PREPARING THE WOOL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 15774, 15 March 1922, Page 8

PREPARING THE WOOL.

Sir. J. G. Cook (Government wool instructor), who has just returned to Wellington from a tour of the North and South Islands, expressed the opinion that farmers were profiting in Uiat regard (states the N.Z. Times). He produced a cutting from a report of a North Island branch of the Farmers' Union, in which one of the members asserted that be had obtained l£d -per lb. more for his wool through following the methods recommended to him by the Department. In the centres visited by Mr. Cook, he gave demonstrations in the wool-sheds, which were followed by practical work, done by the farmers, in skirting, sort? ing and classing, the three branches of preparing' the wool in which imporvement has been most needed, lie found the greatest keenness evinced by the growers, especially the small men. In some cases growers opened up their bales, even those that had been held over from the previous clip, and submitted them to an examination and report on the methods they had used. The big stations were not usually, said Mr. Cook, the object of the Department's care, for they were in tho position of employing expert elassers, but the efforts of tho departmental officers were chiefly confined to the smaller growers. A QUESTION OF MONEY.

"The matter of preparing wool for market is governed J>y the size of the farmer's bank balance, or his overdraft," remarked the manager of one of the large woolbroking firms in New Zealand. "He is at present selling wool at a price that is no more than the cost of production. He cannot afford the high price of labor. He has to do all the general work of the place—muster and yard his sheep, get things ready for the shearers, and act as Mleece-oh' in the shed. He has no time to look for the fine finish that is so necessary in catching the buyer's eye. When things get better, and prices improve, you will see that the standard of preparing the wool for market will improve also. It may not bo this year, but certainly next year we except to find things better in this connection." SEASON'S EFFECT ON WOOL.. Mr. Cook is greatly impressed with the quality of the wool produced in Ot.igo and Houlhland. Hero, he says, they are producing anything from merino to Lincoln, with a great quantity of Romney. The farmers were very earnest about their work, and keen to make use of any improved methods of preparing wool. He was also favorably impressed with what he saw on the North Island sheep farms. The quality of some of the wool was affected by the wet periods experienced in October; the yoke of the wool had appeared a little discolored, instead of opening up nice and clear, as would have been the case it the weather had been more proptitious.