YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1409, 9 April 1912, Page 2

YORKSHIRE LETTER.

EVOLUTION OF MERINO WOOL,

(From Our Special Correspondent.) Bradford, February 23. I do not know whether any reader Ims been impressed with (lie variety of merino wcol that is being grown in Ihe different eountries of the world. It has become an acknowledged fact that climate and pasturage play an important part in determining the siyle, quality, and character of all wool, and combined with good breeding, these ialluences are now producing a very useful style of merino woci. Tlie writer was lecturing last .Monday at the Bradford Technical College on the wooU of Mouth Africa, and among the numerous slides shown was one containing a sample of wool shorn in Australia in the year 17118. It may be a pretty tall .statement to make, but 1 give it on the authority of the Uovcrnmenl officials ill charge of the wool department of the Technological Museum in Sydney, and 1 understand that the small simple came iroiu the first importation of Capo merino landed in that year in Sydney, the sheep being brought by Captains U'atcrhouse and Kent lrom (.ape 'town. 1 could not help being struck with the evolution that lias taken place in the merino since that, time. One" hundred years'ago the lleece of that sheep showed practically no staple whatever, and although it is called merino wool, yet there is no serration or curl in (he fibro whatever. Then I showed samples shorn in the years 1600, ISO:!, arid 1801, and the effect of the Australian climato was really marvellous. In the short spaeo of half a dozen years the wool began to sliow both serration, curl, and quality, and became altogether different from the first importation. It is this fact which raises the question which I want to briefly discuss in my weekly letter, namely, the evolution of merino wools. "EARTHY" WOOL OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. Dealing with South Australian merinos, there is certainly o vast change'to bo seen in the raw material which is being produced in that State. To an unaccustomed eye there may not be a big difference, but to those who are spinning and manufacturing the same, there is all the difference in the world. If wo examine the merinos grown in the northern part of the State, we find that they arc of a very red colour, earthy in condition, generally of Gl's quality, and often somewhat tender in staple, but when the wool has been cleared of "freehold," i.e., mother eartli. then we have a fairly useful article. But it cannot be said (hat all sections of tlio trade take to these northern-grown wools, for they are somewhat deceptive. If owners would-bear this fact in mind, it would often prevent many bitter complaints being made to selling brokers, for while the station owners may think that they ought to have had Id. to Id. more for their top lots, yet those who buy them regularly aro well aware that they often shrink a good deal more than appears probable on the surface. All the same, while the wool may be well-grown, the spinner cannot get the same length or smallness of yarn from these northerngrown wools as he can from those produced in the south-eastern part nf South Australia, l'erlmps it is a little difficult to explain on paper why this is so, but it is nevertheless true. The reader may not know, but a limn can spill down to a lower or thicker count when it is impossible to' spiii up to a liner one, this beiny due in the first instance to the quality of the raw material. I do not think that wools grown in the north of South Australia handle so soft and supple as those grown in the lower north and south-eastern pprtion of the State, and I can only attribute this to tlio red earthy nature of the soil on which the sheep run, and to the intenso heat of the northern plains. The fact is very remarkable,that wool grown on red soil never yields so well as that grown upon black soil, neither •will it spin as a rule so free and so well, although there are some clips grown in (lie west of New South Wales which are noted for their quality. Still, my previous remarks apply more particularly to tlio btronger merinos which are grown m the northern section of South Australia. A REMARKABLE MERINO. Coming lower down, say, to the Middle and Lower-North, wo get a different class of material altogether, one which has probably niado South Australia, more renowned than any other wool grown in the State. Why? Simply because LowerNorth p.istoralists seem to have evolved a merino whose lloeco is remarkable for its length of staple and deep combing properties. Tlio old worsted coating days perhaps (lid more to popularise South Australian wools than any other Ihe trade has ever done, and there is a firm in liradfcrd whose tops have made themselves a name, and into which some large quantities of this staple are blended. On the whole, these fleeces will scale up to 'to s, but it is ihe deep combing property which is their outstanding feature, and it is remarkable that -many firms use them to blend with shorter material in order to givo length and character to the combed top. Experience lias taught that these wools produce what is known as a "blobby" yarn, and if we carry them to the woven piece, tlio finished fabric' handles full and "toouy. In nsking & question last Monday at tho Bradford Technical College, a gentleman who spoke said ho has been vcrv successful in spinning Jnpe wools and making them into a certain fabric which was sold largely in South Africa. These goods had won for themselves a fairly good name, the local patriotism having gone a long way with tho buyers. They assured tlio storekeepers that tho serges ill question were made purely from Cripe wools,: and tliis was tho prime factor in inducing purchases. The great faults of the pieces was that they were not "foody enough, and tlio reason for tliis, as I pointed out, was not.far to Ihe typical Cape merino wool is very fine in tlio hair, I should say ten to .fifteen counts finer so far as spinning quality is concerned. Tho Capo merinos havobcen so long in-bred that they are devoid in many /ases of life niul vitality, and. that is one reason why during tho last six or eight years there lias been such a • largo importation of merino sheep from Australia. Many flocks liavo benefited considerably as a result of this, the cli|>s today being better grown, and a little lower inequality, but of an altogether' different staple. In other words, tho introduction of ihe new blood from Australia has produced a better and more bulky staple,.or to use a further simile moro life and vitality, which means that elasticity has been infused into the fibres. In South Australian wool coming from the Middle and Lower North districts those characteristics are strongly in evidence, and whilo in tho opinion of many people several clips are hardly fine enough, yet they aro sound, bulky wools which always be-, have well in the spinning operation,' and are full of stamina and character. TIIE BEST MATERIAL. Dealing briefly with the wools grown west of Port Augusta wo generally get a finer wool than that produced in tho previously named district, and tliis spins well. It always comes a good colour, is suund and fairly shafty, and with careful preparation for market there is no reason why tho raw material should not always meet with cm excellent demand at tlio hands of tho various sections of the trade. They say that confession is good for the soul, and I must admit'that I am not so familiar with tho stations on tho west side of South Australia, as I am with tho other districts, but the features distinctly in evidence in those wools are good and sound, and on tho whole satisfactory. Turning more particularly io the wool grown in tlie Southeastern portion of the Stale, wo have here undoubtedly the best raw material furnished by South Australia. 1 have repeatedly said I hat they exhibit a West Victorian character, and on that account aro probably the most popular wools grown ill that Stale. We get here a very superior handle, the tleeces being soft and very supple, while the quality usually run's from til's to 70's. Hut as one looks at the staple, it presents an altogether different appearance, and it is this fact which impiT-s.-'s itself npim tho-e who are seeking a lip-tup article. Tho reason why l.nl. to Hid. per lb. is not realised for Ihe seiHli-casiern wools is because they aro not so light in condition as grown in the Skipton district of We-I Victoria, but so for as spinning properly goes, they aro equally n;; good, and quite as soft and silk-like in handle. A little better classing might often bo done to advantage in this district, particularly among the small slat-ion owners. But, so far as the. wool itself is concerned, it is particularly good, and is a popular favourite with practically all sections of tho trade,

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