OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 86, 4 January 1908, Page 8

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

WOOLrGRO WING IN. SOUTH AFRICA. (FEOK OUa BrKOIAL COnniSrONDENT.) • Bradford,' November 22.' ,> . South African wools always offer the trade a fit subject for consideration, and although ;somo of' the first merino sheep that ever entered Australia'went from the Cape, still the j latter country lias long ago been left' in the ' rear 1-in '"producing- either merino sheep or wool.J I am "afraid- that" th'o, record": of the Cape, wool trade is very much to-day what it was 50 years ago,; and 6ome. go so [ far as to say that it has deteriorated when compared with 15. to; 20 years' back. - However;-;.South.'-Africa does not •to-day occupy that ■-fore-front position as; a wool-growing country-that might have been expected considering- the start it had, and one caii only surmise that the old-Dutch., fanners have been., content to let things/take'their own sweet course so long as they could comfortably ckh r out "a "living. Whilo they have been sleeping the pastoralists both of . Australasia and the River Plata have been inaugurating -and carrying"out a forward and 1 we:see the effects .of-their enterprise; in- wool beiiig sent to 'market both better grown anrl better prepared than the Cape grown.article. This is to be regretted, for I Jiavo ; always maintained that th,<?rc is room oii the consuming markets of-the-world for a big weight of well- ' grown': South vAfritan ..wool, .whip]!...always sells well ■ providing- its character is good. During the past-two, years we havo heard far more about Cape 1 wool than for some -time past, and since the conclusion of the late war pastoral interests in South Africa. have undoubtedly woke up. The trade welcoiries that, for with it some material' good has already accrued toAustralian stud-sheep-breeders in particular.AN INTERESTING EXPERIMENT. The'writer of. this feels somewhat proud of the fact that he has had a hand in Bringing about some improvement in the production of Cape wool. One cannot help .but, rejoice nt the great awakoning on the. part, of woolgrowers both in Cape Colony, Orange River Colunv, tin 1 Transvaal, and Natal. Farmers have neen brought to sec that their sheep and wool were not -what they should ;> be, and already between 7000 and 8000 stud rams and ewes have been imported from Australia at about a cost of ,£30,000. New blood is bndly wanted, and in the near future it is pretty certain that more important purchases .will be made. This cannot fail but have a beneilcial effect upon the.wholoWQoliridust'ry, for with sheep improvement.; there is bound to ho a corresponding, betterment-of the-growing fleece. Capo wools hriv.a'. never: been deficient iu quality, and that.'is-onc reason ,why''.they stand; so'high in the. estimation of/.Yorkshiro spinners, providing . the staple is of -twelve mouths' growth and condition at all reasonable. Hut Capo wools'seem to many users'to possess what T may call a false fineness—thil't is,'the staple' is very lean'and' lucks body of density. The importation of this now blood will rectify this very largely, arid, .cannot fail but leave its mark 1 for good upon tho general .flrififc. I .Was pleased a' short time back , to receive from' the Agricultural Department :' fivo stud fleeces (three rams and two ewes) grown by one of the first breeders in Capo: Colony. These came with the request that I had to take each one, value thorn as they stood- in . the gteasy • stato, estimate their shrinkage,,-theii-get tliem scoured separately and sco' definitely'what was the loss. Then' they were re-valued arid finnlly combed. This mmlo a vory-interesting experiment,- and somo very* vnluab|e data' has-been acquired. -T-might say here ■ that these five fleeces wcro the best that I evor handled, anil . although I have had over .years' attendance .at the London sales; yet I' no'v.er :be- ' held fleeces as those sent. I am certain- thait 13d.: could easily, have been got for the owos , at the last series in Coleman Street, for there i was a splendid quality, capital length, very sound, and had been well skirted. Of course. , they'.were, stud" fleeces, and:'no dbubt' special care and attention had been' given to the . sheep. In connection with the wool one point esl pecially came out, namely, that the shrinkage i was a little moro than estimated. This is olio ; of the standing faults connected; with' Cape , wool, and scores of buyers have had to face'a loss whon the wools were scourcd arid combed simply , : beeause there had been a larger shrinkage thaii , had been reckoned on. Iu these five fleeces : I was only out iii one cose at the most 2-per 'cent., and it was in favour of the wool; 'that ■ is, the fleece gave' 2 per cont.-moro in clean r ..wool, than I thought it-would. Hundreds of lots of Cape grease have been bought during the paVt ton-years which have ; shown an in- ; ,croased.,los3 of from 5 to. 10- per cent, above the.estimate of-buyers, and this lias had the effect of causing many firms to leave Cape strictly-alone.- It. is always worse to estimate s : six'months' wools that are heavy in sand and 1 grease than it is good" twelve months' flcCcc .. grown-on good grass country. Why-this should S be may. look'a ..little strange t0. .w001-growers,

but earth and sand is always bud to skill, and '.shrinks much more henvily than simply grease. However, tho. wool when scoured was siriipiy perfect, and produced a "top" of 1 highclass quality. ]f there was grown in South Africa wool 15 It) 20 per cent, worse in icharactor than this there , would'be fewe'r complaints than thero are, and ! am glad to think that tho time is not far distant when such wool as this will bo the.rule and not tho oxcoptiOn. ' STILL ROOM FOE IMPROVEMENT, •There is no doubt that South Africa has the making qf a big sheep and wool business if the present programme is carried out thoroughly. Tho Agricultural Department of' both Cape Colony, Orange'. Riv6r'.Colony,- Transvaal, and Natal are,, certainly wide awake to, the possibilities in this direction, nnd the co-operative movement is'already bearing good fruit. What seems to mo to bo the' most: wanting feature' in connection with Capo wools is-n_better preparation for market.- There certainly. is an improvement-in this direction, and some real good work is being done .'by many farmers, but therO;Wants an abolishment of tho present system of six months'-shearing, .and'every fleece locking, and skirting , in-.-Australian' fashion. Ono cannot, help -but think that-if then)'"was .any roal good to be gained by. shearing every six months that tho squatters, of Australia and New Zealand would be'at tho "job without delay, but for any one. to mention such a thing would be considered, a fit 1 candidate for an asylum: Why, the present 'Australian clip is only of about II months' growth, and already much has been said of .tho staple being "too short" and of insufficient combing length. If that is- so; where does- a six months' grown staple come in? There are.plonty of. good, big buyers who never stop to valitt; Cape wools when they see they are only'of v six months' growth; and such wools are only fit for plothlng purposes. There certainly can be an improvement on these linos, and shearing once a year would be to the benefit of tho whole trade. • Too much emphasis cannot be laid on the importance of all shorn, fleeces • being well skirted. .It is simp'v a suicidal policy for anygi-owev to put in the fleece his bellies and ' skirts,' nnd these' should always, be removed before the wool is baled. .. A; TRIFLE BETTER MARKET; ' There, is not miich to- report that is really fresh, but if anything things nre a shade Tstoadier in average. The tone, .'no doubt, is better, and there is hardly that depressed feeling which was so pronounced last week. Al- ' most every day tho gloom deepened, and without doubt everything could bo bought, cheaper . as the days passed. Some seem to think that some decent weights of tops have been lifted, but I am unable to trace their origin, or whoare the buyers and sellers. -However, it is ■ right to say that in some quarters oven last week some fair transactions in futures were agreed upon at about tho lowest price which has hitherto been upcepted, and whether this will prove to be profitable business, time alone will show. -1 am certain that at -the" prices accepted neither merino nor crossbred wool, can be: bought at any market in the world, m;d these importers must have every, confidence in .. being'yet able .to buy .otherwise they would never' have sol'd likb they have. On .every-lia'nd there has'been in" evidence; not the least desire to force, anything, 1 and,'generally speaking, prices have steadily dropped purely an'd : simply on the ground of sheer .inactivity, • coupled , with tho feeling of 'uncertainty over ■ finances.'., V-, , '. ' Nothing can be really., expected until; men see how London opens, and'the feeling respecting that-market. is very much • mixed... Prices should come down. 10, per ceiit. all .round to meet' Bradford rates to-day, but.l'.am not look- • ing for more than ,agood .5- per. cent, in ■ merinos; and 5 to 10 per.-cent, ijl .coarse cross-. :breds. A good deal will dGpehd : upbn ' what , transpires in the' -financial world-'between mow, ' and next Tuesday. If. the situation in Amer-' i- .ica had' to considerably-. brighten this ; week,'. : then : it.'will mean' real good to'tho'wool trade; of. this country, but *i f the- bal'ik' .rate: is again' raised -it bound'to seriously handicap the :free movement of sales-'bothviri London rind '. olsewhere. The latest'private cables.frbm Allstralia'speak o£ a stifFeivmarket than'-'was seen V at the 1 earlier, part of last week, and-grdat'sur-prise is expressed at-: tho-wfty woolyifi'.selling. .» After, 'all, . .oven:- that' market- may stimulate •r 'buyers'.here,'bilt it is hirdly likely with the 1 present' bhnk:-rate that users are.'going to ; purchase' more wool than -they can-pay- for ■ themselves. 'There has been 110 slowing "down 1 at the consumptive end,, nnd as far as ono i can see all the oiltput of both tops, yarns, and pieces is being delivered. I have little hesita- ; tion in' saying that Bradford to-day is tho ■: loheapest market in the trorld . for. raw matej jtfpl, and ,it will , be, well if our .cheap sellers are.'not/again'making a whip for their own backs. • :'