YORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2886, 26 September 1916, Page 8

YORKSHIRE LETTER

V £ FINAL RESULTS IN COLEMAN STREET (From Our Special Correspondent.) -.-- . ''V Bradford, August 3. ;..,;.. Stnco writing last the fifth series of '~ v 5*> lon tel Bales-lave come to ar finish, and • ;^A , buyers were all glad to get off home. ' ,i.. Soma contend that tho auctions lasted a v : y-week too long, but that the writer can,,;,v not 6eo. The Tool was there to sell; it .-■&■■ has been a right policy for, the Import- ■'-■/&.'*. ers' Committee to keep the wool moving ■i.-', towards -users' hands, and in the aggre- ; ,i.., gato 105,000 bales were catalogued, leav- ' uii; ing at the'finish 12,500 bales to-be car- •;.>.. Tied forward to the next series, which :, '.;j:, hegin on September 5. 'All things coni*.v side-red, there was a vory commendable : ; i-A- 1 - distribution "of the wool, although we •(—.should like to have'seen not 'even 12,500 ~«.'bales carried-forward. These consist :~~ principally of New Zealand crossbreds, to all round 9500 bales, hence ■-*—-it- will bo seen that tho carry-over of • .--merinos is a mere bagatelle. Even the - .crossbreds could have been, disposed of ■if there has'not been a slight ease, but . owners realise that it will be. next February before any weight of New Zealand new clip can arrive in-this •country, and tho next- six .months .should furnish ample opportunity of getting rid of • every, bale of scoured crossbred that -comes to these .shores. It was that fact -■which led to the abandonment of ono ':' - day, and providing the Government does -not interfere with trade, wo; think tho '.-Email weight carried forward : will realise !■■>■. -fully-recent values, possibly more if new .Government business is placed with snin--iiers and manufacturers. ''. ~U Closing Results. ;f..Nothing 'particularly new : transpired -.., ■; ■ jjuring the closing; days of the series. .-. ;J?c-nie seem to. think that- there waß a recovery,-' particularly in fine .'..crossbreds, but undoubtedly it was the .;.;■;■'■ of merinos ■ that remained: by : far : . : ' ,'Jthe best right'to-the finish, although ~even herea little of the keenness of- tho, ■.-■ _first week disappeared, and "values hard-.•■'■.-.'■'.'ilJy made the. extreme prices that were .seen during the first half of the series. ..'■ ...At one time good merinos were making' '■-.■■' \«10 per cent, above the prices, but at the values were only about 5 per cent.

highor. Of course the selection had something to do with this. As proof ot this to might point to the fact that (luring the closing week a record price was paid for Queensland scoured merinos at Is. OJd., it being a daily occurrence to seo 3s. <kl. to 3s. Bd-. paid for really good wools. One thing was evident at the recent auctions, namely, that rhen there was anybody to force the hand of Itassia, its representatives were prepared to pay in the neighbourhood, of 4s. for really good wool. One more firm is today buying on Russian account, but the principal operator has learnt the lesson that if ho is to silence competitors, the wisest policy is to let others have a few lots of scoured wool, when it evidently is a tacit understanding between the parties to let the big' buyer resume operations.' Of course one or two home trade firms do a littlo "sniping," and then the fun begins; • For instance, is. per lb; would never have been paid for the six bales of scoured Cape but for the incoming of a firm who deliberately forced' the hand of the Kussian operator. No doubt the uiany records established will go down to history, and be looked back upon ou future occasions as being remarkable prices, and when 2s. 3d. is paid for greasy West Australian combing wool, 2s. Sid. for Tasmanian, 2a. W. for greasy New Zealand merinos, 2s. 4d. for Queensland, and 2s. • 4Jd. for West Victorian merinos—all records—it will bo seen that buyers Were prepared to pay very big figures for somothiug ' really good. Lambs' wool was very scarce, and sold with great spirit. A further record Was established when 2s. 7Jd. was' paid for a little lot of greasy Victorian merinos, and for scoured Queensland lambs; the top price was is. Old. The Weakness in Crossbreds, We need spend littlo time in saying anything about crossbreds. Altogether there were .12,350 bales catalogued, ,and tie offerings- here were on- the whole very good. Still-there was'weakness, and it is that fact' which undoubtedly will be the fly in the ointment to NewZealand pastoralists. . Two or three big Bradford topmakers' hardly did anything, all duo to their landing big imports of dearly-bought- wools.' Let the . reader .call to mind where crossbred values stood' last January and-February, and they will realise that quite as good wools could 'be bought in Coleman Street at the last series at 2d. per lb. less, in fact all the freight was saved, duo to the decline that took place in March, very little-of which lias since been, made up. The result is that taking all things into consideration a decline was established both in greasy and scoured crossbreds, slipes alone maintaining their ground fairly well. - Changes Seen. The following shows the changes compared with the previous series:— Greasy merino—Superior, ■ ljd. higher; average to good, Id. to ljd. higher; poor condition, Jd. to Id., higher; inferior, pieces and looks, Id. to ljd. higher. Scoured merino—Superior, Id. to 2d. higher; average to good, 2d. to 3d. liighor; inferior, 3d. Higher; faulty, pieces and locks, 3d. higher. . Greasy rherino lambs—Superior, Id. higher; medium,,ld. higher; inferior, id.: .higher. Greasy crossbred—Fino, superior,.id. to Id. lower; fine, ordinary, Id. lower; medium superior, Id. to ld.lowor; medium ordinary, Id. to lid. lower; coarse superior, id. lower; coars.e ordin-. ary, Id. to lid. lower, lambs, Id. lowor. Scoured crossbred—Fine, par to Id. 'higher; medium, about par; coarse, Id. lower. Slipe crossbred—Fino lambs, par; medium lambs,'Jd. lower; coarse lambs, Jd. lower; faulty classes, Id. lower. 'Greasy "■ Punta - Arenas—Wellconditioned, Id. lower; wasty, Id. to ljd. lower. Greasy Falkland Islands, Id. to lid. lower. ' •. • South African wool: Snow white-Super-Westerns,- Id. higher; super, Id. .higher; medium, par; inferior, par. Grease combing—Light, Id. higher; heavy, par; clothing, light, par; heavy, par. Distribution of Supplies. ' Messrs. Schwartze, Buchanan, and Co. give their- usual figures; which are mostuseful,- showing how supplies this season . are being distributed. Already the Home trade has'received quite as much colonial, wool as it absorbs, in ordinary years, but the most outstanding feature of all is tlio large purchases of America, and her 6i7,0001b\ of colonial wool is an abnormal quantity. Italy is. chiefly .responsible for the large purchases of the. Continent, but these are not given ' separately.. Still, the figures are most significant, and. adding transit wools and

direct imports, the total deliveries to tho trade compare as follows:— Five Total series. season. 1916.. IAIS. Bales. Bales. Home consumption ... 943,000 1,923,000 Continental consumption ; ISLOOfI 212,000 American consumption 617,000 551,000 1,74-1,000 2,086,000