THE WOOL POSITION

Southland Times, Issue 19347, 12 September 1924, Page 5

THE WOOL POSITION

THE BRADFORD CONFERENCE NEW BRANDING PROCESS HINTS FOB THE OVERSEAS DOMINIONS (By Teleg apb—Press Assn.—Copyright.) (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) LONDON, September 10. The delegates to the Wool Conference at Bradford spent the morning in inspecting the Saltaire Mills. Considerable time was spent in the burling department discussing the methods of eliminating blemishes, which the trade contends should, and could, be practically avoided by the growers. Much interest was also shown in the proposed wool pack, with which the trade hopes to replace the jute pack. It is pointed out that jute fibre unavoidably becomes mixed with the wool, and cannot be detected until the finished cloth appears, requiring a large staff of burlera to remove the blemishes, as jute is not affected by wool dyes. It is hoped that this difficulty will be avoided by the use of wool packs. Subsequently the delegates were entertained at luncheon at the Town Hall by the Lord Mayor. In reply to the toast of the guests, Mr Colebatch (Western Australia), referring to Mr Dawson’s speech, said he hoped that England would be wary about adopting a policy of throwing obstacles in the way of loans for the development of the dominions, thereby retarding the absorption overseas of Britain’s surplus population. After luncheon the Woolgrowers’ Conference resumed to permit of the ventilation of some points, which were regarded as having been insufficiently discussed.

The President stated that a verbatim report of the conference would be issued to the pastoralists in the dominions. Mr Tulloch (secretary of the Bradford Chamber of Commerce) said that the experiments with the new branding process had hitherto proved satisfactory in the high lands and in the laboratory, but another year’s experiments were being made by one of the members of the Bradford Committee on his own sheep.

Mr Michaellian (South Africa) asked about the suitability of tattoo oil, which was used in South Africa. The President replied that this branding process had not been examined, and on his request Mr Michaellian promised to send a number of fleeces marked with tattoo oil to Bradford for chemical treatment. Speaking subsequently, Sir W. Aykroyd stated that the French societies were preparing a pack made from paper. The conference then terminated.