BRITISH WOOL INDUSTRY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1710, 29 March 1913, Page 8

BRITISH WOOL INDUSTRY.

A /RETROSPECTIVE, VIEW.

An interesting .'. paper ;was' read byMr.',' C. E._ AV.' Ben.il,- 11.A., .boforo .tho Eoynl .Botiety'of. Artsr.'Lonilori; on, January.2B, the subject being "Tho Wool Industry'in' the British Dominions."" After" dealing with' the Spanish supremacy in the wool industry -a hundred years ago,"and tho gradual development : ot" ' in' tho British colonies, which'"whs destined 'So exclude Spain,' from the British market "the'; paper 'gave'the- following:, valuable statistics.—"The whole world today contains, is far'..as' the 'statistics " tell us, abc\ut 613,000,000 Sheep—good,"bad, 'and; indifferent. :Of these, nearly 93,000,000 are in Australia, . 21,000,000:!aro 'in New Zealand, and, 22^000,000 woolcd;shcep are in South/ Africa; .' That is to shy,, in these three rmr British.States in t'hb Southern Ocean, whicj. possessed .scarcely any flocks.at all a''hundred ;years ago, there has grown up a contingent of nearly 140,000,000 sheep—by far the most: important section of the world's, sheep population at the present time. If to these, are added the. i't.ooo,ooo. valuiible ■ Angoras .of the Cape, the '-flocks' of Canada, tin; Falkland. Islands, and .'the British Isles, with their sheep, .the;total -for, those countries. 7 withinthe! . British Empire, .'amounts to '.nearly . 180,000,000. . Although this excludes the sheep of British India, and. tho imwooled Kheep of Africa,',, yet it . amounts to nearly, a'third .'.'of the. world's sheep dn;_nunibers, and veiy -niiich. .nVore.than",tliat-.in. value'.. iAVlieri it.is'.remeihtered .thqt the 'only land; these- which was of any ininprt'ance : a; hundred years ago as l a wool?producing'. country- was' Great Britajn itself,, the great .change. which took place'.'during " the last'century 1 may ;be' to''Sbiil& . pxl<!ht : realised.' . .■■■■■■; ■

Methods of Breeding.,!,' ~.., . The'success attending 'tlio'breeding of tiuc-woolled sheep iii Australia was attributed by Mr. Beau to the fact.that they. :au be' reared $there ■■ practically no Uattontioh', ' and'.witK .a • minimum ,of expense, while the conditions prevailing in South Africa nre'.much the same.ex- . Copt that in 1 '.the waterless parts .the sheep have to-, bs withdrawn during a certain period-of 'the year.' - "... . Speaking of South African developments during recent'years, the paper continued: -. "There •Tvas 'a: timel .not long .since,: when ; Australasian wool stood quite alone-in the perfection of its shearinj; and marketing.: >Saoh South African' wool as arrived in , Lbii'dun- was miserably,, packed, and ■ "got : up," and realised., poor . prices: . South Africans had, a habit ; of shearing twice* in tlije year, &rid "the .impression in .Lon-, don was that whenever- the Cape-farmer wanted ' r6ady \ mon?y;he" .took ,a. snip at I his wdol and-sold it. llns backwardness may. not. have, been'- altogether the fault of the farmer. Atithe Cape, the .chief part of the Wool was-sold—as in Canada iind.'Ahierica—cliief|y. tojocal storekeepers , i and ; dealers, lind ifc-js not'always'in the; interest\of sniall -dealers.,to encourage;,the, farmer to'know.too niu'ch about his >vooli But. in ijuite.' late years ; there -has -been Viv transformation' little .-short. of., innrvel- ; '°us..The South-,'Afriean ; 'Goyernmerits have .taken the .trouble to instruct: their ...farmers • hoiv -to shear- and-pack .; wool. Goveminent'-experts are.sent round; .Government. farms -have' be"pn:;started.' . The farmer is .-ta'ught'- -how >to -, class his . wool ■ and,-how. td'' sheaE'i'nnd" pack 'It'. eult ras yCape. wool .»is'.'now.; ■packediiorimarket, in.st. The: new;- : -iijail '.'contract';■'•■provides that .' wool' . packed., up to'.the Austriiliah standard shall' pay.-a.'low*r,freight. .- TW .quality :• has also--bcen inunonsoly' improved by the introduction' of; Australianblood, and : the'-net ;repult--was,.'that;;last ; year; then.vc'rage, price. for. a'G+'s top of dape wool . wa? Jd. behind the Australian." ' '•-

Ju ('oricludiug. his' paper, the " author (triul:.v-'The: fuhii'e-seems to be. that, whilst" move, anil inore- of - the- Empire's wool vnll;'.be' th!tt:'of ' ct'ossbreds from the farriis nverwai still from Australia nnd South Asr-'xil:.'thore" will' always ' come a large of. line merino wool produced on holding's. Tli-s dcmarid for wool is iUsTsaiiug' tn -Europe, valid'Ys expected .to v't?,---w';.shov.tiy,in America;. -It isgrowi'l:'. Jest, in"Japari,'"and. the demand -from < 'fi'ia, if;it'-".'coii'io's,",into.",existence," is' a\ which can'JiawUy.be realised. The of-.'shi-sp .for'freezing tends more, and -nifli-f fo krea'thp numbers down, and "'xcrat- ■ v.ithin : flip - British Empire the. world's Hocks v>.jiii to be actually decreasing. Even -iii Australasia the-increase last year was under-oiie million. The demand for- wool sesm's- to grow : faster than .the visible; sbui'ces-' of supply—and, -as for' nierino wop!,.'although'.fashions may hit it hard;' yet-.there is and- will be only one fashiidn'-' fbr, uhderclothing— and that is the 'faslfion for,' the only - sort; of" wool; which is; as", fine . and • soft as ". spnn- ; :silk,; ! So good ?is the future of wool that there has, 'indeed, been, anxiety,expressed lest it should .become too scarce and expensive; for,' use.'. "It- has beenj noticed that the.immediate effect of a'.big Tise in the price of w 00l is that cotton-and other .substitutes and'.. mixtures * come into fashion. Fortunately the most probable substitute for. wool in' these days!. is "shoddy" which is . wool ground out-of rags-and-liyincr a; seowd life as it were. . Jlany.'pastoralists\speak"of shoddy as' if they .had a grievance against it; ' But, in days.of'expensive wool hotliinpr is more fPi'lain . than ~ lliiit' somo. substitule will 1» used, and, of all .substitutes, the ono W'hich ds. . .best. for : . the shcep-raiSer is : that',one,.'every'o.uiic'o of: which lias after f.ll cojne from .tlie-ljrick of_a sheep."