OURYORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2576, 25 September 1915, Page 7

OURYORKSHIRE LETTER

THE HANDLING OF THE FEEECE (From Our Special Correspondent.) Bradford, August 5, 1915. This has been mostly a holiday week, and not much difference is to be noted compared with when wo last mote. Mill? in some cases have been standing all the week, and throughout theMVest' Riding of Yorkshire it will be a case of many local feasts and tides taking placa ' this month, all of which mean a partial stoppage of machinery. One often wonders if the wool-grower ever carries his mind forward to what his fleeces are going to be put to when they leave his station and he loses sight of tho wool, probably forever. There is something wonderfully interesting as one follows the raw material from one stage to another. Wo 6ee that one American authority lins been matching United States-grown' fleeces with those' produced in the Commonwealth, but if that same individual would only attend a, series of London sales for even a week, he would witness sights which, to say the least, would be a great surprise. American wools no doubt are good, but they havo not the handling properties. of Australian, while they aie not nearly so attractive in appearance, and it is a fact that the best American

mills have been among the largest buyers of tho very cream of the merinos and crossbreds of Australia and New Zealand, and also have picked up jjuite freely good _ greasy and snow-white. Capes. It is quite true that American, breeders are by no means producing anything like the quantity of raw material required by United States mills, who have given their approval for many' years upon the manufacturing properties of colonial wools by purchasing tho best. Free trade hasalso made it possible for American mills to purchase ovon scoured carbonising wools as witnessed at tho recont series of London sales. .

How Wool is Handled. As already indicated there is something very interesting in the production and handling of colonial wools. It is a daily occurrence for tho owner or his Btaff to go round the sheep, and, though impossible to note even by careful watching day by day, the fleeces imperceptibly Jsngthen until shearing time arrives. I hat is undoubtedly the ' event. of the year on every station "down-under," and the owner watches : with interest the .sheep .being stripped of their .fleeces. Every fleecft needs carefully handling, both in regard to quality, condition, colour, and general characteristics, and when a clip has been properly classed andbaleti it gives satisfaction to see the raw material leave tho station for tho port or for London, where it is sold. Here again, never-ending care is tho order of tho day. Every Sale has to be sampled properly,, first by the selling broker and when exposed for sale by a good number of buyers. It is really surprising what different judgments are brought to bear upon a lot of wool. The selling broker undoubtedly has some knowledge of the value"of the wool, but as a rule he does not over-limit a parcel; it being his business to see that he gets for his consignment a market value, and if good competition is met with, as a rule he sells. At the same time, a broker must exercise soulid judgment regarding whether or not he secures a bid of a market price. But the wool is ultimately sold. In fourteen days, that , is, if the'wool is sold in London, it has to bo paid for, otherwise the sale is annulled. Once the wool is disposed of, tho broker is i-esponsiblo to his client for payment, and he has a right to enforce payment before he parts with the parcel.' After pavment instructions are given to the wareliouse- . keepers to .deliver the wool to the buyer. The war has upset all calculations at this end and very seriously disturbed carrying conditions. It is a 'Common thing nowadays, for railway companies to refuse to accept wool traffic, and frequently two or four weeks aro necessary to get wool from London to Bradford. Some of the .wool bought in March is yet undelivered' and almost every buying firm has lost wool.

At last the wool enters the topmakers' sorting room, where every bale has the pack removed, and then tho proper work of manipulation begins. Let us look into a sorting room and see what actually takes place. An up-to-date sorting room is always well lighted, cither from the top or along tho side of tho room with big windows. In some there are both, but a good front light enables the work to. bo done quite readily, and alongside the windows all down the room are to be seen one continuous line of sorting boards, as a rule a sorter standing opposite each window. Down the, sides leading to each sorting board are to be seen eight or ten skeps, and. it is the work of the sorter to take the-fleeces from tho bale ano at a' time, to open it out, and to go over It carefully to remove the different qualities which are found in the fleeces. Experience has proved over and over again that tho only successful method of topmaking is to sort every fleeco carefully. lir other words a topmakcr, or oven a spinner that makes his own tops, sorts oveiy fleece to its utmost, and every sheopnian knows that a fleeco contains often tliree or four different qualities, it being tho work of the sorter to separate each flecco into tho qualities found there-' on. Suppose a mail is sorting, say, a bulk 6i's. Probably lie will find on the shoulder a couple of hnmlfuls of, 66's or 70's quality, the remaining lleeco .being bulk Gi's, except tho britcli, and as a rule ho will find hero a quantity that is no more than GO's ordinary or super 60's. Tho samo principlo applies in sorting crossbreds.

When a skep is filled then the "taker off" asks for skeps of certain qualities to bo brought to htm. Ho stands at, an open spaco in tho floor, looks over cacli skep for regularity in quality, passes same, and then tho sleep is emptied down the trap, the wool going to a floor below either into a bin or straight to tho scouring bowl. As a-rule wool is trapped and then sheeted, as often it has to be loaded on to a diviy, to. go to tho combing mill, though at every combing establishment accommodation is found for regular customers which is a groat help by way of facilitating combing. After sorting, tho wool is scoured, dried, carded, and combed, all these really being preparatory processes. Beforo wool can bo spun on tho worsted principle, it must bo combed into tops, and when this operation is completed, drawing and spinning commcnce, after which warping, weaving, tho pieces then being scored, dyed, and finished. Not till then is t'lio clotli ready for tho wearer. Anyone can see that this textile business is a hugo affair, engaging the attention of thousands, in fact it is tho_ second largest business in the United Kingdom,, it only being eclipsed by tha great cotton industry. As long as tho world lasts human beiugs will call for woollen fabriw| |lud ».il ill'vlee rro*lfJcuw» hwi w ~pwW W>B_ akwfi that its fiffiifl (

Looking at the course'of the market, there is nothing reallv new to say. Business in the various offices and warehouses in London has proceeded as usual, everybody being anxious to got matters coil-, nected with the recent sales cleared up. J. ho outstanding feature seems to bo the request of tho dock authorities to tho trade to shift the 200,000 bales whicli at present are in London on account of those in manufacturing centres, these bales greatly interfering with tho work at the docki. A. serious state of congestion prevails, and as tho ships are avrivlug great difficulties aro being experienced in discharging and warehousing, hence owners of tho wool in London aro being pressed to take delivery, which cer--tainly is a reasonable thing. Tho oiily drawback is that accommodation in con- . suniing centres is also taxed to'the utmost, consequently a serious problem confronts tho trndo at both ends. Tlio Homo trade so far this year has taken well over 500,000 bales more than in the corresponding period a year ago, and this really is tho cause of tho congestion in London and in consuming centres, lfailway companies will not carry wool unless they aro assured that it can be delivered to the owners on its arrival, and as overy section of tho industry is seriously understaffed, conditions obtain which aro anything but pleasant. Thero is absolutely no chango in the position of tho market. In Bradford business is very slow, and wo do not call prices any nioro than steady. In fact, we believe if sales were pressed, topmakers would liavo to accept less money. A good Gi's top is not worth moro to-day than 3s. Gd., 50's aro also obtainable'at'' 2s. Gd. to 2s. G.Jil., which shows practically 2!d. per lb. decline. Mills, of coursc aro very busy, consumption is no less! but i a period of quietness certainly obtains.