OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 3870, 15 May 1928, Page 12

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

THE GENERAL UTILITY OF CROSSBREDS. (From Our Special Correspondent.) . BRADFORD, March 8. °v d of r,the selling season in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa is approaching, and as one considers the output of these three countries, remembering that they'provide 60 to 70 per cent, the world s wool requirements, none no k than a feeling of patriotic pride can be entertained that in this respect they form such an important part of the E n mpl re- It would have been impossible for the wool manufacturing industry to develop to the great it is to-day in this country, on the Continent, and elsewhere without the supplies ot the raw material grown in the countries named. Since sheep breeding and wool growing became a recognised industry in Australia ideas about wool have undergone a wonderful process of evolution. ■ c -/V °f fbe wool growm is of an infinitely better type than the low-quality kempy fleeces coming from Central Asiatic sheen. The current Australian clip should realise about £60,000,000. Reckoning the’ a r e rnn e va lue of a bale of colonial wmol 9 950 nnn an v , that <| ustra lia is producing 2,250,000 bales, Rew Zealand 600,000 bales and South Africa 575,000 bales, it is obvious that the total value is very great indeed, and that the exchequer of the countries producing these clips is considerably increased thereby. BIG VARIETY OF QUALITIES. "£he question which it is now desired to consider is the excellence and the variety ot the wool grown. In Australia and booth 2\friea the merino is the predominant breed, whilst in New- Zealand t P er , een C qf the flocks ar’e crossbreds. In the seventies New Zealand was pasturing 2 per cent, r? crossbreds and QS per cent, ot merinos, the reversal in the proportions having been brought about by the development of the frozen meat industry, and it is not likely that the policy of breeding sheep for the dual purpose of wool and mutton will be abandoned. The light-framed merino is not suitable for producing a carcass to .be sent to the freezing establishments, and the nearer the colonial pastoralists can tret tn the types of sheep bred in Great Britain the greater will be the value of the carcass The aim of the New Zea.and pastoralists is to breed what is known as a r , _ Baee J > —that is, one that gives a useful fleece weighing 81b to 101 b, and whose carcass is of good weight when slaughtered.

No other country besides New Zealand op? . e ~ , the known qualities from 36s to 70s. About 75 per cent, of the Australian clip is pure merino, and even the remaining 25 per cent, of crossbreds does not include such a range of qualities as can be found in New Zealand. Pastoralists in the latter country are following the example of British sheep breeders. It is well known that in this country during the past 20 years farmers have gone in more than ever for mixed breedlng'u r certain districts in England which could formerly be relied upon to produce a fairly uniform type of sheep and wool there are now very few str audit flocks. In an endeavour to get earlv-maturing lambs to market the breeds have become very mixed, and the result is that good straight clips such as users appreciate are now very much more difficult to find. Sheep breeueie, ..e and in the colonies cannot be blamed for breeding on such lines as they believe will be most profitable for themselves: but an increase of crossbreeding is seriously injurious to wool quality standards. It is well known that in some districts oi Rew Zealand the Lincoln or Leicester*! cross does the best, while in others the Romney is the most suitable. In etill others the .Corriedale is favoured. Our only plea is for uniformity of quality, lhere is no special reason why anyone now engaged in breeding Lincoln or Leicester cioss should go in for fine crossbreds (50-56’s). A big weight oi yan. ,e being spun for Germany on Bradford spindles out of 36’s to 44’s—mostly single 16 s to single 24’s. Big weights of 46’« and 48,s are wanted for hosiery yarns, and 50’s to 56’s are extensively used fcr weaving, large quantities of cheap dress goods being made from them. Gaberdines, reps, charmelaines, and even wool crepes can be made from yarns spun from this quality of wool. In England there is a constantly increasing demand for reasonably priced fabrics which will wear well, and fine crossbreds are well suited for the purpose. LARGER USE FOR CROSSBREDS. As one looks at • this subject it must be admitted that there is a developing use of crossbreds in all countries, and this !s one reason why the crossbred clips ot New Zealand and South America have been so quickly absorbed. I have never known the clips of the Argentine and - Uruguay so readily absorbed as during th 6 past season. It has been little less tlqm. a rush season from first to last, and those who bought earliest have fared the best. \Ve are now faced with a fairly

abundant supply of crossbred wools, and one wonders if it is going to be put through the machines as readily as it has been bought. That will depend a good deal upon the demand which is experienced by the topmakers, spinners, and manufacturers cf the West Riding of Yorkshire, and whether yarns and pieces can be got rid of quickly. Of course there are another nine months to go before any further new clip wools from the Dominion can be expected on this side, and in the meantime spindles and looms have to be kept running. One, encouraging feature of the trade is the extended use that is being made to-day of crossbreds, these going into a much larger variety, of fabrics. So long as this can be reckoned on I feel certain that consumption will be maintained. If there is any weakness at all I should say it is at the hosiery end of the industry. Since the war the womenfolk have done much less hand knitting, and immense quantities of ladies’ goods are now made from artificial silk. Very few jumpers and other garments are now made out of hosiery yarns. All this has interfered very seriously with the use of crossbreds. In the rage for light-wear fabrics of attractive design and colour artificial silk has tome into its own. At the same time there are other avenues of consumption which I think are all in' favour of wool. There is a healthy outlook, and all prospective supplies will be wanted. TEXTILE EXPERIMENTATION. The writer sometimes wonders whether everything will be published to the world that has been done during the past 50 years in the way bf experimentation with textile materials. Within that period technical research has become more thoroughly organised, and now has its centre in the textile departments of our universities and colleges. At the same time a good deal of. private experimentation has been conducted, and it is probable that the _ industry has lost something by not having passed on to it all the results, ’ine member of the trade has related t 5 the writer some of the things which he has known to have been accomplished by a man under whose tuition he eat. lie had no gifts for a commercial sphere, but the complaint made by the writer’s I informant was that a good deal of the experimental work now being carried on is of a rather futile order. It would be unjust to go all the way with this critic, for some remarkable things are being accomplished. Among these may be mentioned experiments conducted in the manufacture of cloth without weaving. The to pass carded sliver through a sort of sewing machine. The thick strands of means by which this is accomplished is semi-raw material enter this machine in parallel formation, and emerge fastened together in very much the same" way, as men’s boots are laced. The fabric thus “woven” is afterwards milled, and from the pieces seen by the writer should serve a very useful purpose in certain ways. The cloth is not likely to be much used for suitings. One cannot imagine many men wanting it for that purpose. It is more of the blanket order, and might do very well for heavy •overcoatings, horse rugs, and the like. Professor Barker, of the Leeds University, has spoken favourably of the' cloth, suggesting that there are further possibilities in it. The striking thing about this new cloth is that it is made without spinning of weaving machinery. The idea is that such machinery can be done away with, and its place taken by carding machinery, which will turn out the thick sliver for the sewing operation. The whole idea is still in its infancy, and no doubt further experiments will be conducted.