OUR BRADFORD LETTER.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2054, 4 December 1907, Page 5 (Supplement)

OUR BRADFORD LETTER.

THE "GET UP” OF WOOL. (From Our Special Correspondent.) BRADFORD, Oct. 18, 1907. Tiio get up of wool is a perennial question, and ono that is deserving of as mucli attention as ever at the hands of all wool-growers. I am sure that the present high rnngo of prices has made many growers Bomewliat careless in their methods of .preparation for market, thoro evidently being abroad a feeling which finds some such expression as “never mind, wo shall just get the same price by scamping the job, and putting in .the skirts, as if we took them out.” Becnuse the raw' material has this last few years been commanding high values, that is no reason whatever for licensing any niau for adopting less vigorous and thorough methods in getting up his clip for market in a businesslike way,' but from what I saw at the recent series of London Sales 1 am positivo that many New Zealand olips are being carelessly handled, while Capo farmers have still much to learn before they send tlieir wool to market- as they should do. During the last few series of Colonial wool sales complaints have been numerous that the crossbred wools of New Zealand have been anything but what they should be in point of cleanliness and growth, and especially the lack of appreciation as to what is required by buyers. (Standing valuing one morning a hig line of greaso crossbred combing wool, I was very much surprised to seo that out of 54 bales of combing only 1 bale of pieces and 2 .bales of bellies had been an-.ido This raised my curiosity, because on pulling out some of the combing I struck my hand into a lot of seeds and skirts, and this aroused suspicion. Pulling out of tho 'bale a whole fleece I opened it, when I beheld on the neck and the beech a whole mass of seeds. Certainly the belly portion had been removed, but what is known as Biddy Biddy was simply plastered on the neck ana flank end, completely spoiling the better part of the fleece. Thinking I had got hold of an exceptional fleece, I went to two or three o.her bales and did likewise, land in every case the .top ,and bottom end oi each fleece was full of seed, (liere was a flagrant case of absolute neglect to conform to the common elementary principles of preparing wool for .market..

Now the seeds of which 1 am' complaining are not the oidinarv shivs and carrot seeds which one comes across even in Australian or Cape merinos, but are seeds which are found on no other country’s wool except New Zealand, ,and il a man had taken a score handfuls and deliberately plastered them on they could not have been more. "What was the result? Those cam fling wools I am certain lost at least a penny per lb. if not ljd, because the necks and britch. had not «,een removed. Why, the differece in quality alone between the shoulder, sides and back compared with tho other parts of the fleece was a reason of itself for their .being removed) but being also “rammed” with Biddy Biddy increased tenfold the flagrancy of.ithe case. Here we had good, bright 40’s crossbred wool worth --a fetching only 9jd. Another case -where we had a lot of fine half-bred and fine crossbred, the owner, had left in all the skirts, there being not even a single bale of .pieces or bellies made out of the whole clip. If even, one bal e bad been made it would have vastly improved the combing woool, for in the same bale wo had three parts oi fleeces giving a "clean yield” of /<->. ■per cent, and other parts not more than 40 per cent.

Then again -a little appreciation of the question of quality would lead to better results. What sense is there in any man baling together fleece wool of 36’s iand 60’s quality? Why, there is at once a penny per lb. difference between tho two on. llie ground of quality alono, while a man seeking good half-bred wiP gladly give 13d to 14d per lb., whereas tlie average price to-day for 36’s to 40’s is to lOd to lid. Anybody with a very elementary knowledge of wool can at once see that u hen there is such a big difference in tin quality of wool, it will serve two separate and distinct Hie-io is in such wools a difference in 'ength, the of tho st i do, the yield, and the appearance of too fibre, and these features alone should enable even an intelligent farm laborer to separate tlie two classes, and to make-them into at least two Jots. I point out these essentials in order that owners of wool might evinco a little more intelligent interest in their clips, for oftentimes good money is lost because of a lack of appreciation of these small details which are so essential in the get-up of the wool.

This question of (preparing wool for market in a proper business-like way goes to the very root of the uool trade, .affecting both (the producvi and consumer alike. I am open to say that Australian pastoralists slid lead in the way they handle their clips, and it will bo a good thing the thousands of -little squatters •> h > are taking up land follow the goo-, example of their larger competitors. But even apart from every other consideration, it pays the grower •.<> well get up his clip. (Buyers a* once on examining a lot of wool can tel sf thero is anything left in that should 'bo out, and if the skirts and bellies are there it is a common occurrence if one man finds them to spread them out for others to see. In some way or other, if a man finds them he will pass on the word, or else leave behind somo mark to indicate to the next that something is wrong. And what is more pitiable for any clip of wool than to lose the confidence of buyers? When that occurs there may not be any boycott, but the wool is bought with a full knowledge that it will require plenty of sorting, which means a less price for the raw material; in other words, the farmer has to pay indirectly for. the cost of sorting uy his receiving a less price for his wool. It is a vory wise thing where merino* are grown to eliminate all the pieces, bellies, and skirts, and to

pay duo regard to length and quality. A grower must decide how many sorts he will make hy the sizo Of his clip, .and it is possiblo to overclass just- as it is to under-class. What I say is let tho combing be combing, land mako tho other parts as good as care and attention can do. Thero are men who never touch combing, but who want tho wastier parts of tho floeco, and the high prices which are at present ruling for good pieces, bellies, and looks shows the universal use to which they can he put. Cape wools aro being bettor handled in many eases than they formerly were, and buyers are appreciating this fact. Tho six months’ shearing which is still largely practised, could be abolished with advantage, but buyers would rather have a clean six months’ clip than ono where everything is bundled wholesale into tho bale. Let growers everywhere bear in mind tiio fact that it pays to sort, and it will be a mistake if slip-shod methods are again to prevail because stocks are light and -prices high.