Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, THURSDAY, JAN, 20, 1910. THE WOOL SALES.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 12650, 20 January 1910, Page 4

Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, THURSDAY, JAN, 20, 1910. THE WOOL SALES.

General satisfaction will be felt throughout . the Dominion at the announcement that the '■ January wool sales m London have opened with an advance m prices fov -crossbred wool of from 5 to 10 per cent. New Zealand is going to make a. big bill for wool this year. The exports for the nine months ended December 31st amount to 82,622,8361b5, valued at £3,002,636, as compared with 71,849,3481b5, valued at £2,299,941 for the corresponding- period of 1908 — a substantial gain of 10 million pounds m weight and. £702,695 m value. The shipments for March quarter now current are expected to be considerably higher than' those of last year, but, putting them on a moderate basis, there is reason to expect that the value of the year's output at March.^,3lst will ap proximate to £7,500,000, as compared with five and a half millions m the year ended ; March* 1909— a gain to New Zealand from this one staple product of two million^ pounds over the total of the previous year. This, quite aptfrt from increases m other directions, should form a solid^ basis for the prosperity of the Dominion, and wijl greatly influence the development of the country and the building up of various enterprises. The most satisfactory feature is that the wool position for the' time being appears =to be thoroughly sound. A London correspondent, writing on December 10, stated ; "From what has occurred m London during the week it is very clear that there* is a. large amount of manufacturing requiremtn remaining unsatisfied. Evidently the recent public auctions failed to supply a sufficiency of many clovsse.s of the raw material, whilst some manufacturers, finding prices too stiff for their liking), put off and put off buying, m the hope that the market would ultimately take a turn m their favor. Foiled m this hope, and applying to the customary sources of supply -m their immediate vicinity, they have been disappointed to find how little wool there is to come and go upon m the hands of the middleman." The correspondent goes on to point out that trade on ihe Continent is well sustained, and that chiefly favored are the coarser types of crossbred wool, which meet with a keen demand s not only on the part of England, but to an. equal extent on account of the North of France. British spinners gen-ei-ally are" busily employed, and whilst no great volume of new- orders is beirig secured by them, they are m a position to exact better prices when . dealing with their customers, alike for merino and crossbred yarn. Manufacturers are likewise busy, especially m respect of the- shipping branch. The demand for goods is much more active on export than on home account. ' At the: same time the latter is oft the mend, although the progress is sloVer than could be Wished. The returnsVof the foreign trade of Great Britain for - November were the most encoiiraging for a long time past. Imports showed a gain m value of £11,700,000, or 23£ per cent., as compared with r . the corresponding month last year ; and exports were up to the tune of £4,174,000, or ' 14£ per cent. The American Fibre and Fabric, an important textile, journal, m, a. Jrecent issue, dealing with the wool situation m America, said : "The price of wool continues to rise m this country, with its e^ver-. increasing population, and consequently enlarged consumption of raw material, and with .- production of wool practically stationary. . For yea,rs now the wool production of the United States lias been pretty steady at about the 300,000,0001 b mark,. but the population hais been increasing by millions. This output of wool, m fact, has fallen considerably short of keeping pace with the in- ■ creased consumption. There will be a large clip m Australia this year, as large as was ever raised m . that colony, but .the yield m South America will probably be from 10 to 15 per cent, less, while the tendency m most other countries will be toward a lessened rather than a greater production. This will be especially true with reference to crWsbreds, the slaughter of sheep in' response to the' popular demand for mutton being such th,at wools^ of the crossbred variety grading three-eighths blood and below will be especially scarce and dear. High, therefore, though the price of wool mny be,' an. analysis of the situation reveals nothing to our mind which will make for materially slower prices, and, with consumption increasing at a much more rapid pace than production, the staple may sell at even higher prices than have yet been seen. Had ijt riot been> indeed, for the possibility of extended substitution of cotton for .wool m certain kinds of wool and worsted fabrics, there' is no telling to what height the price of wool might have soared long before this." Altogether the outlook is most cheerful and encouraging.