YORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 257, 25 July 1919, Page 10

YORKSHIRE LETTER

j , RAW MATERIAL PRICES VERY FIRM GREAT SCARCITY OF TOPS (From Our Special Correspondent.) Bradford, June 12. Last Thursday a sale of colonial wools i took place in Liverpool, the event giving i rise to considerable attention. There . is no wonder at this when one saw tha . catalogue, it being impossible to put up a selection of superior combing wools without the whole combined buying . powers of the trade being: centred upon '. such offerings. Altogether, about 1(1,000 i bales wero cataloguud, the selection i being very much superior to the last ! sale, that took jiluco lit tho Mirsey yit. i Let us look briefly lit the high-class mer- ; ino offerings. ; Some Superior Lines. ' The day's offerings opened with wools from Victoria, brands well known to all 1 frequenters of either the. London, Geelong, or Melbourne sakt. It can be said that these merinos were nothing short of ' being "picture" woois. embodying as 1 they did every characteristic tuut a wool buyer could desire. The writer has always maintained that there is cxcellance in breeding and growing wool as much rn crossbrals as merinos, and whatever quality of wool is under consideration, there are certain outstanding characteristics which determine the market price. For instance, there is quality, length, eoundness. md condition, all features which determine what wool is worth. In the super West Victorian merinos offered at Liverpool last Thursday, all these characteristics were present in a marked degree. The prices realised for such clips as EO. Mt. Bute, Springwood, and Terinalluin,' how clearly where things stand. At the last series of London sales a world's record was made for greasy merino combing wool, several Victorian brands selling at liOd. A sample of Mt. Sturgeon, which made that high price, was shown to Australian soldiers at the Biadford Technical College about a fortnight ago, many stating candidly that they thought tho tiling was mjredible. All the same, whon they handled the raw material they at once realised the excellence of the staple, and admitted that it possessed superfine qualities winch can only be grown in a portion of West Victoria ■ Still, the wools offered in Liverpool Inst Thursday possessed the saino characteristics, hence the liigh prices realised. Tho following- are well worth putting on record:— Mark. Description Bales. Price.

Purpose for Which Wool is Used, It is well worth asking, to what purpose the above high-class merinos are put, and it must be said at once that they are used for a variety of fabrics. First of all they are wool bought by both epinners and manufacturers, being well above topmakers. It was well-known at the last London sales that those who purchased these high-class merinos wore the very cream of Bradford spinners, and also a few outside woollen manufacturers who wanted the wools regardless of prico. The bulk of these high-class merinos are what are known as warp 70's, but it is raw material'that will spin up to a finer count than the- fibre appears to be to the naked eye. None of tho whole catalogued in either Liverpool or London could be designated as 80's, but they would epin to 1-70' a, perhaps to 7'2's or even 74's. It is such wool as this that hits helped to standardise qualities in Bradford, and when a person speaks of 70's ([Utility, the real meaning is that the wool in question should spin to 1-70's count of yarn and represent 70 hanks, each hank measuring f>llo yards to weigh lib. These high-class merinos have been bought during the past month by those who must have quality, character, and softness of handle, and spinnei-3 and manufacturers purchasing them cannot but bo wfill satisfied with the results. Vrobably the yarn spun from these hifjliolnss merinos will sell around 15s. to 16s. per 11)., a price that clearly indicates that it is of little consequence to those purchasing the fully manufactured article. A Decreasing Quantity. The writer is able to speak from actual knowledge, and regrets to say that yearly tho supply of these high-class merinos is diminishing. This is to be regretted for many reasons. We have to face the fact that more stations aro being- broken up and passing into a good many more hands. This inevitnbly means the breeding of crossbreds, growers to-day making the cash returns the alpha and omega of their sheep-breeding business. Australian pastoralists to-day are showing unmistakable signs of wanting to produce what they call a dual purpose sheep, and can anyone find fault with the object? At the same time it is to be regretted that some of the high-class merinos are fast disappearing, and although a certain number will always be grown yet there are to-day no big properties in West Victoria, and tho output of high-class merinos tends to diminish yearly instead of increase. Somo havo asked why these merinos cannot be grown elsewhere in tho Commonwealth, and tho reason is plain. Climate and pasturage are paramount factors in determining both sheep and wool, and it is a fact that once out of West Victoria tho aieas are very limited indeed where really liif.h-class merinos can be kept that are euiia! in merit to those produced in the Skinton district of West Victoria. Reallv excellent wools are grown in the southp'lsforn portion of South Australia, which all smack of a West Victorinn character, then tho New England district of New South Wales is a good runner-up, while Tasmania also produces high-class merino wool that will take a good deal of beating. Market Conditions, Although holidays have interfered with the regular routine of business, still the market is by no means devoid of interest and life. There continues to be the sumo keen search for spot delivery of tnns that ono has witnessed during recent weeks, and prices are all exceptionally firm. This can bo expected, for thorn promises to be no relief on this hend. It is understood that commission wool combers' charges are going to lie advanced, which wil! bo tho direct'outcome of the recently-increased wages being paid to combing operathve. 15pen tip's will .not stop trade, for tot.m&keim am to-dav able to sell almost any weight j of tona and as far fnrwnrt: as n«t No- j vemlicr-Dwpmber; in fact, there nvs Gririe ; in llradford who aro refusing to s'.'l! fur- : thc-v for delivery this year. There iu j also a distinct movement towards lower j nuuiities. r.n<l iv/erythiug indicates a \ tarirer d'.'iiiiind for 'Id's in particular, j Tlin want of tho hour in Bradford is n : larsely-migmented supply of lops, a.r,d ! this is nnt to be i>\peclt>d niMi: more men j are found to run machinery, particularly j on the night, turn. j

Tarrum Park, grease, super combing •■•••■ 20 MJ Yarrum Park, grease, iirst combing ;•• 13 C0 Edgevlcy, grease, super A, combing, H ••••••••■•• 8 c .°i G.N. H.O., grciiso, first fleeco 18 0i „ , grease, A ileoce ...... 9 Wi grease, super combing 5 (ja-i „ grease, first lloece ... 20 (X! grease, C fleece 2a lilj Hyde Park, grease., super combing < - (,J Teriiiallura/Sonlh, grease, super combing 10 «*1 Terinallum/Soiith. grease, first combing n W 5 Springwood, grease, ex. sup. fine 12 6i Springwood, grease, ex. sup. combing 15 m SS/Trcfusi a/New England, grease, AAiV com., W 20 Gli CKP/Antrim, scoured AAAFE 8 W CKP/Aiitrim, scoured BW ... IS 08 Jlf/Tonkoro. scoured, second combing, W 28 G6\ Eddinglon, scoured, AAA E !J3 80 liddinglon, scoured AA li 23 7G Maxwelton, fcoured, A combing, E & W 31 30 Mnxivelton, scoured, 1! combing K 8 78i Jlaxwelton, scoured, AE 10 SO Mnxwelton, scoured, ilecce, B & W 7 78