MORE CARE NEEDED

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19920, 16 August 1927, Page 7

MORE CARE NEEDED

NEW ZEALAND WOOL Better Staple and New Branding Method Required VIEWS OF AMERICAN INDUSTRY. [ Special " Chronicle ** Service. J * WELLINGTON, Aug. 15. Learning of a conference of Dominion wool-growers, under the auspices of the Bradford Chamber of Commerce, at which the growers’ atten- ' tiou was called to aspects of the industry detrimental to wool users and likely to influence buying, the Boston Wool Trade Association has forwarded its testimony in a letter received by the New Zealand Farmers' Union. After discussing the question with many large importers, the executive committee of the Association states its belief that American buyers will be forced to discriminate strongly against clips which are poorly bred, irregularly classed and carelessly put up. The Boston Association complains of the present tendency of breeding and methods of marking sheep, and classing and shipping wool. The indiscriminate use of the Romney ram in breeding, it’is stated, has resulted in fibre* of uneven length and quality in the same staple. This makes the close sorting of wool impossible, with the result that the wool must be valued at the lowest of qualities that arc apparent.

The largest American importers and users of New Zealand wool prefer Leicester and Lincoln strains, because they produce a long staple, more lustrous, and better spinning wool than the Romney. The desire for a mutton earcase has brought about the use of rams which have a tendency to produce black hairs in the fleece of their offspring. It is impossible to sort out these black hairs, with the result that the value of the wool is depreciated. Also, since the war, in American opinion, New Zealand wools have not been classed as carefully as previously, and it is pointed out that extreme care should be taken if active American competition for wool is expected. Most of the wool imported to America from New Zealand is for specialty work, and is not suitable unless it is carefully classed.

The hope is expressed that new methods of branding sheep will be devised to reduce the big losses of manufacturers, and that new packing methods will replace the present hemp burlap, the fibres of which, in spite of every possible precaution, are constantly getting mixed with the wooL