SPINNING A YARN ABOUT WOOL

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 19, 15 October 1937, Page 19 (Supplement)

SPINNING A YARN ABOUT WOOL

/"'ONSIDERING the hundreds of industrious young women who are to be seen, even in public, busily clicking knitting needles over partially manufaetured garments, . the amount of ignorance concerning the wool industry is surprising, says a writer in-thc Australasian. Of eourse, the people who grow wool and those who sell it for thom do know something abouf it, but the. con* suiner is woefully ignorant. Tlie word consumer, as applied to the user of wool, seeins to me to be scarcely corrcct. So far as I know, moths are about the only regular . consumers of wool. Every schoolboy knows that sheep were introduccd to Australia by Captain MeArthur and the Rev. Saiu Marsden. It is uot so generally kuown, however, that they wero aetuatcd by philanthropic niotives. Tlicy found uhat niany of the vcry early arrivals in Australia wero "pining becauso jf their laclc of English pastimes, and tiiought that tho opportuliity for a nttle sheep-stealing would clieer tliem up and malce them feel .more at home. One of tbc lcading wool men v'hoin

4 consulted for the purpose of obtain■ing greasy wool for this yarn, admitted candidly that ho had been unawaro . of tho real reason for McArthur's importation of sheep. He aceepted my assuranee on the subject, however, without reservation. Jle addod that ho belicved that it mijst bo true becauso the lineal doscendants of thoso vory early settlers hgd, impro.vcd on their grandfathers' methods by using motor ears in their profession. Hc also said, in effect, that the so-and-so's were making meclianised slieep-stealing a more profitable industry than woolgrowing. 1 do not quote him verbatim on thc subject, becauso both you and he would bc rathcr shoclted to sce his exact words iu print. My infonuanls assure mu that men are tho mainstay of thc imlustrv by their adTieronce to wool for their rainierit. They sny that ouec upon a linie women did wcar wool — more tliau erio laycr of it. To-day tliey scarcely use it for anything but batliiug-suits, and th.es e havo only eoou£k.for ft potli's luneheon.

The rapid growth of tho use of artificial silk has somowhat perturbed the woolgrowers lest a similar ehallengo bo offered to their industry. Already a substitute of a kind has been made from both wood pulp and from soya beans. Tho Italians have gone one better and aro making a wool substitute ealled Lanital from skiin milk. Tho samo wood pulp that jjrovidcs our ncwsprint may provide cheap clothing, putting tho wearer one juiiip ahead of a Domaiu dosser. Lanital, however, with its milk origin, offers nuilerial for thrilling stories. Imagine an "out back" sheepowner, lost and perishing from hunger and thirst, drawing life-saving sustenance from sucking a fragment torn from his undershi rt . Prodigious ! l)ii.l you over liear a wool sale? It sounds like a riot in a dog's home. Wlion tho auclionoer is in his rostrum, hc is fii.ee d by Ihe woolbuyers of tho world seated in tiers, Wlion ihe prices are low, the growers may be seen at the 'back, standing in tears— up to their ankles. j Evcry country and luuguage in the

world are represented by the buyers. When the auctioneer' puts up a lot, he says ''Lot so and so,'' and the nest instant a yelping pack of men are jumping about in their seats as though they desyred very much to bite the auctioneer on the leg. The auctioneer remains imperturbed. When the riot dies down, by some. species of second or third sight, or by ^tlie development of a seventh sense, he names the buyer. The buyers bid in rises of ^d at a time. Like the winds, the price of wool bloweth where it jolly well listeth. It does not follow that the man who is first on tho market gets tho besh price. It will be seen, therefore, that the in- ' dustry offers both the attractions of legitimate trade and commerce and the thrill of gambling. So it falls out that tho sejling organisadions accommodate themsolves, as far as possiblc, to the wishcs ' of the. growcr a's to whon thoy'will bring his wool before thc buyers. I arq told that some growers rack their brains for anxious days and nights, watching tho saies in an endeavour to pick a w,inning day hen the buyers might be a bit reckless, Like the man who thinks he knows all about racing form, he as often as not falls in.

entered in the Elock Book, are again headed by the Romney by a substantial. margin over the next recognised breed. Half-breds account for more than 2,000,000 under this heading, and of these the bigger majority have Romney blood in them. Figures under this head are enumerated as follow: — Romney 2,659,338 Half-brcd 2 209,044 Corriedale 1,159,829 Merino • 997,120 Southdown 1S8,424 Border Leicester ....... 3S,047 » English Leicester ...... 33,291 Lincoln 18,420 Shropshire 12,455 Ryeland " 3,179 Other breeds 2,953.. From these figures the strength of the Romney can be Teadily gauged. That this position should exist can only be duo to the -stud breeders, who have aimed at the production of a type of animal most suited to the conditions of this country. Tn brecdinpr toward thc ideal wluch we fiud to-day stud-masters have suceeeded in retaining the good points of tho old type sheep, such as the strong, meaty loin of good length^ the great sprcad of rib at the base, and a wide thigh.