ENGLISH WOOL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 15090, 12 December 1919, Page 9

ENGLISH WOOL.

(Prom our Special Correspondent.) BRADFORD, Oct. 22. The disposal of the current English clip is proceeding very satisfactorily. F.r several weeks what are known as deep wools — Lincoln, Leicester, etc— have only moved a!owly, but more recently a better demand has developed, and market quotations have . become ■ firmer. The liner sorts, however, are still very popular, and merchants say that these have been cleared more quickly than has been known folr several years. For the moment there > does not seem to be a great deal doin^ m Scotch skin wools, and the demand :s chiefly from firms m Scotland, who appear to be able to pay ,better prices ' than local users. One reason for the [ st.ff tendency m values for this class r of home-grown fleeces is that recently , large weights have been sold to go , across the Atlantic. Though exports of : home-grown wool from, this country * have not yet reached anything like f their pre-war level a distinct improvei ment is taking place.' SCARCITY OF WATER. [ A rather remarkable state of affairs ' j is now prevalent m this country, due to 1 the small amount of rain which ha. - fal!en during the past few months. Il - has ibeen remarked, particularly by men I ,who were released from the army about ■ the time the armistice' was signed, how - little rain has fallen since that date. * Efforts are being made to economise - water, and even m a mountainous area s like Wales where one might expect the b rainfall to be better than m most parts, s the position has been rather bad for f even a longer period than it has been 1 locally. I The significance of the scarcity of . water from a Bradford wool trade > standpoint is that it has prevented mvi chinery being run to its utmost capacity F and the output of combed wool has - thereby been reduced. Reference has - been made to this m the paragraph de- . scribing the present position m the top 3 market. No sooner is one difficulty b overcome m the trade than another f arises almost immediately, with the > effect tliat the efforts made to increase t output are more or less nullified. RELEASE OF GOVERNMEiNT T CLOrrtf. Complaints are still being made about ) the price of cloth, but the Government - appear to he taking steps ■ which ,wiL - heip bring about a modflcation. The i Disposal Board of the Ministry of Manii tions 1 have announced that tney intend - to sell a quantity of surplus cloth suit- - able for suitings, overcoatings, rain . coats, costumes, dress materials and r un.forms, etc. The sale will be made l by tender and samples of the various > cloths may be inspected at the Chamt bers of Commerce m various towns and l cities . throughout the country. : CARBONISERS BUSY. s Merchants interested m by-products * complain that their operat.ons are J greatly handicapped by the restrictions > whioh are still imposed on trade on ex--5 port account. No doubt they enjoy to- - day greater freedom than they did dur- » ing the war, but many .would appreciate 1 the granting of liberty 'to deal, stili > more freely with all th© customers who i are sending m inquiries; The demand - on Continental account is very large, * and more orders could be accepted m * both small and large weights if full i liberty were granted o do so. So far s as trade with Central ' Europe is coni cerned, tliere is no doubt that the finaxi--1 cial problem is st.ll a serious one> and * buyers there will be compelled to seek *> the cheapest article possible. Those - who hay© any connections with Central i Europe find that this is actually the - case, and there is every prospect of <t *) development m the demand for goods t made from or for the production of Lhe * cheaper class of fabrics. Speaking foi > the home trade, noils are still rather b quiet. No doubt there is plenty of de - mand for good clean;-;- tuff -'.at 'full prices, -: but for anything that -Heeds carbon.sing - the demand is oniy inditferet. This is - .arge-y \d-ae, to the fact that carbonising t, firms already have a large weight or \ business m iront df them,, and .-.re re- - f us.ng to take on ariy more work.