aw material aftep. it leaves tW <rtntion or farni. I C an heartily recommend this book to his notice. In fact, I will undertake to say that there _ is no wool-orower'e library in ~anv part of the world but what would be mate'riallv enriched by his noseessins: and reading 1 this book. Tn the first ohaoter a good deal is said 1 about the establishment n f tV,e woollen and worsted trad-p* of Oreat Britain, the author showings by the use of a map where different branches of tfrs, industry are fcfc Ho found Th? suo^^niacy of the WVst Riding of Yorkshire comes out we i]. a. n j it \ s surprising to finrf wooli WO rkers in almost every county of Enelam*

* Association, the object being- for those | engaged in the trade to combine together, and try to enforce higher prices, and so protect their own mutual interests. _ j There is no doubt whatever thaf during , th.9 past 10 years considerable improvement has taken place at all New Zealand freez ing works, and I do not know any establishment but what is turning out slipo woo', in good, saleable condition-/ All alike are turning out very creditable wools, and I would here say that it pays to class for^ different qualities, and due regard should* be paid to length, colour, and con.dition. I have been very much struck this last year at the really smart sliped wools which are being turned out by the River Plate Cold Storage Company in the Argentine ; but, of course, tho manager, whom the writer well knows, served all his time v. ith-some two or three English manufacturers who largely buy colonial sheep skins, and also had a few years' experience in New Zealand at Canterbury freez- , ing works. Only last series I believe fches.3 wools made up to 13d, a price which oan'not to-day be despised. Naturally there is never that soft and kind handle about slipe wools that we seea about greasy descriptions, but they are largely used for cheapening puiposes, and do very well. I should say that Bradford' topmakers use more slipes than all other consumers in all parts of - the world put together, and during the late South African and Japanese wans, hundreds of thousand's of bales of these wools J were consumed- At one time they got [ excessively dear, and so did English skin i wools, but since last July they have fallen j somewhat sharply,, due entirely to an ab- i sence of demand. '• "Skin Wools" was the sublet- of a pu^'V lecture N at the Bradford Technical Collere the other day, Mr Howard Priestman giv- i ing expression to some very, common-sense j remarks which are worth notinc- by all those engaged in growing wool, and esps- J cially those in fellmoneeries and l freezing works. It appears that the three principal methods of separating wool from sheepskins are sweating, which is a pol't© name for putrefaction ; treatment with lime, and treatment with sulphide of sodium-. The two former stand condemned by reason of their bad effect both on the wool f.nd the hide. The sulphide of sodium process grives an excellent leather, and but for its destructive effect on the wool it would bo universally- adopted because it i"? inexpensive. Thelime process, which is .the one used 'by t6e great majority of wool pullers in this country, has the great disadvantage that the lime enters into combination with the fatty matter in the wool and forms lime soap, a substance which is insoluble in any■fching- but warm" alcohol and some of the volatile ethers. Skin wool need not. necessarily be so much worse than greasy wool "as is generally supposed. In fact, the evil reputation skiia wool Has gained ought to attach only to wool treated with lime. What had been taken 1 out of sweated wool could certainly be replaced., but Mr Priestman emphatically stated that he did not believe the effect of the : ime would ev«r be wiped out without a change of method.^ In other words^ /the lime must bo goi rid 1 of before washing- proper, took place. Th «o * practical factsr, should wei>h considerably with sheep-farmers in Cape Colony and the Argentine, where lime and su'phurt. sheep dip is still, largely used- 7 f lime is so injurious in skin wools, it is equa'ly mjuriovs as a sheep dip, and that every wool man - knows. The lecturer went on to say that he l;ad made" experiments on the affinity of wool for lime, and had obtained very remarkable results. Not only would wool ta-ke up lime from the- "milk of lime" used in the pulling process, but it would absorb lime from' pure lime water which .contained only .001 gramme per cubic centimetre. From the ash of a top steeped in lime water he got as much as 3.44 per cent, of lime, but when the sanie top was treated with dilute hydrochloric acid before calcining the proportion of lime Fell to .008 per cent. The practical bearing of this was obvious. He believed that 90 per cent, of the lime could be- taken out by the people who did* the pulling, and that would make it so much easier for those who did the washing. Lime was such a powerful alkali that ifwould even oust caustic coda and ca-ustio potash, destroying- soap entirely, and leav- . ing- in its place the disgustinely sticky compound called lime soap., to which" he attributed most of the defects found in skin wool. There were wools on the m-a-rfc^t which contained as much as 8 per cent, of lime — that was, 1 91b in every pack. That amount would <sesliroy no less than 2881b of soap and make 2881b of lime soap, which wae such a perfect combination that caustic soda and caustic potash had no effect on it at~all- If -slipe wool were treated with acid before it went into a bowl in which j soap .was present, not only would much trouble be saved in washing, but it was j hiahlv probable that the wool .could after- ! wards be made suitable for a good many | purposes for which it was not "now suitable } -at all. Dry sweated wool would absorb | grease and also suint, and with proper treatment he thonarht it would be possible to restore to limed wool some of thp elasticity and some of the life that appeared to have gone from it for ever. A BOOK WORTH READING. -

II have just finished reading what has been to me a real pleasure to handle, and j I want to draw the attention of all colonial readers, and especially wool-growers, to a

' and the south of Scotland. A good deal of information, is furnished respecting the specialties made in the various districts. The second chapter, to wool-growers especially, is very instructive, it dealing entirely with the -manufacturing processes. Here wool is dealt with from the raw state to the finished product, and each different operation is clearly outlined, enabling everyone to follow distinctly the raw material from the sheep to the wearer's back. The third chapter deals with the raw materials and the trade in them, -and is an exceedingly -interesting one. Thenfollows chapters on industrial and commercial organisation; labour in the industries; the industries abroad; and finally, imports and exports. There are many very useful illustrations, and the hook, as a whole, is ■well' written, and contains a fund of information which must prove alike beneficial to the wool-grower and the manufacturer. The book is_ published by Methuen and Co., 36 Essex street, London, W.C, and the price is 63. MORE WEAKNESS APPARENT. A marked alteration has come over the ■wool market, and a decided change for the worse has set in. Bradford to-day is just as slack and indisposed to do business as was tile opposite a month back, and tradeis practically at a standstill. Spinners will 'not bid, ne'er tell of buying* and all that can be reported is a state of decided slackness and lower prices. Some- are trying to bolster up the market, and speak .of the present fit of quietness as likely to pass" away" at no distant date, but* as far as one can see there is little by way of new business, and in every quality' lower prices 'are being accepted. It is with difficulty that anyone can give a real, bona 1 fide quotation, and som^ rather low prices are being quoted. I don't think for a moment a* man would havo any difficulty in buying 50 or 100 pack' of good super 60's for delivery in a week at 2s W, and futures can be bought for less money on all sides of, the house. A, feeling of decided hesitation is apparent, and it is certain that before anybody is again going to buy heavily a more settled feeling about the future is going to be in evidence. Since my last report one of Bradford's best export houses ' .has found it necessary to . suspend pajment, and this has thrown a. gloom over the whole market. The firm in question has been looked upon as one of' the . safest houses 'in the t-ade, and~could command unlimited credit. Their present difficulties" have bee_n entirely brought about by the suspension of their New York branch, and it is confidently stated that the Bradford failure is to save the> assets of the whole firm, and that with time their creditors will Teceive 20s in the pound. For the time being it means a locking up of a lot of Useful capital,. &ml tkzs fa-ilure has considerable disturbed the whole market. Crossbreds are very .clack, and> 14$ d has been accepted in more cases than one for delivery early next' year of a 'good 40's prepared top. ' The "bears" are finding everything k in, their favour, and' they are determined to get wool down. " All reports from Australia; favour -falling values, but it is questionable if wool is being bought to deliver top 3 -at thd^prices they_; have reoently charged hands> I don't think" now that anvthinv will be done ""til t.hf> next series o£ London sales open. The bank rate has also sriveh a nasty blow to 'imnor+i^s, and 7 per cent. i« not going to stimulate inquiry; or encourage anyone' to- buy 'more than ther actually need. Mohair 7 is very slow, and Cape, firsts, if anything, are the turn cheaper.