FARM AND DAIRY

Taranaki Daily News, 9 October 1928, Page 16

FARM AND DAIRY

THE WOOL MARKET. LOWER RATES. POSITION STILL GOOD. (From Our Own Correspondent.) Wellington, Oct. 6. The London wool sales have closed, and wool-growers in Australia and New Zealand will no doubt feel disappointed at the turn of affairs. Crossbred and. halfbred wool of all descriptions declined, rather sharply as compared with the closing rates of the July sales, and it is calculated that greasy halfbred is down 2d to 3d per lb, greasy fine crossbred 2d to 3d and greasy medium and crossbreds 2d to 2Jd. Allowing for the drop recorded, crossbred wool is' still at a profitable level, and if prices remain so, there will not be much reason for _ worry. But there is always danger in a falling market of operators taking fright, and thus forcing down prices, to a level warranted by the circumstances. Messrs. Dalgety and Co., in a circular, state that at the moment it is difficult to express a decided, opinion on the coming season’s prospects. It is, however, quite evident that prices established in the Dominion at the last two sales of the 1927-28 season were inflated, and that during the year the manufacturing end. of the trade have found it difficult to show a profit on conversion costs. There is no doubt about wool being in demand, nothwithstanding the introduction of artificial silk and other substitutesj but what is affecting the ’price and depressing the market is the lack of purchasing power on the part of the masses of consumers. New Zealand’s princial market is Yorkshire, and it would be to our immediate benefit to see the wool textile trade of England in a sound and flourishing condition, But the British wool trade is suffering from Continental competition, not only in the neutral markets, but also in the Home trade. Something has to be done to meet the situation, and it is reported that employers in the west riding wool textile industry are determined that something must be done to bring down the local cost of production, and so enable them more successfully to combat foreign competition, or business must be increased by giving them more equitable competitive conditions in the Home market so as to assist them in the export trade also.

Some time ago the Bradford and District Manufacturers’ Association made application for the imposition of a duty on imported light weight goods under the Safeguarding of Industries Act, but nothing was done in the matter, and the proposal was opposed by union leaders. It is generally agreed that the position, especially in the worsted section, is worse to-day than for many years back. The leaders of the textile workers desire employers to go on paying the old standard rate of wage and maintaining present working hours and conditions, which makes the cost of production much above that of competitors in Continental Europe. No matter what may bo the actual cause of the depression in .the wool market, the fact remains that our income from wool this season will be much lower; assuming the drop to average 2d. per lb, it will mean a loss of about £1,600,000. This is a loss we can ill afford just now r . RABBITS FOR PROFIT. THE SPECIAL VARIETIES. GREAT VALUE IN THE FUR. The news that 20 Chinchilla and 50 Angora rabbits have been shipped to New Zealand is more than interesting in view of the setback which has been given to the fur-farming proposal in Australia, because of the fact, apparently, that the mere word “rabbit” is anathema in the Commonwealth, and the fear that rabbits specially imported and bred for their fur will be allowed to run loose and join their legion, but plebeian, cousins, writes the Sydney correspondent of the New Zealand Herald. The unfavourable attitude toward this new industry is incomprehensible even to many men on the land who realise that, as in other countries, rabbits specially bred for their fur have as little chance of escape, under proper restrictions, as the animals in the zoo. The value of these specially imported rabbits is regarded as. ample guarantee in itself that their owners will take excellent care of them and will not allow them to get on friendly terms with the rabbits which have been brought under the Pesto Act.

WERAROA SALE. The annual sale of pedigree Friesians was held on Wednesday last at Weraroa. The sales were: Two-year-old bull, Dominion Earl Beets, Abraham Williams, Ltd., Palmerston North, 25 guineas; yearling bulls, Dominion Prince, 28 guineas; Dominion King Joseph, L. Gienny, Waipawa, 40 guineas; Dominion Woodcrest King, 11. W. Hoskin, Mangatoki, 50 guineas; Dominion Koromiko,

Openshavr, Marton, S 3 guineas; Dominion Sir Joseph, H. Sorensen, Levin, 26 guineas; Dominion Prince Royal, C. Pen warden, Rahotu, 27 guineas; Dominion Canada, H. White, Ohau, 22 guineas; Dominion Domino Ormsby, Boys’ Training Farm, Weraroa, 37i guineas. Females: Dominion Lulu (3 years), E. W. Pemberton, Rangiawhia, 34 guineas; Dominion Lady Domino Woodcrest (3 years), Wesley College, Paerata, Auckland, 31 guineas; Dominion Koromiko (Carnation King Matador Betty— Dominion Agalia 2nd) is a bull of great show type. His four nearest dams on the maternal *sid.e have an average of 5621 b fat, and his sire is a grandson of May Echo Sylvia, the world’s record producing cow.