INSTRUCTION IN WOOLCLASSING AND THE STUDY OF WOOL

Otago Witness, Issue 3244, 17 May 1916, Page 10

INSTRUCTION IN WOOLCLASSING AND THE STUDY OF WOOL

The wool-classing classes launched by the Otag'o Education "Board in the Otago province and organised and carried out by Mr J. M'Gregor, the instructor, are proving of decided practical beneiit to ti;.o-e who have attended the lectures and contemplate engaging or are engaged in sheep-farming. The present year marks the sixth successive year in which classes have been held, during which time some 2000 wool-growers and others have taken advantage of Mr M'Gregor's instruction.. At the last shearing a number of students from the Waitaki High School and the Dunedin'Technical School picked up, skirted, roiled, and did the piece sorting for many fair-sized sheds, the employers being so well pleased with the work done that applications have been ahead}- made for students to handle next year's clip. In several sheds senior students did the classing also, handling from 10,000 to 40,000 fleeces each, _ these clips eliciting favourable comments in the local stores as being carefully and skilfully got up. Classes at present are being held at Cromwell, Clyde, Omakau, Poolburn, Becks, and at the Dunedin Technical School, and, in addition, some 60 students taking the agricultural course at the Waitaki High School attend classes regularly, as well as visiting stud flocks for further practical demonstration. The course, it is well to note, includes practical work by the students themselves, an hour of each lesson being devoted to this aspect and the remainder of the time being taken up by a lecture on some feature pertaining to wcol. Studmasters excepted, it will be admitted that but a meagre number of wool-growers have the knowledge they should have of the character of, say, a stylish ram's fleece, and it is with the desire to further the grower's interest, and thus increase the present maximum return of wool per head of sheep in the Dominion, that demonstrations are given on stud sheep whenever possible. Leading studmasters recognise these facts, and several have placed their studs at the disposal of the classes under the instructor for purposes of demonstration. Last year Messrs T. S. Little (Windsor), J. B. Beid (Burnside), W. Murray, manager of the Mount Royal Estate, and others kindly provided sheep. Such demonstration classes, it will be granted, tend ultimately to the production of a class of wool highly valued by the manufacturers, and are responsible in a great measure for the keen and intelligent interest taken in wool production by an increased number of wool-growers each year. It must not be forgotten that when 'a decline in wool prices sets in that it is always the badly prepared clips which are the first to suffer. This was particularly noticeable at the last Dunedin wool sac, as doubtless owners of neglected lots will admit. A number of wool-growers say that it does not pay to class wool, and maintain that they get more for their clips unclassed. On occasion this might happen, but as a general thing the assertion is untenable. Some clips, indeed, are du', up in such a way that they no doubt would sell better if classing was not attempted at all. The system adopted in the giving of instruction by Mr M'Gregor in wool-classing is that known as the Bradford "count," the numbers used referring to the spinning capacity of the wool. The first consideration of a buyer of wool is the spinning capacity, so that when wool is prepared on the above system it can be valued with a greater de~ ee of certainty, and consequently full value is practically assured. It is the buyer, after all, one has to please. Owing to the varied requirements of buyers, wool whtn correctly prepared must average higher prices as a general rule. Some woolgrowers seem satisfied and well pleased if they get an extreme price for a small weight. The first object in classing wool is to get a high average price. Others, again, are keen on topping the market for pieces, which necessitates heavy skirting. If the skirting is done on the principle advocated by Instructor M'Gregor, the fleece wool will, as a rule, realise a high level of values, as the clip appeals to the wool-buying trade. The rolling should be done to the best advantage, and although buyers require a percentage of bales opened for examination, a good first impression assists the sale of a clip wonderfully. The committee of the Otns;o Agricultural and Pastoral Society early recognised that these wool classes were on right lines, as being practical educational work, and are again this_ year assisting the movement by ( providing generous prizes for a wool-classing competition open to students and ex-students of

the Otago and Southland classes. It may be as well to hero note also that the Education Board in Otago is prepared to place the services of Mr J. M'Gregor at the disposal of wool-growers in any district within its jurisdiction where a class of 12 or more can be formed.