OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER (From Our Special Correspondent.)

Otago Witness, Issue 2902, 27 October 1909, Page 7

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER (From Our Special Correspondent.)

BRADFORD. Sentember 10

!THE WOKLD'S WOOLS AND THEIR QUALITY. I am afraid that many people hare still a, very hasty opinion of what is meant by «iuaHiy in wool — ir other words, what is 40*3^-50*5, and vO's. It is most difficult indeed to make the average cheep farmer understand the difference between, say, 36's from 46's, he knowing hie flock best by the description quarterbred, halfbrcd, thrcequaTterbreri or puro stock. All these terms have tneir corresponding signifioarice in the qualky of wool, and it would help matters considerably, especially at shearing, if every iheep-farmer and pastoralist understood the varied fir.ene.o3 of his fleck 1 don't care whethei a man be' ca.rr}'ing merinos ■A crossbr-^ds. n:s flock will show som-3 Jiffercncs in qiialiiy, fteec-^s varying as much »» 10 poin^ of fineness in that flock. For instance, *1 have seen' riieep all bred and depasture*", on the same station that scalol 50's, bl'e, and 70's quality Neither the owner nor his manager knew of that I»et until it was pointed out to them, both ilik? being satisfied that the sheep were purebred merinos. Exactly; but at shearing it would have helped that pa«toraH"-.t if he could have designa&ed every f.cew M their thiee respective bins-, say. of fin aesE, calling the firct fine marine, the pecord bin very tr,;, and th<j third bin superfine. It is quite ar casv matter to do this il 1 man once get} a clear knowledge of th<wsyecmc qualities, and every sreep-brcedoj should be able to define what quality hi; fleeces are. I was discussing this problesr. only this week with an okl experiences K>rter in Bradford, and n:a»y interesting poirts «ere raised. He was of the opinioi that a man had to be enthu-iastic ov<>i his job to become a really competent soitor and that it needed a fair amount of ex perience for a nu n to be able to define fcha varied qualities from 55's to 70"c. Tlii-co\'3:-s a very wide rang?. ar.J a man v,ou!i requir-e a gocd m^i;y &a:npk-s if he had before him iill t'le atai.dard ma'kce of crcf-i bred* and ir.oi iiios. LEADING DESCRIPTIONS STANDARDISED. It is practically impossible to give th< nmnitiated sufficient data whereby he woulr bo üblo 10 identify every breed of wool but to-day I am going to mn-ke the aitemp' to specify here the different; qualities o leading descriptions o£ phcep that are foanc both in England, the colonies, and America It would do every wool-grower real gooc if they wor.ld get them off.ljy heart, aiK every single description of wcol is capabl< of being dealt with in a paper to itself For it must bs clearly understood that even class- of staple differs in some physica feature from another, ever though it maj have originally sprung from it. For 111 stance, the Lincolr breed of sheep has beei responsible for producing r very fruitfu end serviceable clcss of wool half bred, three-quarterbred, ' and full -grow j crossbred, and in each the Lincoln blcc* ■wilj 'etar.d oiit a-s <harp and as well defir.ee as a mountain' peak, only it wants ejes tc ■ea it and a spirit to appreciate what th< original blood has dons. Onte introduce ■what I will call another strain into a flocl of slierp. and it is the work of a quarte: of a csntury to breed it thoroughly out if- it e\er can be done. ] may be \enturin< or- too thin ice, but I am only repeating ■what others, have said, and what is commoi property — namely, that there is a eortaii fprc-ict- of merino in Australia in «\hich a one time or another Leicester blood ha beer introduced, and I have haard soni' of the best wool experts in the world affirn fciur the big, strong, shafty wools give e\; <Jence of it to-day However, that iei c no my poinc. E\ery class of wool grown man: f««sfs its c^n peculiarities, ar.d a bletidinj ••< two different and distinct species hu< '•> "-1 tie means of pro\iding the world wit! tj " \<>*y useful wools indtt-d. Below -' -\ rad'.'i" what are tho diffoient quality "'•••T-d .ipen leading breed's of sheep

J As already said, tlicro is a wk!o rang-? of qualities to be dealt with, "and it nseds a man to have some considerable experience to be able to define at all easily what quality wool is when it comes into his hands. An analysis of the above particulars reveals the following facts:— The bright, deep-grown lustre wools range principally from 36's to 4O*s quality, which are aeon, in the above list from Lincoln hogs to Yorkshire wethers. Then we come to demi-lustre wools, which really start at North hog 3 and come down £0 Norfolk wethers, omitting the Irish mountain and Scotch, which are really the product of the Scotch black-faced, which is essentially a strong carpet wool. These cover from 40's to 46's quality. Then we come to the Down breeds, starting with Southdown tegs, better known in the colonies as hogs, and finish with tho Eastern Counties Downs, the qualities ranging frdm 46's to 56">. Then we come to the strong mountain breeds, which a T e mostly of about 32's quality. When- the above mutton breeds of sheep aie mated with the merino there js produced a really first-cla^s crossbred, and here again qualities oan b? obtained from 36's to 56V, according to the class of sir° used. There is no doubt that to understand all the above a man wants to bo handling the wools for some considerable time, but if the above particulars are carefully analysed, it will bo freen tT>at several of the breeds turn off the same qualities, and users, knowing this, rescrt to a good deal of blending on purpose to obtain good manufacturing results. Pci'iapF gom»oi.c asks. What is actually mc.ir.t by quality? and tho reply js that this feattur "determines the spinning count or length to which tho wool will go whea it coni€3 to that pioc€Si. Experience has found that it is impossible to spin wool beyond its tensilo strength, ar.d the machinery was never medf whereby it was possible to spir to (he same degree of fineness Lincoln wool as merino. The finer the fibro the finer tho yarn that can be spun from it. A STEADY AND FIRM MARKET. Conditions in Bradford still manifest all the sound features which can be desirod : 1 there is a satisfcefcciy turnover, and p-riecc j are all stil! tending in the sellers' favour The maiket lemains in a jrost arthe s^ato ar;J business is still gcod to "do Naturally,' users are very much aganiet paying more] but every quality 1-5 dearer than a fortnight ago. It is impossible to operate to-^ay at 12£ d . tor 40"s, tho majority cf topmakers wanting 15c), and some even more. The fact k very significant that this quality of (op ha- *tuck about the most of any during the loeont spoil of actiMty, ar.d while oo doubt some fair weights " have changed hands, still there has not been the groat sales here which wo have seen in 46's and upward*!. There is a great scarcity of 50"=3 and 56's tops, and some are naming even 20d for tho form pi- Evidently consumption here is on a larpe scale, and also Americi la still a willing buyer of ?.ny fleeces which are good enough for that quarter. E\idently there is going to be a squeeze for this wool for the remainder of this year. When wa come to merinos there is still considerable new business passing, and dietinctly move could bo done- if topmalcers would tuxkrtake fresh obligations. There is as much inquiry es ever, but nobody wants to sell what they have not got, at least for delivery during the next three months'. There is to-da.y more 'orward business on the books of Bradford topmakers tlian there -ha-s b&en for rr&nv years back, and plenty of spinners have bought all they want for this year. Values are all exceedingly firm, and super 60's arc to-day worth 2s 3ad. There 16 -still a great demand for tho law material, and wool is ir no sen^o plentiful. Large blocks of Mazamet skin are selling at "long"' figures, topmakers fii.ding a difficulty ii supplying their needs. Noil? aie a shade bettor to sell, and a fraction more can be made for merinos. Consumption thioughout the entire d'etrict is' maintained at the highest point, and there is every prospect of in>Hs being busy through tho whole winter. LittV progress !•; being made in regard to selling forward for n«.\fc \rar. and toiunakeis assort that they would Kither w.-nt aw' o<?e how the s-jLe 3 go in Australia before committing themselves to any weight of forward business-. All alike acknowledge that cho outlook w nothing- hko ir was v vjar ago, and bii>ei\s have left for Ai;=-i.i-dl'd with it prospect of Mich dear wo-il as to c -eat© 1 j-o.ik-w hat (•'tticulr «itur'.ioi'. Mo'iair is <!o n^ little more than mark time, but pucc-s aie film I all round ! !

Vnaiuy. GJ's to 80'Co r:ilal h;»if'ored .. . 54's to 5C\ Co-uninl tlnee-qi.nrte.-brc-d . . 48' s to 48'<Co!onial crc=sbred . . 40'b to 4J' ■ Lincoln hogs . . . . Ws to 40 - Lincoln wethers . , ' ._■ 32's to 36'/ Nottingham hcc« . , ._ 36' s to- 40's Nottingham worLers , *. •"". 36' s Leicester hog= . s 40's to H\ Leicester wethers . • i . - 3G'<; to 40's Wensleydale hogs .... . 36' s to 40' 3 "WeisJcydale \\ethor-> .. <'sC'>Devon greasy ... . 3("o to 40 = Yorkshire hops (uverasel . . 36' s to 10'Yorkshire ti ethers laveragei • . 36' t North hczs . . . 44's to 46'« Xorth wethora . .. 40's tc 4JS Irish hegs (supe r ) . 4l's to 40"o Irish wi-theis (super) . - 4()'<s to 44\ Iri&h hops (selected) . 40'g to 4i's Irish wethers Selected) 40's Irish mountain „ .. TjG'i Irish Scotch . . Keifcte/J Kent teg? i . 4-J's to 40 - Selected Kent wethers -!o's to 41'Super Stafford ho?p . . . 44's Snp-r Stafford wethers . 40's Haifbred hops (Midland CountieO 44's *o 4t"s H»lfbred wether, (Mid. Countie') 40's to 44 1 -. Norfolk halfbred hogs 44's to 4C'Norfolk halfbred wetherf . . 40's to 44's Best Scotch hog? .. . .. 36's Re«t Scotch \vethers . . 32*s Cheviot hogs (super) 44|s to 46'^ Cheviot wethers (super) .. .. 40's to 4,4't Scotch Blackfaced hogs ... . 32's Secrfch Blackfaced wethera . 2S's to 32's Scotch Blackfaced (salved) .. 28's Southdown tegs 60' s to 56' s Southdown ewes .. .. ■..(>■ 50's Pick Shropshire hegs .. ..i . -46's to 50's Pick Shropshire wethers . . - " 44's to 46's Wiltshire Down tegs . • j -■ 50's Wiltshire Down wethers -• „ . 46's to 48's ttamp^liire Down tegs *, ... 46's to 50's vlampshire Down wethers „. «. '46's t Dorset /Down tegs . • . . 50's to 56's Dorset Down wethers . .. „., SO's Osforr 1 "Down tees . r-j 50't Xhcford Down ' Wethers . . 46's to 50's Counties Down teg? . 48's Eastern Counties Down wethers 46'= to 48's Kong evrcs and wethers . 4O's to 44"s "Welsh . . 36's TtA&noTS (bright) . .. 3G's to 50.. Herdwick ewes and we there' . 32'b