PROBLEMS EOR GRAZIERS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5582, 4 June 1896, Page 2

PROBLEMS EOR GRAZIERS.

The introduction of barbed wire did much to reduce the selling value of hides and skins ; but that evil seems too well established to be eradicated, and if our graziers find that the advantages of efficient fencing more than counterbalance the loss in value of hides there is no more to be said on the subject. The deterioration of wool, occasioned by the use of tar and other obnoxious materials for branding sheep, is another and more serious matter, as it lessens the value of our staple product without any preponderating advantage. The Government has just received a despatch from the Secretary of State for the Colonies, covering a circular on this subject from the Halifax Incorporated Chamber of Commerce. " Tho circular states that attention has been called to the very serious drawbacks that occur to spinners and manufacturers from the use of tar and similar substances in the marking of sheep. A large quantity of wool is used in the manufacture of carpets and similar productions which does not undergo the process of sorting, and although employes are cautioned to exercise due care and vigilance to take out any tar-marked wool they may discover, it frequently happens that tar marks in small quantities pass through the various stages into the finished goods and cause considerable damage and loss. The circular has been issued in the hope that farmers will be induced to adopt some other means of identification. .If . marking is to be adhered to, some substance should be used which, ' whilst being capable of outliving ordinary conditions of weather in the open, would dissolve under the regular process of woolwashing. The value of the wool under these new conditions would, ifc is said, he considerably enhanced. If New Zealand should be the first country to show- the product free from this blemish she would reap a substantial advantage in the shape of a higher price for her wool.