OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2480, 5 June 1915, Page 3

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER

QUEENSLAND WOOLS & THEIR

CHARACTERISTICS

[From Our Own OorresDonaenM Bradford, April 22,1915. There being this week a sale in Brisbane suggests a few notes on. tha subject Of Queensland wools, and the fact of English, American, and Japanese buyers operating freely can be taken as conclusive proof that the wools must be very acceptable. Some countries' wool when 'Sold in the various markets of the world commands little attention, owing to the second and third-rate character of the fleeces in question, but no such thing can be said in regard to Queensland pro'duco. It would be most interesting to ,know when merino sheep crossed the border and became established in Queensland, and possibly this could'be discovered. What concerns the trade to-day is that in Queensland wool the industry has a. most useful article, and providing the Northern State is favoured with even an average rainfall, it will produce wool •which will always be acceptable to every merino topmaker, spinner, and manufacturer, no matter where found. It is pleasant to know that Queensland is depasturing to-day more sheep than at any previous time in its history, and long may it continue to do so. Drought seems ■to haTe troubled northern pastoralista .very little, and the wool this season on the whole is well-grown, sound and has been most acceptable to the trade. Qneensfland can grow good wool, but there are ( certain districts upon which nature seems t to have smiled mora than the rest, and from the Darling Downs and Mitchell, no 'doubt, we get the best wools produced in •the State. Some of the stations must be of immense size, in fact a man has to gjj over them to realise properly the extent '.of such stations as Wellshot and Hilo.

Quantity a Leading Characteristic. , Among actual users, Queensland wools .'rank in the first position as being of fine quality. ■ The writer did think a few ?ears ago that a little deterioration waa aking place, due in large measure to the freer use of the deep-stapled South Australian rams. No doubt Milo is to-day showing a far different quality from what .it did 25 years ago. We know an old .West Biding manufacturer who . has trod the warehouses of London for 85 yeara without a break, who well remembers the wool of this station in the seventies , and eighties. At that time it was short ■Tory fine, mushy wool, well up in the •£o's, but to-day it cannot be called more :than a good useful 64's. It has wonderfully improved in length, although it will never lose its somewhat red, earthy appearance, that being a physical feature which will always remain owing to the country upon which the 6heep are depastured. Still the point we want to emphasise most is that Queensland will always be a fine staple-producing State, the very nature of the country being conducive to that particular feature. Every practical man knows that if a Lincoln is taken out of the county of lincolnshire into the adjoining county of 'Nottinghamshire, in two seasons it will be growing a much finer fleece, and so if the deep-stapled, shafty, broad-haired Adelaide sheep are taken into the Northrn State, the progeny of the mating with Queensland ewes will still retain a good standard of finoness, showing good 64's to 1 70's quality. That ia the essential feature which we want to emphasise. There is no doubt, as already indicatjed, that Queensland has a name for growinp fine-haired wool, and in our opinion will always retain it. Old woolmen who have made a lifelong study of ■the question frankly admit that where .Queensland pastoralists to-day haTe scored is in getting a little more length in 1 their wool than formerly, at the same time possibly sacrificing a. few points of j fineness. Still that lias been a material pun in those days when superior quality j is not so keenly sought after. With the - largely increased production of merino .wools in the Commonwealth there are mora broken, pieces, bellies, and locks available for the woolen trade, while the combiEg industry is still as keen as ever ifor merinos showing a nice three-Inch staple, though, of course it can still maniipulate say of two inches. Queensland .pastoralists have acted wisely in bringing down the quality of their wools to the neighbourhood of 64*3 and 70's and increasing length ar.d shaftinea, for tn€Gß. are characteristics which need developing. The writer is by no means feverse to Queensland pastoralists using f° r stock-getting purposes good blocky , .well-built rams growing a shafty floece, for by so doing increasing fineness in the fleece which is the direct outcome of physical and climatic conditions can be counteracted. What the trade does not x :want to see is Queensland wool of only £o's quality, it would not possess thia t game fine spinning and finishing properties o« it does to-day, which we will deal with. later in this article. f ./"V Length and Soundness of Staple.' These are two points which we would ljio to emphasise at this time. We have already briefly alluded to the longth of ■.staple iound in Queensland wools, and tho point wants emphasising. Every practical man knows that the finer tho f?qua!ity the shorter the staple, therefore '.wo urge Queensland pastoralists and for that matter all sheep owners in every country in the world to keep a. watchful eve npon the length of the staple of the $£om. for this is an imnortant character-

istic, be the sheep producing crossbreds or merinos. With, a good length of staple the spinning property of the wool is enhanced, which every wool-buyer appreciates. .Many a good sale has been missed because of the merino fleece being short and of a clothing nature, although for certain purposes very fine clothing wools realise even better prices than those of a good length. Still, in the aggregate we should 6ay that a good combing length of staple yields more money to the wool grower, and in every flock, even where care is taken in breeding, there will always be a number of sheep which produce a short stapled fleece. We lay special emphasis upon this point, and hope tho reader will realiso the importance and value of a good length in every fleete of wool. When we come to soundness of staple, we are touching- Queensland wools to the very quick. There is probably more tender wool among Queensland clips than in the produce of any other part of the Commonwealth. ' For years we have advocated that the Government investigate this, for surely there must be someone in the Agricultural Department .with tho requisite knowledge for ascertaining why so much of the Queensland wool is tender in staple. It is generally understood that when drought stalks the land, the fleece of the sheep is always mushy and tender, but there are many clips in Queensland which when grown upon good pastures are deficient in this characteristic. Within recent years when there has been ah abundant rainfall, many clips have been notorious for their tenderness, and we say that there must be some 'climatic or pasturage conditions which produce this little weakness. If it can be ascertained, even though it could not be lemedied, buyers would becomo a little more reconciled to the deficiency, Let us impress pastoralists with the fact that tender wool means more waste and expense in the working up. This has an effect upon the price in the first instanoe, hence the importance of soundness of staple in all wool. If any measure could be taken for preventing tenderness in wool, the grower would be putting money • into his own pocket, and also enriching the manufacturing properties of Lis clip. Colour in Wool. We should say that generally no fault can. he found with the colour of Queensland wools when scoured, unless it is "canary stained'' in the first instance. This is a little fault found in many clips, but we take it that no grower has the power to remedy this. Canary stain means that the wool irill be yollow when scoured, and no known process of bleaching will give it a permanent whiteness, although it certainly can be improved bv the use of certain chemicals. But this canary stain only affects a small proportion of the merinos grown in the Northern State. The bulk of the wools come an excellent oolour, and Queens- | land station f con reds have made for themselves quite a name. This year even in war time severas clips have sold from 2s. id. to 2s. sd. per lb—a wonderful price, and eloquent testimony to the general excellence of. the wools in quality, length, soundness," and colour. A good white is always appreciated, and means money to the owner. Some merinos are a little yellow when they' are scoured, but as a rule there is nothing to be said by way of somplaint on this head. If Queensland pastoralists will endeavour to maintain a good all-round excellence in their flocks and take care with them, their industry will be rewarded by good prices always being forthcoming. Values About Steady. The meeting yesterday on ■'Change wa« rather thin. On the whole the situation i 3 largely unchanged, and business is quieter than ono has witnessed at any period so far this year. Evidently users have covered their requirements' for some months to como and are therefore indisposed to-day to increase their obligations by fixing up new contracts for distant delivery. Fine tops vary more than seen during the past month. Some firms report a nice steady turnover, but the majority say that they ave selling distinctly less, and are therefore more amenable to reason. 3Tor next August and September drclivery some topmakers have shaded prices to the extent of id., but ne- Q there is considerable discrepancy. Tha best firms say candidly that they can still make 2s. SJd., but Id. less been taken. The combing difficulty is still uppermost, and commission wool combers ore simply inundated 1 with wool and orders for combing. A fow spot lots are available and for these tliero is a reasonable demand, though it is doubtful if tho very extreme prices of three weeks ago can to-day be made. Fine topmakers are glad at having less orders offered, for the majority are all so heavily committed for tho future and many arrears have to bs made up. Crossbreed ,if anything, are slightly in buyers' favour, and it i 9 certain that the extreme values of the uast few months are not now forthcoming. Prepared 4fl's tops have been offered for spot delivery at 23Jd.; cardedJO s, 25 d.; H'b carded can be bought, at 25., a.; 46's, 261(1. to 27d.; 4S's, 27Jd.; 50 s average, 28Jd.; super, 2!) d.; SB's average 29Jd.; 30d.; and 58"s, SOJd. to 31d. Tho most important question in the trade today is undoubtedly the refusal of the War Trade Department to Errant licenses for the oxport of yarus to the Continent, and it has' caused a pood deal of 6tir in export trade circles. What the reason is is difficult- to say, unless it bo to check the upward tcqdonov of wool values.