YORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 304, 12 September 1918, Page 8

YORKSHIRE LETTER

CHANGED CHARACTER OF THE MERINO (From Our Special Correspondent.) , Bradford, July 11. The fact of a ram being sold_ for 3000 guineas at the New South Wales Sheep Breeders' Show held at Sydney last week, has a direct bearing upon the wool trade. If we remember rightly, a. south American breeder once paid a thousand guineas for a Lincoln ram bred by the late Mr. Henry Dudding, but it'or fifty years big figures Itavo been paid almost annually ior lneriro rams, last week's event easily forming a record. Particulars of the sale will be eagerly awaited, in the meantime the incident directs attention to the important part this section of tils industry plays upon the sheep and wool trade of the Commonwealth'. Really speaking such incidents as that which took • place );\st week in S.vdnev vitally affect tne wool textile industry of Great l Britain and America, because it could never have developed, as we see it fo-day but for the pioneer "work of tho Australian pastoralists during tho past hundred vears. The writer has in his possession a small lock of wool warranted to bo shorn from the first Bengal sheep imported into New South Walos _ in 179S and also one from 'the first importation Of Cape merinos, which took plac<* all about the same time.' TJte so-called wool fibres from the Bengal sheep are little better than hair, there beinc no pretence whatever to a real wooffibre as is known to-day, the staple being as straight as a pipe stem, tho fibres showing no serration or crimp whatever. Even the staple of woo] from the first Cape merinos is very different to what we see to-day, but the wool from tho next two or three generations of merinos shows a radical change for the better. There is no doubt that the Australian climate has had a very beneficial effect upon tho merino sheep, which' lias becomc thoroughly acclimatised, and the sheop itself-has' undergone a radical change for the. better during the past twentyfive years. It can be said in a sentence that tho Australian climate suits the merino to perfection, because there is no other country in the world thai can produce fine quality wool showing tho samo solwA characteristics. Sheep Breeders' Changed Programme. Circumstances warrant one in saying that there is a 'marked difference in tho breeding of the merino compared with what obtained in Australia oven thirty to forty years ago. There are to-day living- in Bradford old wool men whose memory goes back to the 'seventies, and tho writer has heard them speak of the class of merino wool that was then marketed in Coleman Street. At that day..all the output of the merino' clip in Australia sold in London, 90 per cent of the offerings comprising merino descriptions. There was then practically no crossbred wool available from either Australia or New Zealand, it being , the 'eighties before New Zealand pastoralists began to mate their merino ewes with the English mutton sire. We have heard old buyers say that it was the merino on the MondAy morning and merino wool on i.h" Saturday afternoon, and at- that time by far the bulk of tho wool catalogued was 70's quality and upwards. ; off course, the general trade of tho country demanded fine merino wool, but 'to put the facts in their true light, sninners and . manufacturers could only produce that which the wool was most suited for. That really is the crux of the whole question. It is useless for anyono to attempt to produce crossbred serges out of merino .wool, and at that time the only crossbred wool available was the -raw material grown here in the United Kingdom. However, there has been a mar.vellous development in the entire industry from the production of wool to the finished fabrics, and it goes without saying that Australasian pastoralists have risen to the occasion in putting before buyers a rich variety of raw materials.ranging all the way from 36's to 80's quality. Has Quality Deteriorated? ■ When one speaks about the merino sheep there is always associated with it tl 10 production or fine quality wool. In the "good old days" that some woolmen talk about, the quality of wool was certainly generally iiner than is the case to-day, it being more during recent years that Australian merino wool lias fallen off in quality. All buyers of twpnty years' standing will agree-with that statement'. Up to, say, 1885, ~J there was no great r weight of Australian, merino wool which, was lower in.'quality than 70's, „but since that time there hag been, a general falling oif, until to-day ,tho .bulk of the merino wool grown in 'Australia is of .64's quality. With a, decline in quality, other compensating.: characteristics'are to be seen, and the writer ventures the opinion that, taking all featuiffs into consideration, the merino wool of Australia to-day is of a higher standard than ever it was. As already indicated, there has been a • radical change in the class and character of tho textiles produced compared 'with the 'seventies and 'eighties, and while 80's and 90's quality wool is wanted and is very valuable, the bulk trade is to-day being done in 60's and 66's quality, the result being that instead of breeding sheep shearing an average of 4 to olb. per nead, as was the case in the 'seventies,' Australian pastoralists are to-day concerned about rearing merino sheep averaging anywhere from 15 to 101b. of sound commercial wool per head. AH practical w;ool- ■ men know that the finer the fleeces the shorter the staple, the . wants of topmakers, spinner's, and manufacturers to-day being for wool showing good average quality, combined with length and.soundness of staple. It is not too much to say that TasI manian ram' breeders for nearly a century occupied the forefront position in deciding tho class of. merino sheep to bo bred and reared throughout tlie Commonwealth, but during the past 15 to 20 years leading studiC breeders in [ New South Wales, particularly the Riverina, have come to the front in. a. remarkable manner, and there are about a dozen well-known studs in Now South Wales, whose sheep reflect credit upon the owners. To-day the average Australian pastoralist wants a flock with a good sound constitution, fairlybig carcass, and growing a sound, robust, commercial typo of wool. Tho writer has been consulted on many occasions by largo, pastoralists regarding the quality of their stud sheep, and it is our firm conviction • that leading Australian merino, stud, breeders have gone far enough in lowering the quality of their flccces. Tho writer strongly contends that good stud >sbccp should bo growing at least a super 60's quality fleece, and that no ram should lie used below ,that standard. Of course, everyone oxpects a owe to produce a finer flecce than a- sire, and maintaining GO's to 64's quality on tho'male side of the flock, as a rnlo will guarantee in the. general flock a flc-sco acceptable to the trade, and which will bring satisfactory prices in the sale room. The writer has never looked with very great favour, upon merino wool below 64's, and although there is to-day a big market for 60's, the second and third-rnte fleeces #ut of 6-i's as a rule gives the spinning quality where GO's :>re wanted. The fact of 2500 and 3000 guineas being paid for stud sheep shows clearly enough that confidence still obtains among the rank and file of sheepbreeders in Australia, and we are glad that this is so. Notwithstanding many

big properties are being subdivided, and that the breeding of crossbred sh.;ep is multiplied in the Commonwealth, the breeding and rearing of the merino will always be iu ilic front rank of the pastoralist's life, and therefore tho maintenance of sound characteristics in the breeding and rearing of sheep must over remain of first importance to those men who vahie general excellence in their flocks. 3he outlook is of the best when viewed from a sheepman's standpoint in any country in the world. The pioneer work that is being done to-day by the Philadelphia Wool Trado Association in encouraging sheep-breeding in the _ various States of America commends itself to both pastoralists and manufacturers tho wide world over, and it is wonderful. how the present war has emphasised as never before the commercial value of a sound fleece of wool and an acceptable carcass -of mutton. Experience has proved during recent years that tho purchasing,of excellent stock has been a most profitable investment, even though up to 1800 and 21100 guineas have been paid for a ram. If the use of such sires results in The production of more wool t-o the extent of half a pound per head, it is a sound investment for any sheepmau to "make an effort to secure tho best, and whether a man produces merino or crossbred, by "11 means let him/'grow a sound, well-developed sheep.