OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1749, 14 May 1913, Page 10

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER

$ ' ■ SHEEF-DIPS AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON THE FLEECE. (By Teloirinr'- -Special CorrcjuondentuJ Bradford, April 1, 1013. The subject of sheep-dips lias always been a ;'V.v debatable out-, and we <•:<- licit it In ri'iiiuiu to until it lias I' 4' "11 in oval bevemi ijucMiou what mixture fill! 1)1! nsr'a with absolute safely m order t-v rid sheep. «f parasitical life, ami Ic.iv:.' Hi:' ticece unharmed. 'I'l'is important iiucsliou has liw'ii settled i» " practical «-«v in Australia, Tasmania, awl .»•;* Zealand, lint l' ,Jm t,R ' actum of I lie l! nioii (iovcniment ot ■ «»'" Africa, that biiily Mill I'iivauix Hie 'lso of :,hci'p-di|>s IVlnch caiiuoL possibly meet Willi Iliu approval of the wool Irailo. e hold mi brief for any kmti ol d'l'. - unlv concern beiiiß to see Mich (lips u a ul i,s will tin the least injury to the llceci>. ]t is much tn lie regretted lliat the t>oin.i \ifii-iiii <iiivcniiiiont: is actually K'coninieiuiini! the u;o of lime anil sulphur, ■mil caustic sella jiikl suljilniT «s sheepdips. uli action which we venture to .viy will' meet will, the ot the Cl,lire wool trade. The removal pt vent fri.iu sheepskins by means ot lime has always been disapproved of, but until recent vears mi oilier agent lor loosening the roots, of Iho libres has been kumvn. Hvcrv practical v.oolman knows unit whenever lime eels iiilo the raw material it is detrimental to Uiu scouriiis process, I 111. fibre is rendered harsh, its. Kill supple nature is malenally diminished, anil even- spinner anil iiiaiiulaclurer knows I lint* varus and pieces produced Ironi I inc(realed wools .never work as satistactorilj as .shorn fleeces while the filial results are always inferior compared with tlio fabrics niado from greasy wools.

S'OIj'TH AFIfH-A A BACKWARD VTOOL(.)I,'OWING COUNTIt\. The fact is well-known that Cape wools liiivh never commanded % unreserved or lull iippiovat of European manu.acI tirers. To-day in many quarters a prc-jtnlii-o exists against them, oiul they am prevented from rawing to the front cs tJu.v might do, simply because of the nso lII' ilclelerious (lipping mixtures. \\c aio upen to admit that dining the past lew vears Micro hai been a marked improvement in nmnv South African farmers clips, this being ilircetly due to tne niiportulion of stud merino sheep from Australia. Such an action is heartily to l;e ronimrnded. ami one hopes it "will tiillume. South African sheep as a whole lwve for many years needed the introduction of irosh blood in order put- mow lilo, stamina, and -pinning property into the staple, and we must say that wu deeply regret the aclion of the .Agricultural officials ot tno Government of South Africa in recommending mixtures for slicep dipping which would not be tolerated for a single moment oil any station in Australia. \»o are not going to enter into any scientific explanation of the action of lime and sulphur, and caustic soda anil sulphur, oil the wool fibre, suffice if to say that ever may bo Ihe contention of the officials of the Cape Government. the entire wool trade disapproves of there mixtures owing io the perishing elVect winch they have upon (iie wool fibre, ff, as they say. no harm results, it means that the experience of tiio whole of the wool scourers, spinners, <wul inonulaolurors Ihruughoiu the world is of no avail, and'it. gives the lie direct to the definite opinions expressed bv the wool section of the Bradford Chamber of Commerce. H also means that the wool growers of every country can follow the example of the Caps farmers by using these mixtures with impunity without any regard to tho final results. Language is not forthcoming in which to express tile real innermost. feelings of the West Riding wool trade at the very mention of lime and sulphur and caustic soda and sulphur being used in connection with wool, and if it is good and profitable when used in South Africa, the same must bo said for the whole of Australasia. Such an action should not have !>ecn considered at all by the officials of the Union Government of South Africa, and it is painful to think that in these enlightened days* a nation s wool clip should be subject to the damaging influence of sncli materials. THE VERDICT OP TITE CHAMBER OJ? COMMERCE. This question of limo and sulphur was before the wool section of the Bradford Chamber of Commerce some Ihreo years ago, and it is as well to sot beiorc tho wool-growers of the world their opinion. It may be said in passing that the wool section of (his important body is composed of the largest and best risers of Australasian and South African wools in the world, and we respectfully submit that (heir• verdict is well worth considering. This is what tho secretary wrote to tho locat press on March r>. SHEET' DTPS IX SOt'Tlf AFRICA. "Si'",—On its coming to the knowledge of t.iiis chamber that a sheep dip composed of a solution of caustic wda and sulphur was recommended by the Governments of the South African Colonics, the wool trade section of this chamber met to consider the matter, and unanimously passed, on June J las'!, the following resolution:-- " 'This meeting expresses its .strong opinion for the guidance of wool-growers that any sheep dip containing limo or caiistic soda in any form in its composition is a most undesirable application to tile fleece, it. being calculated to have an injurious -cffcct upon tho wool, which oil* times can only be detected in the process of scouring-, dyeing, or manufacturing, avd buvers are therctoro naturally suspicious of wool from districts where such applications are in use. It is, therefore, in the. interests of sheep-owners themselves that we urge them to avoid the uso of any dips into tho composition ot which lini". or caustic soda enter.? in any form. " V Utter containing this resolution, and protecting a"ain-.t the ine of a caustic soda and sulphur dip on account, of its bein- injurious to the wool, was forwarded to the Governments concerned, who, on receiving so positive a statement from so cOlll p n lent an authority, at once ceased to recommend tho objectionable dip, and undertook to make further inqWics info 'the '""'Tho' Governments interested were referred to the. inquiry on sheep dips, vh ch was instituted by the Board o Agriculture in this country in 190.!, an.l tho report of which was issued in 1901. In this report several dips were recommended which are absolutely harmless to the fleece and equally elleclivo in legatd ; 0 the eradication oi "Sec. Bradford. Chamber of Commerce "(Incorporated). "March 15, 1909/* , ~ i \ficr *uch an emphatic vcnlict a? thf ■»l)ove. there can be-110 two opinions atho injurious eflecfc of bine or caustic poda when it is brought into d.recl contact with wool WHERE TIIE INJURY IS DONE. We need waste littlo space in dilating upon the injurious effects which limo and "ulphur have upon tho wool fibre, every nractieal man knowing that they render tho Staple harsh and brittle, and have a perishing effect upon the fibre. This is what experience has proved hundreds ot time*'." for the ingredients of the mixture ■ire alien to the very element which constitute the wool fibre. Every housewife ii aware what effect lime has upon clothes in the washing-tub, and the same principle applies in-the scouring of limedipped wools. Caustic soda is even more Jivious than lime and has rightly been termed by one of the most practical and experienced members liiadtoid true as. a "wool solvent." \\ e know no t„.'tler form than that to convey adequatelv to wool "rowers what it: means to use u-h dofons mixinres If the agricultural ofiieials of the Australian Government were to recommend such concoctions "I sheep-dipping materials, tlioy would be laughed to scorn and ridiculed m no small measure, and we say that, theie ij ""„,cd whatever to resort to the use o «neh mix In res in order to rid slieep of or oven ( ' mc , ■u I experience have this last-lew years done a great deal in demonstrating how ■ " euro the enemy of the wool grower. i.. <;Wi> snb and we know: ot no inoi-o fr.'iiM'.O sonrc of damaging the J" '(. woo! industry than the universal „1,! of the slieep-dip'iing materials which ire now recommended. 1 here is eu:i> reason for saying that the wool -eelio.l .Jibe Bradford Chamber of Commerce. wttU h* Ih<* ot t-'J'f 1 ;!' liuliuu •I'nil (!'0 wW be at iu> I " tl.tlc io «ivc llu-ir !, limp jiml soibv tlips "rni it i- (Olllidenlly exp"ol';d that li ''^ ..•ill verita i .'•> -" 1 I, . of am siieh injurious material-.