ENGLISH WOOL LETTER.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12826, 27 July 1912, Page 3 (Supplement)

ENGLISH WOOL LETTER.

PRICES RESTING ON A BIG WORLD WI'D-lv CONSUMPTION. {Frbinitfttr Spe^^aliCoiw^ippntlen.C,) . [ ' BRADFORD^ June 14. Business has been conducted this week on very similar lines to ' 'what I have previously outlined, and no new feature is in* evidence. Nobody is expecting much change until we see how wool begins to shape inX'oleman street nextmonth-, though the- news to hand- from Brisbane sh'dwa-i<cl«arly how the land lies. The fact is wool'seems safe, prices resting upon a big world-wide consumption. 'In all my travels this last three weeks I" have 'only, come a cross, one man —a fairly large tdp'maker — who Ventured an adverse opinion. I was very I ' much" surprised to hear him clearly state that he considered nrkes lkmetoo firm, •and unless! there was an alteration we -could easily 'see a, slight set-back. To be cca r did" I' was very much taken aback- !&hd ■when. 'masked for his reason for taking an opposite, view to the majority.: he frankly stated that .spinners were. .not »o busy and' had not such good order sheets .'as they ■ had a : year ago. This is a strange statement, and hard to reconcile' with what one actually sees. I must say that I know no one short of either orders or work, and where is there a commission spinner "open ;fot orders? Frames everywhere are fully occupied and likely to be... It is qtliti trr.s that consumption- m some , qv&T-> ter.s is not as heavy 'as we have-often' seen, due to so many; ; fine -counts being spun, but spindles are' running to their fullest capacity everywhere, and ttops are being shifted freely. -This season soine" big weights' of 64's an6V ; 7o's have been sold, all for tine spinning counts, and it- is surprising what baautiiril ranges of colored yarns some firm* :ivs turning out for the better' • class iv:iclo m rainproofs, and for. use .with •other yarns for ornamentation. This is i now a big business, and will be, for although fashions are. not. favoring loud effects, there are some nice qmet styles m solid shades which aw? being relieved from being sombre by the introduction of a few colored threads. MERINOS VERY FIRM. The news front Australia this week rewTding' Weather" is." better^ and the o-ood rains reported from New South Wales have relieved the tension. Holders of the raw material are- as difficult to deal with as ever. . Th© wonder would be if theyMVero.hot.r Tl^slnarket ls'^not so active as one- would ' expert, but sutficiont is doing to indicate -.firm vMues ?f and topmakers 'are either having their full prices,. -w-.tfot #Ji"gr w< * k mo i-e strength is m evidence, for holders see everything is m ,%£ tar £i vev ma-ny instances during .the last fe^ months users have done little 'more -than cover their .requirements, and this^means, thr. t they must : keep •eotmnp .mto-tfie, market to bby something.; The result is tlvt enquiry is well< sustained, and quo,-. taxUms are now actual mafket prices; • Good deliveries on. -old -contacts .«Mr mv freely made, those' spm^rs'whi arV now 'receiving 64's tops at 25d±:aml 25; d are. .naturally feeling comfortable. ThY recent spot lots about exhausted, and users-are having, to rely m-vo upon 'regular standard vr..u'-j.-. Fii:o noils are still seUmg^at!.-^. .nau,.. ferentlv. The^yflannel teade*w, '..o v . W good, and this certainly limits tion The shirting trade i:i whien-a. good deal of short, fine wool' is used, leaves little to be .ocsired. Locks hay* sold better lately, ' uud these aliou.d easily bring last salad prices at the corning July series m London. „..._., MARKING ilM*- . Not much change can be «spov«.ed hire«»rd to crossbredsi Wool itself *is BeflinT fairly well, :amd still commaiuis fames' fully 'better than m the top Those who say they.- can ■ btoy a deceit Aff s prepared at 13d and. 46V carded at 13id had better go on opey- k atin«r for I cannot see how any seller w Settfnir back his own. I shall be much: surpr&d' if holder* of .wool m Lon, don let the raw material go at less than what it- sold at during the closing week of last series. ■ Everybody is expecting to see a good: slice of the crossbred -wool* available-carried forward to the September series. Locally, business is jioiie too good, but on the whole prices are if anything firmer than durui* the past fortnight. Topmakers are not sO/ Lueezable, and r-^htiy^o. lhe majority are delivering freely en old contracts, and are 'Jontent to wait till actual needs exist rather than force tops on to an unwilling market.' Some report "more eYiq'uiry from the and if this takes definite shape and orders are placed lasting gdod will be done. Prices are mostly unchanged on the week, Export houses fare very quiet at the yarn imd and here and there single 30 a can be picked up a trifle -cheaper .oiit of stock, nut ori the- whole the .situation remains unaltered! * SHEADING IN SCOTLAND. This month is certainly the nicest ol any m the whole year, it. being .commonly said that m June everything is 'in tune After very reasonable rains, everything is glorious, with every indication of good crops of hay, corn, and other cereals. No colonial ever comes to Fngland without crossing the Border, and payirfc a visit to the Land o Cakes Quite a host " of 'Australians have 'been "m Bradford during the past fortnight. They have broken their iournev'-on-'thfefr way to Scotland and -Ire now. '•dbihg" the Highlands, visitinjr places of '■ interest -among- lochs, jrllns and mountains. The early part of the week I spent on a large farm away- on' the, shores of Loch Long, and as T write ''this note I am looking^ out on rfw placid waters of this Wm ot the sea. By climbing the hill rises upwards, of 20CO feet I. can behold the blue waters of Loch Lomond; and the ishephevd has just returned from the hill with the tups, for. shearing is about to commence. What a contrast there is here voom pared with shearing on tin Australian station; Yet this Highland holding is a large one as farms run m this country. It is about BCQQ acres m extent, and carries 2760, Scotch blackfeced sheep. The scenery here is unsurpassed for beauty,.>and iUmost everything the human being could desire t»see hi nature can be found. • But it is the sheep about which 1 want to tell my readers. To some it may seem late to start shearing m June, but it is riot really so. In those northern climes one must study the weather and general environment. The Hiights arc still cold, and to shear a sheep and then turn it out to the hill before the nights are warm would be to ''run ii great risk, as the proprietor says', of findirg the sheep "stretched" next' morning. Shearing is a big event, even though there may be only a small flock to be put through. 'On these High'lanfl farms the owner has two or three ■"goes" at the job, the rams being shorn firsts This is the week when the first stroke is done throughout the glens.How differently this work is done from the way with which one is familiar m Australia.. There is no sound of running machinery.,, no rouseobbuts' and' nb> classers, one picker-up being sufficient to attend to the three or four shearers. The sheep are -first put 1 'into thJe"fajik." Ori ; the outside are three or four shearing stools, the animal never beiii"' shorn with the operator standing." A ' svieep is caught, then placed on- the «fcool>, and a man begins clipping. This no doubt may seem a very primitive method when a man is used to shearing m 'a big Australian shed, but m this country blade-shearingn will ■always prevail. .Scotch sheep farmei's mat being particular ' abont getting too aifcar the Skm. : ' '.' ■ .^lieii;' the -tiips are shorn, then com,e tTio yeld, or barren ewes, arid weflders (wethers), as they are called m Scotland. " The general shearing takes place m July i when the milk -ewes— that is the ewes with lambs — are shorn. This is a big event, and I have often seen a fine gathering 'tit the clan's *f or -this" job. ♦ Tbe proprietor, of '-^he farms takers' jta! s B, ld at U £ *Wo or ;tJf3|ee. i 'gliepiierds'; ; : t ( tW6^d l f 1 tj|e mearest neighbors will also " cornel^^ bringing along rwith theni onp of the^ir shepIjerds, 'it Wmg no i-uncdmtiaoti tiling '$q flee'-^ve». r .o*""esght''""-all ; -6iti(aiiijg iQ:'a,TOW, shearing away. The ' 'tallies" ; are -very different from those we hear about m the •colonies. Instead of a shearer putting through 125 to 175 sheep per day, a unan Hviio can shea* 70 to 80 sheep m ft, day is considered a good hand.

All tho, classing avid skirting tho wool gets is tho removal of the dirty britch and "muck lumps?'* 1 The fleece. is then rolled m the ordinary way; the neckband being twisted round the whole fleece, which is then deposited into a ■bag supplied by a Glasgow broker. Most of the Scotch" clip is sold on commission by private treaty, although periodic saleii are -held at"Leith, Perth and

Glasgow. " li . . ! _ The Scotchr'ibkck-faced sheep is a very hardy animal, well suited for the hilly surroundings and rough keep of this part of the cortintry.- " It' is somewhat small m size, but a. good doer on poor land, and a sheep that can stand almost any amount of rough usage, being probably the hardiest sheep m Great Britain.' There is no sweeter mutton m the world, and thousands of carcases are; sent every year into the 'London market for the best trade.

Wool from Scotch sheep stands m strong contrast to what comes from Australia, South Africa, or New Zealand. I can imagine many colonial pas-tofalist-s being literally shocked if they had a fleece of Scotch wool and placed it alongside 'their bwiii A Scotch fleece is generally no more than' 28's quality, though occasionally >a :^«mall portion of the shoulder will run -to 32's. ' It is long, strong, coarse', and very kempy, and many a man wonders what is done with such wool., Still, it is one of the most pqpiilar classes grown m; the Bri-tish-'lsle3y!&nd' occupies! a position of its own. the .past-year of unprofitable times to those handling English w0015,. -'blackface has sold very well, stocks -'of old wool are all exhausted, and the trade is ready for the; new clip. I make the bold statement that-, quality for quality} -there >is no class of wool grown m Great Britain that fetches so good a -prise, as Scotch, and this is becauso it is of an order all to itself. T-liero is ,nb wool grown m Australia, New Zealand, South Africa,, or the River Plate which competes with it, Asiatic and East Indian wools being its rivals. Blackfaced wool is mostly used for carpets, -ewes. -audi wethers being worth to-day 7-jjd, and hog wool 7£d per ]b. .

WEST RIDING AND THE OUTSIDE -WORLD. , ,

The British Board ,of Trade returns for May are always worth studying, as showing th,e trend not only of the textile industry m particnlar, but also of the general trade of the country. We have m these returns a commercial barometer,, which is well worth objsefvingji for ' it 'indicates ithe ;relationship iwhidusthe' 1 West! -Riding enjoys with the outside world. The extent of our trade in l somiimariufactured goods ■> is surprising, as is also the way m which it keeps up. Dealing with the raw wool, our imports for the first five of the- btiijifefnt' year amount to 16,822,800 lbs, compared with 11,900,800 lbs for the corresponding period m 1911 and 17,428,9p01bs m .1910. What perhaps interests ilis most of all is the export side of the account. Our shipments of tops- abroad is very well maintained, but worsted yarns show a decline of approximately two million pounds; mohair yarns are also slightly under last year, and the same must be said of tissues and worsted fabrics. We would much rather chronicle increases, but when all is said and done Great Britain's overseas trade m textiles is the largest m 'the' world, and according to pljba condition spells prosperity or adversity to the industry .m general. ■ We give : below' shipment of the leading texiiles m, whioh.tlie .reader is concerned : — Tops,. 1910 18,777,7001b5, 1911 18,264, 500lbs, =1612 19,340.0001b5 ; \Voollen yarn, dj488.2()0— 2,381,800— 2,627,100 ; worsted yarn, 25,949,800—25,964,700—23,864,400 ; yarn, alpaca and mohair, 7,196,400 — 7,326,400—6,147,900 ; woollen tissues, 83;763;500yds — 40,507,300 — 36,7,84,400 ; worsted; 42,025,700—25,697,500—29,143,---900; wool and mohair plush, 79,600^— 114X00—116,300 : flannels and delaines, 5y189;500— 3,636.800— 2.841.200 ; carpets and carpet rugs, 3,974.700—3,890,700— 3V849,1C0; blankets, 454.387pr5— 551,982 —519,837 ; hosiery, wool, etc., £333.---957^£413}599—£415,988. CONTINENTAL CONDITIONING HOUSE. RETURNS. Statistics are often very dry things, but they,need not be if ordinary intelligence is brought to bear upon them. I give them i'or the express purpose of ■showing' the tendency of wool conditions abroad, for both France and Germany figure to-day so prominently m the wool world that what is done at the various conditioning houses illustrates clearly the measure of the business passing. Here m Bradford we know full well what an important part the- conditioning house plays m the trade of the city, and that when things are slack the monthly returns drop, but-,when business is good, a big weight of goods is passing through. The same truth obtains m France. The following (table shows the quantities of raw material dealt with -at the conditioning houses m the North of France during May,' and the corresponding month of the two previous years : —^

Tops, 1912, 6,317,247 ldlos; 1911, 6,176,679 -kilos ;, 1910, 5,367,991 kilos ; yarns, 1,920,593—2,297,313—2.025,577 ; noils and wools, 1,481,807—1,592,010— 1,304,564. v Appended are the quantities of tops dealt with from January 1 to May 31 at the centres named :~

January 1 £b May 31, 1912— Amiens, 228,956 kilos; January 1 to May 31, 1911, 566,256 kilos; January 1 to. May 31, 191fV 237,066 kilo^; Le 'Gateau, 16,---272—43,601-^86,27 2; ' Fournies. 933,538 --1,013,505— 968*060 ; Rheims, 2,856,164 —3,347,681—3,234,224; Tourcoing, .11,---078,241—10,602,171—11,043,30 6; E.oubaix 15,808,907—16,008,046^-14,102,108: totals, 30,917,078-^51,281,260—29,671,036.