YORKSHIRE WOOL LETTER.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1486, 8 July 1912, Page 5

YORKSHIRE WOOL LETTER.

,•.■ . ♦ . ' LOW-CLASS WOOLS. (From Our Special Correspondent.) Bradford, Hay 23, 1912. The more one sees-into'the inner life of the wool trade, tho more astounding it. becomes. As one inspects the raw material grown in our. colonics and offered during any series of London : salos, ons cannot but be impressed ' with its great variety, but this is nothing compared with what'may be seen at a low wool sale in either London or Liverpool. It is while looking over of tho circulars issued by a Liverpool broker in connection with tho liny. I6w wool sales that liieso thoughts rise in one's mind, and I think that wo might discuss the differeht classes of wool to advantage. It has always been my contention that a man's views becomo liuiittd and warpod by, moving in oua circle', and anyone attending the London and Liverpool wool sales, as well as those held in other parts of tho country, where-English-grown fleeces are offered, gets n.'.i insight into the different classes of raw material grown by tho-world's sheep, which is at once extensive and full of detail.-. J wish it was possible for'fomc individual to get together in one collection a sample of wool-from every claps of sheep in the world. I do. not knowhow miuiiy there would be; but, at a' rough guess, there,must be nearly a .hundred distinct breeds, all grow-in,; a different class'and'quality of wool. Even here in England there are something like thirty pure bre;ds, and there will be equally as ninny crosses. The most surprising sheep of all are found in Asiatic countries, for the raw material coming from them to tho low wool sales in London and Liverpool presents such an appearance'that it is impossible to describe it so as to convey to. the average reader 1 an adequate conception of what it is like. In other words, : one must sea the wool to form any idea of the type of sheep,oh, which it has been-grown, and we are certain that if it was possible to get together one sheep of every'breed in the world,- tho sight would be worth seeing by. anyone interested' iu sheep and wool.

HOW CLIMATE AFFECTS BREED. Perhaps there is no country where, for the smallucss of its nrea," there are..so many pure breeds as in England. I have just looked carefully over a small issue dealing .with tho subject, and. it mentions 27 pure varieties, giving a short description of each one. This implies that there is a corresponding number of different fleeces, each one varying in some.point, but all of which find a ready use. at the hands of spinners and ■ manufacturers. If, for instance, we take the Leicester and the Lincoln, the difference, between them is perhaps more marked in the formation of the body than in the wool. The bulk of a Lincoln fleece will bo 36's quality, the staple being long and bright, with lustre as a leading feature. Wool from Leicester sheep' will be a trifle finer, say 40's, but it possesses the same characteristics of length and lustre as.Lincoln, and to a large extent bofh will. serve . the. same purpose, excepting that the.former, will produce a trifle finer yarn than the latter. The custom of the trade''is' to buy wools of the same quality regardless; of breed, and blond them together to obtain a certain result. -Though this.is done, there' is no confusion of the .breeds, in their, nntivo habitat, and. there-. "s|till; continues to be i/little difference between them in either the carcass value or'th'o quality length or other characteristics of the wool. If we take the universal merino, tho same' divergencies are found. All practical wool men know that there is' a difference between the- merino wool grown, say, in West Australia; and thatbf,, West Victoria* while a marked .variation is also seen when Queensland wool is compared with that grown in either New Zealand, or the Cape. Still,. all these wools are "from purebred merinos, the difference being ihe outcome of climate and pasturage. It is a well-known fact (hat when sheep are taken to a fresh climate, or even to another country where tho soil is of a different nature, a market effect is produced upon them. If sheep reared in Lincolnshire are removed into the neighbouring county of Nottinghamshire, in two years' timo the fleeces undergo, some modification. They lose some of their strong quality, and become softer and finer. I venture to say that if the Scotch Blackface, which is. eminently suited for the high mountain peaks and glens of tho Highlands, because it has been bred, there for centuries, were removed to New Zealand, where the cilmato is more salubrious and equitable, it would change itschnracter considerably in a few'years'time. The wool would assume a softer and finer appearance, while some of i!« kempiness would also disappear. Hence I sny that the numerous types of sheep found the wide world over have been developed by climatic influences, aided by man's ability in evolving them. ASIATIC WOOLS. As already said, this article was suggestcd.by a perusal of a circular setting forth the wools to bo sold at a recent sale.' During the London April-May series, a low wool sale took place in Coleman Streetj and more out of curiosity than, anything else we went one morning to inspect the material on offer. Language fails'to describe the different' classes that wero on, view. There appeared to the writer to be every kind Crown upon the earth, and if the Asiatic, Egyptian,' Moroccan and other wools are placed alongside.those submitted in the colonial catalogues, there was a big variety silch as can only be seen in this country under one rnof." Below we give ■ readers a list of current prices' for East Indian and other' misccll iiieous wools, and. wouldi particularly ask them to notice -the descriptions,aiid the-eountry of origin-.—

EAST* INDIAN. •Vic'ene'rc, white, B',d;',to 12d.;, Vicenero, yellow,' Bd. to Hid.; "Joria, .while, lOd. to 12!' d.; Joria, yellow, Sjd. to 101 d.; Kandahar,, white, 8i1... to "lfljd.j Kandahar, yellow, (ijd. to SJd-: I'ackputtn, white, sj-d. to, 7[d.; Packnuttn,. yellow, 3Jd. to Cd.; Marvar, white, aid. to 7?d.; Marvar, yellow and grey, 3',d. to Bid.; grey and i'awn, medium niul fine, lid. to lOd.; grey and t'av.iv, coarse and waji'ly.'Sjd. to aid.; goaf h'air, white, frjd.'lo id.;'goat' hair, black and grey, l!d. to 53d. I'KUSIAX AM) SYRIAN. Bagdad, washed white. Gd.'to 7U1.: 'Bagdad, washed, coloured, 4Jd. in "Ad:: Ka rani,- washed, white, SUI. to. 7.U.; Persian, greasy,-white. 4!d. to 7d.'; Syrian, greasy, white, 'lid. to ad.

MOKOCCAN; Washed Maz.igun, SJiI. to 10d.; Saffi, 10d. to Mil.; fcbat, !>d. -to: "Id.; Unbar,skin, S<l. to M.j «re.;sy Ahundia, 5J;(1. to (kh;'Casablanca, LULL) 5(1.; J)..iza;ran, Id. In" addition to the ab.iv:> wc could gi.va a ilc-crii'tion of the ivcols crunlnst f«':;•) Spain and lVrtumd, fevpt,' Turkov, J'crii,. | Chile, nildJ„in:a, inelr.din." Iceland.. l'bc;v arV the difiV;jut iU-scriphoiis ol_ ! mohnir and n'.p.ir.i. all of which arc u'tcd in -inakins v,nis and ri ccc|: - USES OF LOW WOOLS. The (nifstion naturally arises in tin reader's' uiind. ."What -jr: thf>v;OifreiPiii (ksrripliuns of inalcrii'l used fcr'r"' The in<lUirv would 1:? aU ths i.norf oawr if the reader could sve the conglomeration Of Wools which conic from Hie-countries named.' Not only are they low in (|um, itv, lint also very mur-l, and in-addition tlic bulk- are very kempy, fleeces;of different colour often being found.-in 'ho same hale. It is certainly astounding where all the different kinds conic from. The fact that the.v have all' <i use proves ccnclnsivclv the endless variety of mamifnctmvs into which they go, and also. sl"MY<i the ability of to turn to gcod account this apparently useless stuff. Of course, licins so mixed and low in quality, it enn only lie lived in the production of a like sort'of yarn, and is principally consumed in the carpet trade. One has only to think of the different classes of ear pete which are, now being made, to soo how those low, strong, sorts can be! used for the foundation and backing of the-o necessary articles of domestic use, and thev servo a very good purpose in that respect. In the production of Axminsters, Wiltons, and other similat carpets, ; a very nice class of colonial and .English' wool is used, but the low yarns, from Asiatic fleeces are piit at the back. I.lint is willy their principal purpose, and"if they were not available, carpets would be even dearer still, though many think they aro dear enough at present.