OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1622, 13 December 1912, Page 3

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

PRACTICAL POINTS ABOUT SHEEP AND WOOL. -

(From Our Special Correspondent.) Bradford,. November 1, 1912. . I hare just laid down a report of tiic spring- show held at Adelaide,, and the keen tussle for the championship leods one to reflect upon, the type of sheep and character of wool South Australia is 'turning out to-day. To- find such interest manifest is a splendid augury for the future of mea-iiio cheep breeding in South Australia, and what that Stato has done for the merino will stand close criticism. It has always been a pleasure to the writer to handle good sheep and wool, and as one is inseparable from the other, there is much in the report named lo interest those who are enthusiastic over the raw material which is coming from that and other States in the Commonwealth. The writer to handle good.sheep and wool, and present to inspect the various pens, and to handle carefully the fleeces of the championship rams. One now looks upon, the Canowie Pastoral Companv's stud as ranking .in the forefront "of the sheep grown in South Australia, but all the same the splendid records of such eminent studs as Murrays, of-Mount Crawford, and Rhine Park, Hill Kiver, Bungaree, Boobborowie, and Nalpa fame, cannot be overlooked. These are studs which have lifted South Australian sh'eep and wool to their present high, altitude, and to-day they occupy an eminence which cannot bo surpassed by any pastoralists the . wide world'over. South Australian sheep and wool occupy a position entirely to themselves, and no doubt climate and pasturage have favoured those rioted breeders in their endeavours to produce sheep which possess qualities somewhat different in style and character from those reared in other parts of the Commonwealth. The writer has always maintained that climate and pasturage play a most important part in deciding and establishing breed characteristics both in the animal, add the fleece it.grows.-.and there can be no doubt as'to the good, sound, and useful features possessed by the sheep and raw. material, emanating from South Australia. It, is remarkable that three different sets of judges should for three years in succession handover the."blue ribbon" to.one stud, and the manager of Canowie is'to be congratulated for the excellent work he has done in connection with tins famous stud. • .

EDUCATIONAL '-INFLUENCE OF • SHOWS UPON, THE TRADE. I have'always maintained that to pay a visit to a sheep slow is ono of the best means of gaining new light and knowledge upon sheep and wool. No man is so clever that, as Mr. Punch says, ho has "learned it all," for as he. inspects the Various pens he can pick up a point or tivo which will shcel further light upon either carcass or fleece. The youuger generation of sheep-breeders and woolgrowers, and for that matter spinners and manufacturers, cannot do better than visit the sheep pens at any fair, for even though a man is closely connected.With the manufacturing end of the trade, he can better understand the growin.? fleece when he observes where the ■ different qualities are found on live sheep. The writer.'has often been very much surprised with the ignorance shown by practical spinners and manufacturers on inspecting a live sheep.; It is quite true that they know the quality of wool on the sorting board, but they seem to possess little knowledge of the position where, that particular part of the fleece is grown. Even wool from different members of the same flock varies considerably in style, character, and quality, and this is one of thoso things which no man living can explain.. We all know that in the human race members of tho same 'household vary considerably in disposition, stature, and appearance, it being one of Nature's laws' that each man and every beast shall, so to speak, be cast in : h"mould of his own, and possess-peculi-arities of constitution and figure which are shared by no other. This comes out very prominently in the-sheep world, and tlio r ability of. the_exnert breeder- is. scon in his ability to evolve sheep and wcol which most 'nearly reach ideal' requirements.

SOUTH- AUSTRALIAN WOOLS. Tho most interesting feature connected willi the show was the fleeces which various exhibits were carrying. No doubt there would bo fine, medium, ar.d strong merinos, although the printed record gives no account of this. It is well-known that South Australia is to-day turning out a range of .wool which is worthy of consideration, and there is something to be said-for each description of raw material sho.vn. Here, again, climate and pasturage play a part in the formation of the fleeces, and determine to a large extent the quality of. wool. It can be safely said that, there are no Australian pastoralists who have shown greater keenness in breeding sheep- which aro known as "bale-fillers," than' those of South Australia, and generally speaking they are to be complimented on the class of raw material' they are turning oiit. On former occasions I have advocated the rearing of sheep producing a nice average quality, and to-day I have no occasion to withdraw anything that I have previously written. Any quantity of raw material showing GO's to 70's quality can lie ussd, but what the trade objects to most is the under or strong quality fleeces which- really speaking are no more than 58's, but about which some breeders seem offended if they are not classed'as 60's to Gi's. The mere fact of saying that a fleece is super GO's hwen it is no such thing does not alter the true spinning quality, and after all the standard is determined by the count of-yarn to which it will spin. That is the only real way of determining the quality of wool. lam glad to think that South Australian pastoralists are to-day appreciating quality at its proper wotHi, and from what I hear and see even those breeders who some few years back seemed to have thrown all reasonable ideas of quality to the winds are now seeing the wisdom' of maintaining this feature in their flocks. A word to the wise on-this head is sufficient.

There, aro other features which have made South Australian wools popular besides quality, and the chief of these are length'and soundness of staple. I have received this week nearly a dozen samples of the leading clips sold at the first Adelaide, sale, and'there is not a single ono about which the writer offers a word of adverse criticism. The quality is very satisfactory, b'ut what I am most impressed, with is the length and soundness of staple. There is not one that is not fully 21$ inches in. length,- the bulk being from three to four inches long. Por merino wools this is splendid, and without doubt there are those who are to-day more particular than ever about purchasing; all the South Australian wools which they can possibly lay their hands upon. Theso are all wanted because they are lone; and sound, two characteristics* which only (hose in close touch with the manufacturing end of tho trade can fully appreciate. Of course something could be said about the need for both .these. features, for no matter how fine wool may be, if it is not long enough to bo manipulated to advantage, quality counts for nothing. Every practical wool man knows what length of staple means when the wool comes to bo conibod, spun, and made into cloth. A short-stapled wool cannot possibly produce such a good spinning yarn as "no of reasonable length, and Adelaide wools aro valuable because of their ability to carry through the machine shorter stapled wool, and so produce, a satisfactory top mid yarn. Strength of staple tory top and yarn. .Strength of staplo counts for a good deal, for if floeco is sound, there is never so much waste or shrinkage as when it is louder and rushy. Besides all this, it is to bo a very serious drought to affect tho staplo grown in South Australia. There aro features connected, with tho wools nf this State which nnsroi-nlisto will do well (o look to mid maintain for all they are worth. * NO CHANGE. Turning to local conditions, trade shows very lillk' change compared with a week ago, everybody looking on with subdued interest. The way wool is felling "down under" is engaging us much attention as anything, and the most "surprise is expri'ssL'd at tho rnw material maintaining' its value. A little irregularity reported horn and there from Sydney towards, the middle of ln't wrek has not developed, the news to hum! this week both from Melbourne and lirUhiiie indicating thai: prices are ruling fully up to the be.-t noint of the wnwn, While no doubt thoiio watching the interests of growers,

fail to see any chance of cheaper wool, users are following most reluctantly, the principal talk of importers still being that we shall seo lower prices. We may, and we may not; it depends almost entirely upon tho- political and financial situation. There is really not much now to say in regard to how things are moving in Bradford. A few spot sales are reported, but the aggregate total is' in no sense large, and verVlittle indeed is doing by way of forward selling. A fair business could I>3 done if importers would accept 2GJd. for Ol's, but that is altogether out of the question. The biggest firm in the trade wants 27W., although others are willing sellers at 27d. BeDorts from Australia put. down the stand-in cost of Gl's at 271 d., and that price seems to make it impossible for anyone to do a forward business.. The Balkan war has doiw no more than give rise to a more cautious spirit, and Germany seems to be quite as active in its operations in Australia as previously reported. What continues to surprise the Yorkshire trade is the activity on the part of both France and Germany, but many contend that if they would only lie low, it would have the desired effect upon. other competitors. However, things are doing little more than mark time.