YORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 293, 6 September 1919, Page 10

YORKSHIRE LETTER

HEAVY ARRIVALS VALUES REASONABLY MAINTAINED (From Our Own Correspondent.) Bradford. July 10. The third series of colonial sales have como to a finish and the remarkable thing is that values generally ' lavc al " : ' not declined. There are those ■who'arc still preaching distinctly lower wool values in tho near future, but somehow each series of sales comes and goes without much impression being made m this direction. No sooner is one adverse factor dealt with than something comes along to inspire confidence, and to-day we nro faced with the fuct of lncreauing machinery being got to work in Pranco and Belgium, mills in Scandinavia and the Netherlands resuming full time, and as Great Britain is by far the nearest solirce of supplies, increasing inquiries are being encountered together with sensibly augmented export facilities lining granted. The fact is readily granted that supplies of colonial wool are more than adequate to meet the needs of Great Britain, but now that peace is signed the strongest factor of all will soon have to be reckoned with in lace of l;he undoubted fact that Central Europe is bare. One cannot but realise that the whole trade is up against forces to which it Jias been'a stranger for nearly five years, and although the Home trade is comfortably situated m regard to supplies, other facts must be faced which cannot but have a stimulating influence upon the position of markets. Somo are preaching a gospel which means starving, but it is useless ignoring facts which clearly say that if Germany, Austria and Eussia are to assume normal conditions then the blockade must be lifted and fair weights of raw materials must be allowed to SO to Central and Eastern Europe | in order to provide food and cloinin*, for the million. These are a few plain facts which even the Great Four must face, and, generally speaking, facilities must be granted for feeding and clothing tho countries ivhich have been opposing Great Britain and her Allies. Changes Seen. There is no need to set forth at length the features in evidence during the tjist few days of tho recent auctions, the incoming of France was the potent factor, considerable buying taking place on the part of the Continent, the result being that, except for coarse crossbreds, values maintained tho highest level of Ma}, and in the opinion of many values even advanced. It seems to the writer as it a 1 little more competition on the part ot ! Prance and Germany for-medium and coarse crossbreds would certainly help to put these wools right, and there are those who believe that even low crossbreds are about at the bottom, because it is fully expected that Germany will be allowed to purchase fair weights ot wools up to 40's quality. No doubt faulty merinos benefited materially on. account of French competition, arcl or«> fully expects to see Belgium become a larger buyer, as-she carbonises and sells to the Netherlands and possibly to other countries, some of tho wools recently purchased in Coleman Street. Wo gne below a table showing the course ot prices at the London sales compared with the closo of-the May series-.— Australasian Wools. Greasy merino, superior, fully firm; greasy merino, average to good, unchanged; greasy merino, poor condition, unolianged; greasy merino, inferjor locks and pieces, unchanged; scoured merino, superior, fully firm; scoured merino, average to good, fully firm; scoured merino, inferior, 2d. per lb. dearer; scoured merino, -.faulty locks and pieces, Id. per < lb. dearer.; greasy merino, lambs, superior, fully firm; greasy merino, lambs, medium, fully firm; greasy merino, lambs, inferior, fully firm; greasy crossbred, fine superior, unchanged ; greasy crossbred, fine ordinary, Id. per lb. cheaper; greasy crossbred, medium superior, id; to Id. per lb. cheaper; greasy crossbred, medium ordinary, ljd. per lb. cheaper; greasy crossbred, coarse superior, Id. per lb. cheaper; greasy crossbred, coarse ordinary, 2d. per lb. cheaper; greasy crossbred, lambs, firm; scoured crossbred, fine, firm; scoured crossbred. medium and coarse, 2d. to 3d. per lb. cheaper; slipe, crossbred, fine lambs, unchanged; slipe, crossbred, . medium lambs, Id. per lb. cheaper; slipe crossbred, coarse lambs, 2d. per lb. cheaper; slipe, crossbred, faulty• classes, 3d. per lb. cheaper. South African Wool. Snow White, super Westerns, unchanged; Snow White, super, unchanged; Snow White, medium, unchanged; Snow White, inferior, unchanged; greasy combing, light, unchanged; greasy combing, heavy, unchanged; greasy, clothing, light, unchanged; greasy, , cluShing, heavy, unchanged.

British Wool Production, It lias always .been more or less guess work lo estimate the actual production of wool in I lie United Kingdom, but at . last official figures are available showing tho exact weight ot fleece and skin wool produced in, Great Britain during the past three years. The census of sheep, but more particularly the census of wool instituted ty- the Government, has placed some very important data in the hands ot the officials of the Department, and we ai's glad that they have seen fit to give some reliable information regarding tho weight of wool produced annually in the British Isles. The estimate lias usually, been around 12(1 million pounds yearly, but apparently this lias been too high. We think the real causo is dueMo estimating too much per head as tho British clip. The writer lias purchased this week a fair weight of super selected Irish wools, eastern counties halfbred downs, sonic good Yorkshire halfbreds, and also some good .Downs, .Shropshire, Hampshire and Wiltshire. Of course, they \vcro all washed fleeces. The work had been very well done, and what struck the writer most was the actual weight per fleece. To bo candid they wcro on average about lib. per fleece lighter than expected, and as this can be taken as an average for past years,, these is proof that the over-estimate has been due to reckoning' British sheep as producing more per head than they actually arc doing. Then another important change must not: be lost sight, of. British flocks have been diiuinishins during recent years. Figures showing the number of sheep pastured in Ireland were published a few days ago. The stocks io-day total 11,6-20,178 compared with 3,744,153 a year ago, showing a decrease of 117,370. However, we aro confident that the over-estimate is chiefly due to the first cause. The war has certainly made an important inroad into tho sheep of Great Britain, and we hope that tho present high values will bo a real stimulus to farmers everywhere to increaso their sheep stocks. For tho size of these islands, wo have pastured more sheep than any other country in the world. Tho compulsory ploughing up of a certain pereentngo of land which took place last veo.r no doubt was ono cause of sheep numbers decreasing, bill, now that the war has passed, wo hope that more sheep will soon ho pastured in Great Britain. Tho following aro tho official figures showing tho wool production in Great Britain for the years given:—

Total ... 30,873,001 10,075,857 25,037,(Mil Markets generally aro quictoi\ bul iiricos are linn, there being HtLIo dispwition on fclia part of tflpmnkew and spinners io take less unless for delivery six inuntiis ahead.

' FLEKCE. ' 19IG. 1917. ' 1018. lb. lb. 11). England . 57,1011.000 52,375,000 52,127.000 IVttlcs .... -I,-H!5,(K)0 5,.%!),WO 5,679,000 Scotland . 20,810,000 20,221,000 20,905,500 1'rcknd .. 12,CDC,003 14,0117,(100 13,301,000 Total ... iimOOO illi,052,000 92,182,000 SKIN. England . 25,600,451 20,402,097 17,184,510 Wales .... 1,932,980 2,210,272 1,353,319 Scotland . 0,620,951 7,502,033 5,348,552 Ireland .. 2;G59,217 3,361,800 2,0o0,571