OURYORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2602, 26 October 1915, Page 8

OURYORKSHIRE LETTER

FAULTY AND INFERIOR WOOLS (From Pur Special Correspondent.) - Bradford, September 3, 1915. Last.-wees wo dealt with , the subject of medium to good wools, epitomising clearly- what constitutes the class of raw material figuring. under this .description. To-day we .i'eel disposed tb consider two 11:01 e wool terms, namely, faulty and inferior parcels, tor those; aro undoubtedly prominent in the wools of the entire world. As wo previously remarked, the trade appreciates something , bordering upon the very good, but every practical sheep mail knows the difficulty there is in producing average to good .wools, climatic "conditions, pasturage, and breed of 6heep having to bo present in. exceedingly good proportion if very good fleeces aro grown. ■ No doubt it is good wool that ■the ttade is always hunting after, because of the pleasure in working up same, 'and also the excellence of the resultant fabric. It is a fact that there are half a dozen buyers of good wools to every one . wanting faulty and inferior parcels, and yet the latter cannot be dispensed with, and no one desires to do so. As long as the world lasts and sheep are bred and reared, faulty parcels will always ba in ovidence, only everyone knows that it pays best .to produce tlio average to good. When that cannot •bo done, a sheepbreeder has to content himself with growing as good as ho can, and it is here where faulty and inferior wools largely predominate. This, brings before our notice the subject , already named, and in .faulty and inferior .wools we have a" big-line of raw material which fills a useful. purpose, add which itself occupies a position in the wool world which even gcod wools cannot , fill.

Inferior Wools Described., There is no doubt that we live in an ago when very little indeed is thrown on to the. scrap-heap, and the present day can bo styled as . a time in the - history of the world when odds and ends art redeemed, in other words, wlien nothing is lost, even the refuse being'turned to good account. That principle very largely obtains in the wool world. AVe havo to face the fact that on all hands trades have been invented that take the bottom dregs as it were: . The,,question therefore arises AYhat- constitutes' faulty and inferior wools? These can- be described as fleeces whith'-. are very wasty, and also which contain some characteristic which lenders the wool by'no means ;a perfect sample. But even in wool grown upon country which lacks' those features''which lead to excellence, there, is usually a certain part of the fleece which of itself is good, but of which, say, three-parts are faulty and inferior: This may be caused by bad pasturage, and.particularly whero .seeds, burrs, unjl. other extraneous vegetable matter' largely;-* obtain. Really ■'speaking, faulty and inferior wools are those which have been badly grown,which arc-greatly impregnated with vegetable matter, '< and which in one sense or another are deficient in growth and appearance.' After all, a faulty-grown wool js never -a first-class 'manufacturing article; at least, it cannot be taken and used "for producing really good - cloths. The writer has seen both merino and crossbred wool depreciated at least 2d. per lb., because of the faulty nature of the wool, an excess of yolk and sand, or earth, poorness of colour, the presence of large quantities of seed, shiv, and burr, all- tending to produce faulty-grown fleeces. This is really the chief cause for producing wool for which an'.inferior' price is paid, and it behoves' woolgrowers everywhere to minimise these characteristics as much as possible.

How They Are Dealt With. It may seem strange, but no iloubt there are inferior wools'grown which are not impregnated with vegetable matter • but I as a, rule the two go Jiand-in-hand. If .wools are poorly grown, and are. only ■troubled' with , an excess of . earth and sand, then the scouring process will eliminate these features, producing a scoured product which can be used- straight: away. The writer ha 3 often. been struck 1 with i red, earthy wools,, particularly from Queensland ■ being tender, notwithstanding that sheep have been , on good pastures throughout the year. - AVe want to do the Northern State of -Australia full

justice, but should say that more tender stapled wools are produced in Queensland! than in any other part of Australia. What is tho cause? Various Masons have been assigned, but not to the writer's personal knowledge has any connection been attached to the nature of the soil upon which sheep are depastured. Every practical man knows that black soil is preferable to red soil for sheep, breeding, and yet there are nanny excellent clips produced in New South Wales grown upon very red soils which are sound and always come a good colour. But somehow tenderness in wool is a fault, although we do not include this feature in the subject which is now under consideration. We will leave tendor v;ools to be discussed on some' .future occasion. What we want to point out is that if fleeces are somewhat deficiently grown and they are not impregnated with vegetable matteT, then after scouring, they can be used straight away, but otherwise they have to be dealt with by chemical or mechanical treatment. We should say that in nine cases ont of ten,. faulty and inferior wools are caused ontirely during the process of growing. These wools ,as a rule consist of broken, pieces, bellies, and locks; in other words, certain part of the fleece which have become more or less impregnated with extraneous matter which sheep have picked up during the year's growth.. . ■ Merinos especially are troubled with vegetable matter, and if there is not present in them, say, burr and sliiv, as a rule there is something that has to be dealt with either by mechanical or chemical treatment. Still, in the majority of cases faulty and inferior wools are those which have been more or less affected by what sheep have picked up (Hiring their year's wanderings over the uastures, and before theso wools can be worked up -they have to be treated in a manner that will rid them' of these vegetable substances. It is not our purpose to-day to go minutely into the methods of divesting fleeces of vegetable matter. If the wools are verv burry and faulty then carbonising or extracting is the principal method employed, the wools being treated with a weak 'solution of sulphuric acid and other chemicals whereby the vegetable fibre is attacked, really eaten away, and then after a further scouring the wool is ready for use. Tho reader can take it for granted that whenever wools are affected with vegetable matter, the same has to be got rid of either By one method or another before tho wool can bo used.

Faulty Wools and Their Uses. Wo now come to iook at the purposes for wliich these inferior wools are used, and it is here where modern ingenuity coupled with the excellent machinery at the disposal of the trade to-day has wonderfully triumphed. When wool has been cleansed of all impurities, -even very short-stapled wools like locks, be they merino, crossbred, or English, all servo a very useful purpose, and they aro very extensively used m the manufacture of woollen and hosiery : fabrics. As a rule very faultv wools are never combed, unless it be "on the Continent, where undoubtedly short-stapled wools can be put to a good purpose when combed on the Schluin berger machine. At the same time (jh-ese wools when combed have to be spun 011 a woollen mule, tho resultant yarns being very largely used for hosiery purposes. 'Really speaking it is the use of these short faulty wools which has made the textile industries of Belgium, Prance, • and Germany what they wero before the war commenced, the big weights of mule-spun hosiery yarns being the product in a very large measure of these short-stapled faulty, wools. But even apart from hosiery yarns, very big quantities of these wools are used by woollen manufacturers in producing tweeds and similar fabrics. Locks do admirablv in the production of flannels and shirfings, and also other woollen materials, it being surprising what modern machinery can do out of suck materials as fault?' locks. At the same time it behoves every pastoralist to strain every nerve'to produce a good fleece. There is certain to be an abundance of faulty and inferior wools when a sheep-breeder has done his best, and wbile' this can be used and serves a very good purpose, yet everyone should endeavour to bring forth that which will be''a credit to himself and also - help to promote the interests of the entire trade. The poor faulty wool will always be with us in the vrade, but the supreme interests of everyone should be to produce the best, in every sense of the word.

Looking Towards Coleman Street. The trade is now looking forward with a fair measure of interest to the forthcoming London sales, which -begin next Tuesday. Everybody is full of expectancy, hoping between now and Tuesday to see the Government announce what it is prepared to do in regard to the export of both merinos and crossbreds. We strongly contend tlmt it is in the interests'of'the entire industry that' the-raw material should be allowed to be shipped vo "safe destinations" with all possiblo speed, ami it will do infinite good if 50,000 bales of crossbreds are exported to our Allies and the United Stales. There is not much change in the price of tops in Bradford, and business cojrti'iues to be Tather slow.