OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 736, 8 April 1910, Page 11

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

LOW WOOLS AND THEIR USES. (From Our.Sceclal OorresDondonl.t Bradford, February ?o, 1910. One gets : so accustomed to thinking and writing about merinos and cross-, breds, that wo'aro liable to forget there aro qualities very much lower than 40's, and it is about these that I wnnt to have a .word. 1 should say the lowest description, of wool produced, say, in South Australia, is 36's','but there is not a great deal of that grown. Neither should there be, because most countries can grow successfully a better stamp of raw. material than very ' strong 36's. There are times When this "class of raw material is in good demand, and whan prices are satisfactory, but as a rule' we look for 36's being grown in New Zealand, South America, and the British Isles, wool of this quality being- essentially the product of tho mutton breeds of sheep, more particularly, tho Lincoln. I, don't know whether or no it has ever struck readers, hut tho strongest quality wool always fetches tho lowest price, and this will ever obtain.' The-reason is not far to seek. When a person is buying the raw nialeiial, it simply means that he must study:!the: purposes tor whic,h.it is specially fit, and M's,'32's, 28's, and the very strong, course, Asiatic wools, are only ht ipr tno commonest fabrics made. Of course, 36's and 40's wool comes under the category of coarse qualities, and whon we get below that language; fails to adequately describe what ithe wools are. 'i'here is still a tremendous leeway to make up beforo the sheep stocks of Asia and tho iiast Indies reach tho standard of .the'flocks in Great Britain, Australasia, South Africa, and South America, for practically the whole of tho hocks of the Asiatic Continent are mongrel to a degree.-,'Even'in'South Africa there is still being propagated tho fat.titfled; typo'lit', sheep, growing what js known'' iu the . trade as "coarso and coloured" wool,

.After all; low wool such as scales 28's to 32's quality' is the produce whicM really, stieakijiji lieg'outside''the woofi visually'considered to opine mto the category of coarse (Inscriptions. It may seem to those ■ outside tho trade, but evou this low material is combed into and is largely- used both on the Continent, in, Yorkshire, and also jn America. Every description of wool, setves its particular purpose, and this is what 28's and 32's do in tho realm of textile mhnufaoture. To a colonial wpolgrower such rough, coarse material would lpok very uninviting,' and.some I have no doubt would instantly dub it "cow tail," a term employed in Bradford wheii describing yoTy 6trong, coafso britch. The question naturally arises, Prom trliat olasS: of sheep do we get this material? As. a. rule, it is grown • upon mountain, breeds such as the Scotch Blackfacod', Welsh, Exmoor and the .sheep/produced iu Asia and the East Indies. Hore, again, Natiiro has produced an' animal suited tor tho rough, rugged environments of cold, bleak countries, and on.the steep hillsides of oither Wales, Scotland, tho North of England and Ireland, :»- other chsses of. sheep could stand the rigours 'of an English J. have tramped scores of times • through the mountains nnd glens of the West Highlands of Scotland, and tho merino ' or average crossbred would not live three months in tho rough weather which obtains from November to February, '.'Although the Blaclifaced produces a flooce rough andkempy, vet the wool is worth to-day 7id. po» 'lb., and rip' better carpet stock is grown anywhere. America this last few years has been a very valuable,, market for this material, ana it spems to.Jvavo very little competition. iThe..wo-iis are strong and wiry, but tliey do 'admirably in producing article? of commerce where strength, is required; arid the finest fleeces also produce ttrpngi tweeds-which nialte up much better and more sightly than the majority wodld tuink.,,;. ' • SPECIAL' FEATURES CONSIDERED. , Anyone making a study'bf the wool iradn -.kiiows that a, manufacturer requires -raw material suitable for producing; certain fabrics, and while it is impossible to produce, as the saying goes, a silk purse from a sows ear," so it is, impossible to produce a ilne worsted coating, from theso low quality wools. Iho staple is anywhere from 9 to H inches-Jong, it is coarse and keihpy, and the nbres are 1 of varying thickness. It is an .-acknowledged .principle- -in the sheep and wool trado'that shorter the staple :and, liner the quality, length and coarseness .being also inseparable.-''-As a rule sucfi low .quality wools are seldom bright-and lustrous, the fibre being very dull unless' Lincoln or Leicester blood has been introduced. Onegets 32's from the tetch of Lincoln ; sheep,. and then WO ,S»7 e of lustre, but with essentially the. mountain breeds of sheep there-is-no lustro whatever.- The -fibre -is; not uniform, and is also rough to handle, this is only what pan be expected -when--one remember - tho olass of sheep and the character of the land, as well, as thei varying outward ppnditions under which the fleece is grown. Roimh poor pastures as well .'as a rigorous pinnate, is boind.to evolvo a sheep indigenous to the, country, and no one jet has been able ~to. improve upon nature's inevitable laws.. The spinning capacity of : these . wools .-is also low, the counts of yarn usually spun being thick, and mostly 12's to.is's. Then the uses tVt} are put ar hbsierv mT ' pf ,' carpets ' »atting S , low nosieiy fabrics, horse rugs, and very coarse blankets. ;-" ; ... J

end and Aiarqi?'.bkeeding. '. No mau with any practical. knowledge ™>, », \ eop ax f wo ° trade can advilo ffi£? i „°c P f odueo , b«t what Natuie has decreed. A man handling sheep must first consider climate and Si '£?*»?• rh - ere ls a P'Mein the world lor the merino as well as the mountain breed of sheep., which we have been speaking about, lie infinite variety ot wools grown; .from 28's to 100's quality! has brought, about' the production .of' wools all go; and: there is an opening H,LT y , Srade ' mMS as the best of thit grade is grown. No matter whofin'? U n'? a ?n-' S taee ding sheep producing 80s 60s, 40s, or 28's quality wool, the trade asks for the very best of. that type! ill •! C r ) m no moao * in growing poor material.. The avenues of consumption to-day are legion, hence a sheep-breeder never need bo lightened' of producing wool so long as it is good. Spinners and manufacturers have specialised in the consumption of all classes and qualities of raw. material, but what'they want above everything else is an adequate supply of well-grown, sound, good wool, and the same as uniform' in quality as possible, a don't think/any country south of the Equator need aspire to the production of low. quality fleeces, for they can grow something better, and the cost of producing a good sheep is np more ..than;a poor one. Let sheep-breeders everywhere maintain a high standard of excellence in their flocks, and don't breed any way. Thcro is a good deal of truth in the old adage, "Breed at random and repent at leisure, and thousands of men who have gone in for keeping and breeding sheep in a haphazard way havo sown seeds which have brought forth a very unsatisfactory and unpalatablo harvest Low quality wools are, all right in their place, will always be wanted, but let breeders see that they aro well grown with quality maintained at the hHios£ pitch. Itemember that hair is not wool and should be bred out at all costs. '

VALTJES HEM AND STEADY. Tho market, is exceedingly steady, and the tendency is upwards, rather than otherwise. Business continues to bo done on a fairly liberal scale, and during the past week some nice contracts for later months delivery have been fixed up. Merinos command the most and there is proceeding a very largo consumption indeed Everybody appears to be working at express speed, and great efforts are being made to cope with tho demands of both spinners and manufaci turefs. Thorb is abroad a very undecided opinion over tho immediate future of prices, some thinking there is yet to come forward a big weight of wool, and that arrivals nro sufficient to meet all the wants of the trade without prices being pushed higher. Others entertain the view that with a • prospect of less wool being available in London than expected.

values'will have to. go higher, but wool is costing, enough, and there is no need for higher prices. Manufacturers are not rushing headlong' to place contracts at to-day J s figures, and wholesale fabric buyers arc fighting very shy of the enhanced prices which are now being made for next season's goods. The majority are dis-. posed to tako in deliveries on old contracts in preference to paying more, hoping that increased supplies will tend to keep things in check.. D'ino crossbretls are very firm and steady, there being still some, nice weights sol'd for outside consumption. Coarse and medium qualities are also firmly held, there being most business done in the latter descriptions. Sood 40's tops are 6till available at 15(1. to 15Sd., but wool cannotbe bought anywhere to bring theui in. at tho eveli money. Spinners are. rather indifferent about paying more money, but .there seems no chance of values being lower. America is quieter, and the- uemand from that quarter is going to have" an. ira-. portant bearing upon future supplies, xhero is a little moro doing, in the noil trade, and prices are'a' shade firmer. Stocks of merinos, are very considerable, and will be. Mohair is somewhat quiet, there doing only a retail trade. There is more disposition on the part of. importers to meet buyers, and Constantinople'merchants are making preparations for the coming new clip by being willing sellers at a shade tinder what, they have been recently quoting. The spinning and manufacturing industry continues exceedingly busy, and on tho whole the business doing-is healthy in- all' departments.