YORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2920, 4 November 1916, Page 14

YORKSHIRE LETTER

TOPS AND NOILS

{.from Our Special Correspondent.

Bradford, August 31. 1 lie writer lias always endeavoured not to take his readers into the intricate paths of tho-wool trade, believing in the gospel of keeping strictly to tho ways that are understood by growors. The less technical these letters are the better, but wo have always had as an ideal to touch upon every aspect of the wool industry which has a direct bearing upon growers, and which is inseparable from the great subject of wool. We aro afraid that too many, show little concern abcut tho raw material when it lias left tho station and passed the hammer, but that is not as it should be. experience has found that tho man who follows interestedly the raw material through the different stages of manufacture, and who has mado himself familiar even from a merely theorist's standpoint, has always taken a deeper interest in the production of the material, and after all that should be the goal of oiery pastoralist. A mere surface acquaintance with business is not sufficient m Ihese days of stress and strain, and we would urge readers to get to know more ultimately what wool is, what are iw functions, its capabilities, and its ultimate uses, which will make a grower watch his flocks with renewed interest ana take a deeper concern in everything cuat means good to his sheep in general; We purpose to-day to take tho reader beyond the confines of the auction room and to put him down in thought into a wool-sorting room ,which is tho first process m manufacture. The wool arrives at the warehouse of the wool comber or topmaker, when tho bales are opened and fleeces thrown on to tho sorting board. A sorting board is usually made ?«. ?F ( " nnr 3" A ool ' boards, and reaches lengthwise from top to bottom of tho room, the boards being placed well under the windows. Every man stands opposite a. window to have the best light P/ 0 " 83 , of sortin *' «*> » litHo difficult to make ono understand clearly the whole operation, but in a well-regu-lated sorting room, every fleece fs opened « nd crammed, tho various parts of tne fleeces being removed, according to'' a well-dcfinod standard of quality. It may surprise some readers to know that every fleece of wool contains several distinct qualities, and every wool-grower should carefully no to' his sheep and try frnJil « any S n'° at dis P ai % "> tho h h tL i 1110 , n ? Rror tho s to the shoulder wool in point of quaiJlwJ ' e i ff° r ' a l d of fleece should be the goal of every grower, if the shoulder wool of a merino is only pn't' i H 0 * 1 IV '"' 1)0 no more than Ms, and it is to remove this which is the uid and aim of wool sorting. Tho great' purpose of sorting the flecce or >01 ,s to make the lots uniform, and i 111 Mau3 ' establishments in ? * or iour distinct sorts bein 0 made out of every fleece. A sorter is surrounded by four to six skeps, and according to the length and quality of the wool the fleece, or a portion of it, ln to tho skep. ti™°s the foundastraight topmaking, and the better tho sorting tho more' regular and "liable the top will be. The writer has L7tn!? S °V 0r Sa W that Brad! ford to-day less sorting is bein R done and we are afraid that some firms are 111 in consequence. Uken the wool is sorted and a big pile i. gO - es d( ?"' n t0 the wash-bowls •?nn Ti. n . begl " 3 process of topmak--m O . It is pot our intention to give anv survey of fl le scouring and carding of the wool previous to its being backwashed and combed, the whole subject being too technical. Those wool-growers who have been to Bradford and been through a combing mill are naturally nonplussed, the • wliolo operation being most educational.' Every grower should see the process if possible, and at every selling centre m Australia, there should l / 1 , e topmaking plant for tho students to see. The plant need not be big, but it could be worked occasionally, and that would show tho importance of good wool-growing better: than a year's theoretical training. Topmaking to-day is a science, and it is really remarkable what is being done with tho wools which are grown, and how the process of combing straightens out the fibre to prepare it for manufacture. By-Products.

We really, set out to "yarn" upon the by-products ot the trade, but as these Eire the outcome of wool-combing a brief definition of topmaking was essential. Ihe reader well knows that when the fleece is growing it often takes up vegetable matter, all of -which has to be dealt with one way or the other. We are living in times when nothing is wasted, and the burrs which are removed from the wool contain a very, small percentage of wool fibre. Theso are to-day worth about 2d. to 3d.' a lb., and are carbonised for the woollen trade. The end of carbonising is to recover these, and so prevent any loss. When tops are being made such by-products as noils, carding waste, shoddy, and burrs are produced, all of which are taken, and which are saleable and useful commodities. Noils are by far the most valuablo of theso by-products, being the shorter fibres thrown out in the combing operation. Merino noils to-day are worth from 22d. to 27d. per lb., according to the length of the fibre, but more especially the amount of vegtable matter the noils contain. The cleaner the wool and the more valuable, it being the seed and burr in the noils which decides whether t'hey have to be carbonised or not. If a noil is clean and a good colour, it is to-day worth anywhere from 26d. to 27d., while if it is very seedy and burry it is not worth more than 18d. to lDd. Noils are very useful for making flannels and shirtings, in which goods t'hey are chiefly used. Card waste is simply what is left behind on the carding machines, and often contains the burrs which to a large ertent are removed from the wool by the application of a burr roller,, which cruslies and nips out. the burr by revolving rapidly close to the card teeth. All theso by-prodacts are willeyed and carbonised, and are used in the production of woollen yarns, and help to produce fabrics in which faults of manufacture are less disliked. If these by-products are carbonised all the seeds and burrs are removed, leaving behind the short fibres, which can be used either for flannels, shirtings, blankets, or woollen tweeds, according to tlie quality • of the raw material. . \ ■