YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1920, 1 December 1913, Page 10

YORKSHIRE LETTER.

IS TOO MUCH CROSSBM) WOOL GROWN ?

FAT LAMBS & WOOL,

'.From Our Special Corrwpoi;d«nls.)

"■ Bradford, October 17. .(he Hool irade is hecGiunui; nioi"- imprcsscd as time passes, not much In--Ibe standing of tin: raw material a s bv tho_ different classes which are nmV available compared with twenty year: aiio. i li" animal circular oi the largest .seller of Xew Zealand wools in Christchurch is to hand this- week, and looking over its pages we are impressed by the standing arid claim crossbred wo.ois have upon the attention of the whole industry. These thoughts < also arise from a consideration of the fact that in Australia moro attention than ever is being given to the breeding of crossbied sheep, tho result of the increasing demand foi-moat. The common law of cause and effect is operating in pastoral circles as everywhere. ' else, and the breaking up of large, stations within 300 miles from tho coast, and the creating of a multitude of small farm:-, means that the man on tho land farming a. few hundred acres must use intensive) methods, nnd tho breeding of sheep producing a good carcass and fleeeo is inevitable. We cannot, see anything to stop this natural development. So long as pnstoralists can obtain increased returns by putting their flocks on a broader foundation' than wool alone they will do so, and manufacturers of textile fabrics can count upon tliero bein:c more crossbred wool io buy in tho future than in the past. There is evidence of this in, the latest returns from the Kiver Plqte, Now Zealand, and Australia, arid so long as the demand for mutton remains as large as it is to-day jio law can stop the breeding of "freezers'' for English and oilier markets.

What Now ZcaEanrl is Doing. .Anyone- attending tho London sales cannot hut notice the big trade which is being done to-iiay in sliped wools, j Everybody knows that this material comes from the skin ot a killed sheep, and lingo weights of slipes are now catalogued almost every series,' the recent auctions ifroviding a very largo quantity indeed. Still, they sell magnificently, and are a very useful article indeed. 11l fact, the Manufacturing world to-day would get on very badly indeed without them, and it is satisfactory to know that the. trade can use wool from killed sheep no matter what tho length of staple may be. Newlv-sharn pelts are very short, but the blanket trade provides a big outlet, for them. Anyone at all conversant with tlie principles or cloth manufacture knows that short slipes of a pelt nature arc altogether unsuitable for combing purposes, but if the staple is only one inch in length it can be used with freedom by those producing blankets and thick woollens of a course nature. In fact the length of wool Is of little consequence in many tradf-s, the- maohinorv to-day being well adapted- to utilish;!; any lengths of wool. Of course, if worsted fabrics are wanted the staple must be of a reasonable length, hut the woollen trade, in which arc included blankets, can use any class of wool from hair an inch to three inches in length. I his is a great advantage to the wool trado in general. In fact, it mav be truly said that alt the fragment's of the industry are utilised in one branch of tho trado or another. I3ut nothing has impressed us more during recent years than the big quantities of sliped lambs' wool that comes to market. Every description, including Lincoln, Leicester, three-t|uarterbred and halfbred lambs are available in big quantities, and very satisfactory prices are rilling to-day. / At the recent auctions shpecl Lincoln lambs made from ] Sid. to 13d.; Leicester Jambs 13d. to and occasionally lid.; throc-quartcr-hred lambs Lid. to lod. t and half-bred lambs from IGJ-d. to ISd. No readers can find fault with such figures, and the best part of tha whole proceeding is that tho demand inn-eased as the sales progressed, a clear proof of the good standing the wools enjoy in the manufacturing world. Moat Exports.

In looking over tho annual review already referred to, we are struck by the influence of the fat lamb trade on the vvcol production of Nc>.v Zealand, it apparently being the first consideration of New Zealand pastoralists ii breed lambs for the frozen mutton industry. There is no doubt that that is an important trade,, although it "coins a pity that young sheep should bi. sacrificcd before reaching tiioir prime. It : s all a question of £ s. d. Tho New Zealand sheep returns are a splendid commentary oil (lie development of the frozen meat industry, and what is taking place at freczuig'cstablishiueufcs. The record in question starts .by giving the number of sheep depastured in the Dominion ou Ann! 30, 1002, when the sheep population numbered 20,342,727. There was a steady decline up to 1001, the sheep then depastured amounting to 18,280,800. That marked the turningpoint ill the sheep returns of New Zealand, for in 1910 the number of shefcp was returned at 24.269,620. Since then sheep have, slightly decreased, due to heavy killings, and also to one or two rather bad seasons, the latest return beiug 23,661,151. Wo ecitainlv think that New Zealand is capable of depasturing 30 million sheep quite comfortably if pastoralists would only pay due regard to the laws of breeding. No doubt tho keenness to turn every sheep into as much money as possible is at the foundation of the whole business. The following table shows, the carcasses of mutton and of lamb exported and tho ratio of the- two combined to the total number of sheep in tho Dominion iu each of the twelve years:— Percent- ' Mutton Lamb ago of Year. Carcasses. Carcasses, sheep. I'JO2 ... 1,712,670 1,738,780 ■ Ki.no 1903 ... 2,49Fj0i0 2,006,462 23.76 1904 ... 2.388.959 2,104,881 24.58 1905 1,'883;0(S5 1.937.026 20.00 1900 .« 1,500,773 2,134,563 18.35 1907 _ 1,921,465 2,519,417 21.16 1908 1,821,426 2,826,437 20.70 1909 ... 1.899.446 2.910,358 20.10 1910 ... 11711,839 3.423.918 21.00 1911 ... 1,979,534 3.708',468 23.7 1912 ... I.!HS.U!I 8.035,783 21. t 1913 ... 2,133,226 .3,181,991 22.5 Can Too Much Crassbrid Wgol be Crowr*<?

The above question is-a natural one arising from our previous remarks, aiwl it is oup. well worth considering. It pan safely hi; said that about liali' the wool produced in tho southern world consists of merinos and half of crossr breds, henco it will be seen that a very big weight of the latter is iming It Australia relinquished its bold on tlio merino, there would certainly be a further increase, and one looks upon . the possibilities of such a tiling "iiappeniiitf with n little cnnccrn. As i'nr as i wo are able to judge, <\uitc as much | crossbred wool is being "roivn to-day as spinners and manufacturers can eoiiiI fortably use without prices maU'riatty declining. That stntemi'iit i.s lh;i di- . reel outcome of the. sis months' ex- ' perience in the Uradford trade, mid after all the West Hiding industry is flie largest consumer of crossbreds in the world. Xo £ood business whatever has been done this year by those liandlinii crossbreds. and there is an ardent desire to sc" prres on a lower level. This may not be »ood news to many pastonilists, but they should know I lie inuerinosi feeliuus of the. members of (lie trade al this end. :iin:-er|ueutly wW l'?e) thai- it i< policy l« >ay ulni, «p siid. .We cauuut set* au era d

lower xn-ui v;il:i 'S camir.jj; oiilir-r for I nionV.os or frns. /in!, rir-rr t!;<■ U:ilknn war (Unit rj Kovcre Mow to omvnrd progß-ss in tho rnnsnroptioi! of rrossf>iv(h. tin 1 i,i llto Ucccc <ii tho mutton breeds hr;s 'icfii f.'>r iroi!i pioiii.il'io. 'i'lif opeiiini; of Ainvricun ])oi ts for frco u,!ol i'liiiiiol- Ijni. he. ;} nimc in tl:o. right iluTr'tion, and finally he ni' material hem-fit to thin cl-iss of staijle, but all tilt same it 'oo!ss as if siiilieient crosshreil wool is now hein;; giown to satisfy .in reusoname .-equirements and v.e thin'f thnfc any innterini incri-aso in production cannot Init ho vetloeted in the. (■iKirso of vaJifs. ? r asiiion« to-day sip favouring line !iierinos, mul 110 Uo;:i)t erossbreds have boon cheeked by tljo .Balkan vr.ir and the lieavy duties placed upon the raiv inntorinl by tlio last Amorisan tariff. Trade to-'iay is not a;; good as it wiglit he, but stil' we lire net disposed to write in pessimistic vein of tile future. If .trade generally does not contract throughout Europe wo certainly think that good raying prices will be obtained for uii3 ioniieoii.iiic; New Zealand and River I'late clips, and we are looking i'or.v.ml to a steady demand at abjiit- to-dsy's prices. ,\l I.lie •same time renders must roc, in'-isc tlie fact that merinos arc still domitiani, and likely to lie. The Near East, which consumes such !>i»; weights of fabrics made from the courser kinds of wool, has been so impoverished by 11 int. months of war. and so much mo'.vey has been .spent on riimaov.-nts that trads- (ii-neral-ly is severely. ha-ldieapped ; hence wo are iiot laoliin.u; for any increase in values, KoitnthHanding the passing of the American tariff.

Now Business Stiil Vwy limited. To-day's market has been far below expectations, and in view of the manner in which the raw material continues to soli in overseas markets, things hero continue to canss a. good deal of disI appointment, l'opmakers are, unable to make any adequate, advance in tho juice lof their commodities, ami are consequently reticent, about paring such figures for wool as their competitors abroad are doing. Some business is still being (lojid in _ tops, hut there is not the expansion which one would like to see, and tho price question still continues to occupy a large share of attention. The. slackness among combers is, if anything. becoming still more, noticeable, and the quietness in some sections of tlie trade, is sueli as to present matters in anything but an ■encouraging light. Tailing the top trade as a- whole, only a limited business can be put thimii/h; at least, though the volume of transactions is no less, topmakers still find that their customers are not- willing to take v.p big 'weights. The quietness among Botany spinners is still an obstacle in the way of more money being made or greater weights sold. Prices are holding firm, but not- more so than the row material would justify. Attempts are being made to secure advances, but these are exceedingly difficult to make, and tlio larger part of the business done is at recent, rates. The crossbred market, shows no improvement, and the Homo trade is still very f(V,iet. Spinners find that new business is not coming forward to any satisfactory extent, and the prices they are ablo to make leave room for considerable improvement-. The inquiry from America is about, t-lm best featuro which ran be reported, and some fair sales of tops—mostly sample sheets— have been made. Prices generally are mi more than firm at- recent rates. Tliero is more demand for mohair at tinsources of supply, .further good purchases of winter hair having been made at Port Elizabeth at hardening prices. At this end lftohair spinners are fairly well occupied on old orders, but the want, of new business is being felt. A sale of 1050 bales of alpaca has taken place, 300 bales of this quantity being fleece, Tlie wporfc yarn market is mak- j ing practically wo progress, and susli j orders as conio in are only small. ,