WHAT OF WOOL'S PROSPECTS?

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 74, 14 April 1937, Page 15

WHAT OF WOOL'S PROSPECTS?

Future Looks Cheerier Fdr The firower STRONGCLOSETO SEASON Doubtless the pessimists will say by a shake of the head that the prices for raw wool this season have been too high, and tho demand for woollen goods will f all away when the public find that the ihcreased prices are being passed n to them. That may be, but the best guide W6 have is the State of the wool markets now, at the elosing stages of this" selling season. The bttyers of wool ifiUSt be COSfident of the fiiture of they would not be as anxious as thgy ai'O for stipplies. Possibly the manufaetufefS are able to see f arthef ahead than usual. They are not likely to tie up Capital in wool af these prices if they hold much doubt about the demand for the new dip when it appears on the markef in a f ew moixths. Iiideed, everything in the economie world suggests a high range of eommo.dity prices for some tiuie to COme. Of, rathef, the iiidieatiOfis are that currency management wMl be the means Of maintainifig prices. Whei'evef one turfls One Cfefi see 6viden.ee Of a new Order of thiiigs in the wdfld Of eeonomiCs, and it iS fairiy safe to assume that one of the corner-stones Of this new Order 6f thifigs is tli6 poliCy, which has become world wide, to keep up the prlees of cornmodities as a means oi regaining and maintaifiing pfoSpefity. Another Way of saying thie is by aSserting that the poliey everywhere is to raiSe tliC standard of living. So there are goOd grounds fof a chCerfiil view of the prospeets for the next selling Season. That is about as far as one ean go, for, despite all the better thingg of thh? new economic world, the course of future events still is, and ever Will be, in the lap of the gods. Wool and Substitutea* An, inquiry into the probable extent Of the eompetition of rayoxi. and staple "fllrrn n fraiiief Twitnrol x a UdlfiW

**•-** W uguij.Aj.oy numxivi nvui uuiuc bUU" ducted by the Imperial Economic Committee arid the Wool Industries Re: search Association. The results of tliis inquiry should be of special interest and value, not only to those assoeiated with the wool "industry, but to the entire textile world. So far no cause for special alarm has been disclosed, although it has 'been shown that the eompetition df rayon and staple libre is f6rmi.dabie, ttnd in some respects may be overwheltning. Staple libre, or fibro-rayon, spun into yarn for use on worsted and cotton spindles, is the great potential cornpetitor of wool. For about iO years worsted manufacturers have been experimenting with staple libre, and it would seem that the flbre is now weil established as a substitute. In faet, some manufacturers are at last turuing out large quantities of wooi and flbre mixture, and there is a danger that the tendency will be for the proportiOn of staple flbre to increase gradually in the mixtures. In the hosiery industry staple flbre has rnade wonderful headway. Tlie women 's hosiery trade has almost deserted wool. The woollen uuderwear trade has suffered also. It is said that the weight of xeal wool per underwear garment has decreased by One-third owing to the eompetition of synthetic fibres. A great deal of the old worsted materials haVe been replaeed by rayon and staple flbre. For example, mauy flrms maiiufacturing wool crepee have ehanged over or gone out of business. Rayon h&s won in the battie for the dress lining trade, but this trade has been captured mostly from eotton, not from wool. It is showu, however, that for the most part the people aceustomed to using good quality cloths expect pure wool for suitings, The properties of strength and wear assoeiated with wool are looked for, also Warmth. Scientists have not yet overcome cei tain defects of staple flbre, such as the want of eiasticity and weariug properties. Fabrics contaiuing much staple flbre lose their shape ou becoming wet. It ie stated also that Cotton is cheaper for blending pufposes thau staple flbre. Undoubtedly rayoa consUmption has increased steadily since the war, but the total consumption in Great Britain of rayon and staple flbre for all purposes during 193b .was not more than 100,000,0001b., and it is doubted whetlier the effeet from these competitors on aggregate wool coUsumptiOn was very important. If in many sections of the textile trade wool lias lost grouiid, in oher direction.3' wool has gained, and formidable as the eompetition of substitutes may be, there appears to be no gfounds for serious fear for the future of real wool as one of the most valued commoditiee of commerce, Yolte and Wool. ✓ Years ago there was a belief among many slieepmen that the most profltable fleeces were those that carried the liioat yolk. These may haye been the lieaviest, and when woolbuyers were less discriminating than they are today the heavily-yolked fleeces may have s.cored. But much yolk is a fault. It has been well eaid that there should be enough fleeced yolk witliin the wool on the upper surfaees of tbe body to cover evefy flbre like a brilliant, and, in warm weather, like an iTndried coat of varnish, but not enough to fill the interstices between them, so that the fleeee should appear, as it sometimos does, to be growing up through a bed of oil. Hardoned or pasty masses of yolk within the wool nre to bo avoided. Auimale showing an excess of yolk are, aa

a rule, wanting in eonstitution, bad "doers," and incapable of withstanding severe eold. Some of the fluid yolk hardens' on the ends of the wool flbre. This causes the ends of the fibres to become clotted, and the little clots coveiing the fleeee are a protection. Yolk varics from a white colour to a dark yellow. Accordlng to authority, a brilliant golden txnge, faint or imperceptible near the roots of the wool, but deepening towards the outer extremitieS, is the colour most to be desired. It has been asserted that yolk of the right colour betokens a vigorous growth of Wool and a good eonstitution, also the Vigour of that kind which exhibfts itself in the forcible tfansmiseion of individual properties to pfOgeny. Yolk is made up Of a soapy substanee, With a basis of potash, a small qiiantity of carbonate of potash, a quantity of, aeetate of potash, a light muriate df potash fcii8, and aiiimal oill, Which givds out the odour peculiar to yolk.