"FINE" WOOL

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16622, 14 April 1928, Page 11

"FINE" WOOL

I TERM BATHER VAGUE ! j GROWERS RESENT CRITICISM J .It seems remarkable that while NewZealand pastoralists have given careful consideration 1o the criticisms directed against certain types of crossbred wool produced in the Dominion, and have i .shown (says The Wool Record, England) a cordial desire to understand • the requirements of users, many of tho ; 'Australian growers, judging from a ; j section of the Commonwealth press, < ! strongly resent any criticism of Australian wool. We cannot help thiuk- ; ing - that this is entirely due to a mis- ] understanding of the terms used by the ; critics. When users state, that they ; want "fine" wool, the growers at once • jump to the conclusion that the trade • is asking for 70's quality or finer —■ - what we should describe a.s "super- ; hue " wool. ] j It must be admitted that the term ] ."line" is some what vague, and it can i ' only be used in a relative sense. Compared with, say'; 4(s's quality, 58's is ; fine and it. is of course, a common prac- ( Itiee to designate crossbred? as low or i coarse, 'medium and fine. In, such a ; j comparison all merino wool is lino ' though in this connection it is worthy to nolo that in the ■ United States,. ( under the old trade terminology, i "fine ; ' wools only embraced b'i's ; quality and finer. In the old days , GO's quality was a definitely recognised ' merino type; now it is often a bastard , type, and can hardly be recognised as . merit!o, and the complaint is that too ; many of -the Australian flocks arc ( growing wool that is only a bare 60's quality. The pastoralists, however, ' assert that it does not pay them to ', grow •'fine" wool because they do not • get tho weight of fleece, and conse- i qumitly the monetary returns tiro inadequate. They say in effect, "Pay i

bigger prices for the fine wool and we will produce as much as the trade can absorb." But Ibis attitude suggests that the growers and users are at cross purposes.