YORKSHIRE WOOL LETTER.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1707, 26 March 1913, Page 10

YORKSHIRE WOOL LETTER.

CROSSBRED WOOLS AND THEIR i CHARACTERISTICS. ' | (From Our Special Correspondents.) Bradford, January 1-1, I'JIH. 'J'herc seems to ijL' lioiliiny ot special interest in tlie wool world tins «eeK, all llu ililieiviit items to a large extent b=ins lit a . Ineuiucre nature, the trade is never devoid of something interesnug, ami if the subjects o£ our article are varied, liie readers need not bo sur-in-ised. '\\'qol, like the poor, is always witn lis, and this is not the timolol' tlie year v.ken any probable shrinkage ill sup-, plies is actually lelt. Tiic lieiv clips of Australia, New Zealand, South Atrica, and South America are last pouring into the markets of Europe, the result being that machinery is well supplied, and warehouses unci railway goods yards present a congested appearance, let 110 one expects that there will bo any surplus, for as far lis onu can £os there is every likelihood that when. Hh> heavy arrivals cease there will ho a squeeze after the middle of tho, year. Various views are expressed as to what the Australian short,«go is going to lie, and the figures , do not climb up as fast as sonic have been expecting. iN'o doubt from now oiruaids tiio shrinkage in the current clip from tho Commonwealth will be more manliest, though the increase of 3G,000 hales in tho Xew Zealand shipments to the end of January has come as a surprise to the maioritv. No doubt pastoralists sent their clips to market with all posFiUo speed ill order to realise them while the present good prices last, but-as. tar as one can See there as every prospect that those who sell last will sell best. Irado at this end has been very slow indeed to take to heart tho colonial announcement that there will bo a shortage of supplies, and the latest advice to the effect that the. youth American clip will show a deficiency of 70,000 to 80,000 bales is mors than the majority can accept. However, time will provo whether this shortage will .be realised.

NEW ZEALAND CROSSBVUC-DS. We aro led to-day to consider more minutely the crossbred wools of New Zealand, for here we have an unfailing source of interest to a large nuuiber'eiiin the wool trade. It is remarkable how changed is the character of supplies compared' with 25 years ago. Hie writer in very closc toucli uij.li flu old buyer who first began going to Coleman Street as far back as 18/-. and to find him in a reminiscent mood provides a rare onportumty of learning what things were like in those days. He has reueatedly been lieanl to say that seldom " were there any crossbred wools offered at that, period, as fine merinos entirely monopolised the catalogues, llio quantities which wove dflily subirn'ttpcl wero verv difierent from what tilo3 010 to-day. At this time of the year it is a very commoil thine to find crcesbreds occunyins fully one-half of the catalogue nit t!ie London -sales, while in March, May. and July they will .monopolise the offerings entirely. This is nil duo to the bull: of the Now Zealand clips still being offered in Coleman Street; at least, one is iustificd in saying that fully one-half is gold there, whereas 75 per cent, of tlio Australian clin is now disposed of at the sources of supply. One cannot help but' M glad that" tho • current New Zealand clip is so well grown, and is proving so acceptable to buyers. What is needed is a .settlement of the present Balkan trouble and the consequent resumption of business in the Near East, which. 110 doubt, would give to, crossbreds, especially in the export department, the fillip they need. At the'same time Home business remains good, and there seems to be a pood deal of latent energy about tlio trade, for tho falliny" off in. exports is less -than the majority expected.

CHANGE IN CFATCAPTKI) OF NEW ! ZEALAND WOOLS. ( Tho=e in eloso touch with ifhe wools 'of New Zealand know the change which has come over the supplies. It has been reliably estimated that, only ten per cent, sheep stocks of the Dominion' now confitA of merinos, the others beinrr crossbreds of one class or another. It has l»2n can so for frequent remarks during the past, few years that New Zealand crossbreds are becoming- more and -moro tif medium quality, aiid we have been re-, pen'todly asked the reason for.Jhis. Tt' would be vrrv intcrcstintr H-'o have the views of half a dozen reliable and competent New Zealand pastoralists on this' important subject, but we can only put down the cause as being the larger use of itlfb Romney for stud purposes; This is undoubtedly a very useful breed of sheep, producing an excellent "freezer," and also a useful fleece of wool. The last sheep returns shbw distinctly the tendency cf things in tho flocks of New Zealand,- and the point to be emphasised comes out; clearly in tho figures given below, showing tho class of sheen bred and kept in the two islands:— Stud'shecp and North South flock rams. Island. Island. Totals. Merino > 7,925 42,008 50,535 Liiicoln 51i,006 9,3-12 95,3-lS Roiiiney 215,91-1 50,405 ""280,319 Border Leicester 12,378 7-1,958 57,33G English Leicester 14,032 73,712 ' 87,744 Shropshire 6,205 13,012 19,817 Southdown 23,920 9,247 33,107 Other breeds ...... 0,-151 39,08G 4fijl37 372,801' 333,570 700,431 J'lock Sheep. Crossbred ' and other long wools 12,108,11G 9,251,080 21,449,2 , G Merino ... 47,140 1,547,411" 1,594,490 12,018,089 11,132,004 It is very evident from the 'above particulars that the lioniney by a long way heads the list as the leailing stud sheep of New Zealand. In fact, tliero are threo times more Ronmeys than Lilicolns, which breed is second in popularity in the Dominion. From a wool standpoint there is very little difference between the English Leicester and the ' BorderLeicester, and for all practical purposes the ono, is as. good as the- other,< at leaVt, so it appears to the average wool-man on looking at tlio two ileeces. Whether there be any advanlago from a mutton standpoint we cannot say, .but undoubtedly tho liomney, Lincoln,. and Leicester are the three breeds of sheep which have mado New Zealand crossbred wools what they are. -

WOOL CHARACTERISTICS. The Romtiey ' merino-crossbred' meets with a good deal of acceptance at tho lmnds of all buyers of medium crossbred wools. Tho quality will be bulk 16's, though thero are, some ileeces which are as low tis it's, ami many as high as 48's. Still, they all come under tho category of medium , erdssbrpds, and when they reach tho topnuiking establishment every iieece is sorted with regard to its respective quality, iu order that the most may be made of them. The wool does not possess the lustre which is found in tho Lincoln merino fleece, or even a Leicester merino fleece, but the Romney shows a nice soft staple, of average length and spins very well where a useful crossbred yarn ami fabric is wanted. American buyers ha.vo purchased moro of this class of staple than of either the Lincoln or Liccester merino during recent years, more medium crossbreds having, gone . across tho Atlantic than any other description of crossbred wool.

The Leicester merino-crossbred wool is hardly as iino ill quality as that of the Itomney, but what it loses in quality it Ijuins in lustre and weight. This is really its special feature, and the wool is bought to a large extent by the Homo trade. The bulk of these wools are 44's, with sonic ilccces scaling IG's, varying largely with the amount of merino blood in the sheep. It is very remarkable that Leicester merino wool fetches the highest price of any produced in Victoria, and this class is"a favourite with many breed-, ers. The wool is very useful, spins readily, and easily makes the highest prices of the market. Lincoln merino crossbred wool is more lustrous than the two former, and is somewhat lower in duality. A good deal of it is bulk 40's, with some flceces super JO's tu -U's, but as a rule it figures under the stroll!! finalities, and its chief feature also is its lustrous character. America buys this class every season, and is paying* to-day up to 12d. for light, stylish anil well-grown wools. Whore a lustre yarn is wanted, nothing beats this, and tlie-y ale often. blended with pure Lin-i-t-ln wool. Of coin-so, as the quality is coiir.-er a heavier Hoece is grown, but. what they gain iu this resnect Ihcv will JciU iu .tHo I'riSie P er pound, lu brsed-

iii„' and keeping this sheep-growers will naturally be largely guided by wlmt does best oil die land tlicy own. Whichever blued of sheep is farmed, the owners can resr content that the wool will fetch a good market price, and will sell' readily. PRICES VERY FIRM. . The market to-day presents 110 new feature, everything being sound and healthy. There is'not. as much business passing in merinos as a month back, neither can it be expected. When buyers come in and operate to a largo extent and fill up their prospective needs for the next tlireo to si:, months, it i 9 hardly likely that they will 00111111110' buying until they see if thev can obtain corresponding increases in'the varus and pieces. The result is that trade locally is hardly so brisk as it was, but all the samo wool > tops and yarns sir® well hold, and are going rapidly into consumption. It is possible for spinners to operaitc on a half-crown basis for good Ot's tops, it being the extra halfpenny which some asking which is somewhat stopping business. ' .Otherwise 4 there is nothing.'to complain about respecting the market. • ' y •