BLACK WOOL.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 41, 25 March 1914, Page 11

BLACK WOOL.

ITS USES AND VALUE. Reading recently a short account in an Australian paper that a New South Wales pastoralist has found out the secret and -reduced the breeding of black sheep to a science, led me (writes the Bradford correspondent of the "Australasian") to think of black wool, and the special characteristics of that valuable commodity. The information is given that this breeder has already a flock of 3000 sheep, as black as Erebus. If I remember rightly, a| Queensland squatter has for years been! engaged in building up a black merino j flock, 4/hough the world lately has heard very little about it. I am certain that the wool from this flock is not sold in London, otherwise the writer would have seen it; but it is interesting to know that we have pastoralists so enterprising as to concentrate all their energies and .capital upon •trying to breed a flock of black sheep. To be told that the 3000 already referred to gave an "average of of wool per head at last shearing, and for the same to sell at 13d per lb, is decidedly interesting and profit-able rearing. Another interesting fact is that the lambing of the, niggers was 84 per cent., and to be further told that a well-known stock- salesman had been commissioned to purchase the best black ram in the Commonwealth ,to further improve this unique flock, reads almost like a fairy tale. Mose sincerely I heartily approve .of such a course of conduct, and wish everyone engaged in attempting to produce black sheep every success. For a long time black wool :sheep -were considered, a r-eproaeh to any flock or at least a freak of nature; but that illusion has now been exploded for .ever. It would be interesting to know the (cause of lambs being bom with black •wool, when their parents were both as white as driven snow. Recently I ;spent a week-end with an intimate jfriend who is a sheep farmer in one iof our lovely Yorkshire dales. All his ewes are Scottish black-faced, a breed (essentially fitted for the rough fells and moors of the high altitudes of this part of the country. It was lambing season, and in his flock some half-, dozen black lambs had arrived. I stood and examined one carefully, wondering, why this should have come into the world with .a coat .as black as my hat when its mother stood close by with a fleece as white as snow. Here is a great field for scientific exploration, and as I write this the thought occurs that it is worth while putting a few black fibres under a powerful microscope to see if the construction of the fibre is similar to an ordinary white staple. I do not' expect to see any difference whatever, but possibly one may find a little .change in the colouring matter, if I -may so term it, ,of the cells themselves. For after all .the appearance of wool is really a ease of reflected light coming from the cells of the wool fibres themselves. The reason why Lincoln wool is so lustrous is due entirely to the action of light striking the largely constructed cells of that fibre, and the same becoming polished and glistening to the eye. I am not in a position to dispute the possibility of black sheep being bred scientifically, but there is absolutely no guarantee that by coupling a black ram and ewe together that . the progeny will be black. Cases have been known where such a line of action has resulted in lambs being born quite white, hence if the real cause of black lambs being born can be found ont, real good will be done.

This last few years black wool has been made a great deal more of than Avas formerly done, and where at one time it was more of a hindrance and nuisance than a blessing, this is not so to-day. Black wool has come to stay, and those breeders who have a few black sheep in their flock may regard them more as a special blessing ■ than otherwise. The oft-repeated axiom that there are " black slieep in every flock" has lost to some extent its evil significance, though the sneak and imposter that attempts to cheat under the guise of purity and truth is certainly deserving of the strongest words of condemnation, and to be cast out of society as. a blackguard. Real black sheep in the animal-world can only be regarded to-day as " a boon ' and a blessing to men,'' illustrating once more the wisdom of a benign Creator in providing His creatures with exactly what they want to preserve health and promote the general happiness of mankind.

During the past few years black wools have grown in popular favour simply because they have found the proper sphere for which Nature intended them. Every sheep breeder must know by this that unlike white wools, black descriptions are used in their natural state, that is, undyed. Experience has found out long ago that to attempt to dye black wool would be simply a waste of time and money, besides more or less injuring the staple. It is impossible to dye black wool into any other shade than black, the operation simply .deepening the colours and rendering it a more heavy or "jet black" still. But medical science, aided and substantiated by experience, has found out that dyed fabrics when worn next to the skin are highly injurious to the wearer, and should never be adopted by any one, and particularly by a person given to sweating. Take the case of a person troubled with sweaty feet, and who wears, say, black stockings. We cannot conceive of that person doing a more foolish thing, endangering health at every turn, and yet, for all that, it is a very common occurrence. After a life-long experience in handling and seeing wool through every stage of its manufacture, I long ago discarded the use of all dyed materials next to the skin, confident that the absorption of colouring matters by the pores of the skin is simply the absorption of so much foreign and poisonous , matter. It is exactly here that the

I benefits/of black wool come in, and i modern' manufacturers have at last met | the needs of Nature by producing the I very fabrics that Nature requires, and which are best fitted for mankind at large. v The production of '' sanitary'' or "health'.' flannels or undergarments is now a thing of first importance with underwear manufacturers, and these are the men who compete keenly for black wools. It is no uncommon thing to-day to see a bale of black fine wool sell for 25 to 50 per cent, more than does the ordinary white wool out of the same flock, simply because black is rather scarce and wanted. When the British Government gave out an order for natural underwear flannels at the beginning of the Boer war, black wool went up tremendously, and it has fallen very little since, it being to-day relatively dearer than white wool. "Natural grey'' flannels, or '' health'' flannels as they are usually called, are the things for every person, and as undervests, pants, etc., they should be universally worn, containing no wool that has been dyed, the colour if sometimes a little light, being got by blending together white and the - natural black wool. Even the scouring of the black wool does not alter the shade, only the grease, etc., being removed, the colour being the..same. In-these- black wools we have everything a sensible person can possibly require for comfort and appearance, besides wearing capabilities, and the more hygienic qualities become known the greater will be the call. To growers I would say let all black fleeces be baled separately, 1$ is a mistake to pack them' along with white Pieces, as it is not every buyer that can use them. Even if there are only sufficient to make a little bale, that will sell better, because it is all black wool, than if it were a mixture of black and white.