OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 3804, 8 February 1927, Page 15

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

(From Our Special Cop.p.espondent.) VERY SATISFACTORY OPENING OF LONDON SALES. BRADFORD, November 25. An interesting lecture was given a few days ago before the Bradford Textile Society on the subject of fine cloths and the different problems entailed in weaving them. The lecturer said that the demand m ladies’ dress goods for some time had been for cloths of a plain nature and fine set. It is no good going into technicalities for a letter of this character. To talk about reps, charmalaines, and kindred cloths where satin backs and thick weft of hard twist is used would leave the average reader little wiser. But all this has a direct bearing upon the first principles of manufacture and upon the manufacturing properties of wool. Whether it be merino or crossbred wool the ultimate object is that it shall go into some woven fabric. The writer has often thought and said that every wool grower would be amply repaid' if he could spend one week of his life in a mill. He would go back to his work with an altogether different conception of the purposes for which wool is meant. This last summer a young South African, who had been some years engaged with .a leading firm of selling brokers and who had a fairly good knowledge of wool, came to Bradford to see what was actually done with the raw material. He went for

three months into the wool-sorting room of one of our big topmakers, filling in two or three half-days a week at the Bradford Technical College. He returned home in August ready for the opening of the selling season, frankly acknowledging how much the scope of his knowledge had been broadened. MODERN WEAVING PROBLEMS. Wool used in the production of tops and the yarns spun from the tops can be as perfect as human genius can produce and yet the lot be completely spoiled during the process of weaving. That really was the basis of the lecture to which I have already alluded. If a man buying a suit or cloth for one or a lady gets a costume length and notices streaks across the surface, they would at once know that there was something, wrong with the cloth. In technical language, it would be called J'barry.” Nearly all spinners “condition” their yarns before sending them out to the manufacturer. This is done in various ways. Every sheepman knows that on a damp day if he lays out fleeces in the open air they will gather a fair proportion of moisture, and I have known bales of wool in damp cellars gain as much as 20ib each. When wool conies to be combed and spun it is often found to be wanting in moisture, and so conditioning simply means the replacing of moisture which has evaporated. This is usually done by distributing water over the yarns through a fine nozzle, and in 24 hours it will be found to have been absorbed. If the manufacturer suspects that yarn has been over-conditioned, he can send it to the Conditioning House, and if the moisture is found to be excessive the spinner has to make allowance as per the Conditioning House certificate. Even slight moistening can have a very serious effect on the woven piece. It can cause an uneven surface, or the wefting to be uneven, for if weft is wet when it enters the shuttle more picks per inch can be obtained than if it is tboroughly dry.

LONDON SALES

There was a large attendance of buyers yesterday at the final series of London sales for the year, all sections being fully represented. The quantity for sale is 136,000 bales, of which 74.350 bales are from Australia and 52,650 bales from New Zealand. The quantity is a good average one for a November-December series. At the last series 196.000 bales were available. The quantity from New Zealand is looked upon as being large, but I should say that half will be slipes and scoureds. Then among the Australian there will be some big weights of seourod skin wools, principally from Melbourne, though Sydney wools will also ba fairly well to the front. No doubt we shall see some fair weights of station scoured wools from Queensland, though the trade to-day is more interested in combing grease wools than in scoureds. A good deal of curiosity surrounds the current series because of the great change that has come over French finance, the marked improvement in the value of the franc creating a rather difficult outlook for French buyers. Everybody fails to see how they can possibly be as active this series as before. All reports emanating from both South Africa and Australia during the past month say that France has been less active, and this is in line with general expectations. The opening sale yesterday proved to be quite as good as anybody could reasonably expect. The decline would have been still more if the series had opened a good fortnight ago. and the 5 to 74 per cent, decline in merinos and about 5 per cent, in crossbreds in very creditable indeed. It shows clearly the attitude of t ie trade. 1 expect the home and German trades will have to bear the brunt of the buying, but several large importing topmakers say that they will not force the pace. They have been fairly big buyers in overseas markets. London has made a creditable start, and a firm, steady series will do much to establish confidence—the very factor that is most wanted to-day. Among tile Australian States. New South Wales will be well represented during tl-.e scries, the quantity from that source being over 29,000 bales. Queensland comes next with 19,600 bales, Victoria 11,500 bales. Western Australia 7300 bales, and South Australia 6400 bales. Besides the Australasian wools there are certain supplies from South Africa and South America, the former amounting to 3400 bales. This may not strike readers as being a big quantity, and London has not been found the best market for raw material from the Cape, better prices having been forthcoming at Port Elizabeth and other centres than either Coleman Street or Australia. This shows that South African wools are playing b.v no means an insignificant part in providing the world's supplies, a-.d this season their quality is quite superior, even equalling some of the finest grown in Australia. There is plenty of scope, even in these days, when there is a persistent demand for. reasonable-priced manufactured goods, for wool of high-class quality, and this season on account of the favourable climatic conditions Cape pastoralists are in the fortunate position of being able to provide a good share. SHETLAND WOOL. For some reason or other it has been usual to associate fineness in the quality of wool with fairly warm climatic conditions. Yet it is quite true that some of the fine wool conies from northern climates, and it would appear that wherever a fine-woolled breed has been introduced it takes a very long time before the effect of the infusion disappears. An example of this is found in the Down wools of Great Britain, which in the days of George 111 had the benefit of an infusion of merino blood. The soil and pasturage of the district in which any particular flock is kept must inevitably exert some influence, and even the wellknown Shetland wool has always been noted for its fine quality. The fact that sheep kept so far north as the Shetland Islands of Scotland can grow such fine wool is significant. This wool is used for making the famous Shetland shawls, as well as cardigans and other hand-knitted fabrics. It is important for all growers to recognise that every class of wool has its specific purpose. It is impossible to produce fine botany cloth from Scotch Blackface wool. Through the years of experience and experimentation which have passed since the earliest days of the industry in this country—experimentation .which was carried on in a very crude fashion—-

there has . come a standard of perfection which it would have been be}ond the ability of man to anticipate. No matter what class of wool is grown, it is to be hoped that individual pastoralists will, do their best to see that it is true to tj'pe and prepared for market in such a way as will involve the least ■.rouble for the buyer and enable him to estimate its value as accurately as possible.

(For Continuation of Farm and Station see page 19.)