WOOL TRADE CHANGES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3593, 23 January 1923, Page 10

WOOL TRADE CHANGES.

Tlie consumption of wool is a matter of never-failing interest to those who raise the wool—not so much in respect, possibly, to those sheep-owners who farm pastoral acres carrying sheep which the finer types of wool, such as haifbreds and merinos, but rather owners of the British pure breeds of sheep and ordinary crossbreds. Growers of the latter sheep have, apart from the value of the meat, i? en “Q ue *r r ” street in respect to the i>rices realised for their wool. There has recently come a welcome change. I he high rates ruling for fine wools have served as a lure to moneyed men and manufacturers to “come into the wool market.’’ The result is apparent in the steady appreciation of crossbred wool and wools not of the finest of qualities. There are indeed many other factors which must be considered as affecting development now in progress—factors which promise to enlarge the field of consumption for the long, deep fleeces of British breeds of sheep. The wool expert of the Mark Lane Express says, in the course of an interesting review of the position of crossbred wool, not boasting of being over, say, 50’s quality; “The first factor in the enormous preference for fine wools and for the garments for men, women, and children into which they are manufactured is, to my mind, most remarkable, it sounds and reads like a paradox. The preference comes from the way in which the most expensive wool has been fostered in the output of supergarments—garments of fine, soft quality, adorned with the most costly trimmings and accessories, which are pleasing to the eye and give an artistic' effect. Now, why hag this been done? It has been done because of the high nrice of labour, plus short hours, and the necessity of making large profits on every kind of garment to meet the excessive taxation for Imperial purposes and the heavy burden of local rates, which crush manufacturers as well as .farmers. There is only one great difference-—the farmers cannot transfer their terrible burdens, the manufacturers both can and do. If tlie stronger and coarser grades of wool were used there would not be the same ratio of profit as is carried by the more alluring and seductive grace of the soft artistic structures, both for ipen and women, that concentrates the paying demand on the short supplies of fine wools all the way round. At the same time it puts a ‘ black mark ’ on all the other most valuable and more wear-resisting wools and fabrics, and puts them in a back seat, ms it were. As regards the Leicester lustre wools, they at one period had a great preference in demand and price that was dup to their suitability for blending with alpaca to made ladies’ lustre dress fabrics. Now this is being revived in another direction. Bright lustre braids of as much as an inch wide are being used for adorning ladies’ coats and iackets. Some are pure silk, but others are of silk and lustre wool combined, which greatly reduces the cost and yet preserves an appearance of distinction. Then, again, take Cheviot for example. Here is a fine wool which has created a world-wide reputation for Scottish tweeds, and yet the old tweeds are getting shouldered out of the position that they have so nobly won by garments of fine soft Cashmere, blended with a facing silk. This explains why you will see sometimes a business gentleman with a suit that has an almost dazzling sheen on it. Now, what is going to be the cure for all these lapses from the path—shall we say?—of honesty and common sense? Well, I think time, which heals all things, will soon bring back the desire for and the appreciation of things that are of honest practical utility. But there is another factor of great power. The difference in price of fine and strong deep fleeces is so great that a low-priced raw material is at bottom an enormous asset if you can only tap the demand. The efforts being made to turn these grand but choice woils to effective account are running on two lines. One is to produce a garment of light weight and a free-fitting character that will make it invaluable both for sport and for general utility. There is no reason why nicely-designed garments of this character should not become an enormous trade.” Men are sick and tired of being “tied up” in stiff, formal garments that distort the body, and make both work and play difficult and tiresome, and always under a feeling of restraint. All that can be done by cloth woven in the ordinary way. There is, however, a wonderful change in progress in the production of cloth which will utilise these strongertextured wools in a very surprising way. The new cloth, says our authority, i 6 knitted instead of being woven. It can be produced at less than half the cost of weaving; it gives greater comfort,

produces garments which are self-fitting without padding and stiff linings ; it gives greater warmth at a lighter weight, and is made as soft as velvet in the new and scientific processes to which it is subjected. Scores of kinds of cloth, made by the new process, which have been tested are considered satisfactory and wonderful productions. Both of these changes point to a fuller, and a more constant demand for those wools which for a time have been neglected, at prices corresponding more with the cost and ceaseless care essential to their production, and more in consonance with prices which holders of station properties have been able to parade as typical of what their holdings can protfuce off mere pasture.