WELLINGTON WOOL SALE.

King Country Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 222, 5 January 1910, Page 2

WELLINGTON WOOL SALE.

The second of the 1909-1910 series of Wellington wool sales was held on Monday. The catalogues comprised 19,500 bales. There was a record attendance of buyers, the bench comprising over 50 operators, including six or seven men new to the local saleß. There was also a larger attendance of growers than has been seen at a Wellington sale. The offering would have been a record for the Dominion but for the holidays, as there have been several thousand bales shut out, and now await the February sale, which must be a record offering for Wellington. It was apparent from the outset ( buyers were operating with confidence than last month, fertecting /ife fetter feeling in manu-facturing-circles in regard to the immediate future jof the trade. Prities were fulljr £d a.lb higher than at last sale, and iri several instances even higher than this. Ono line passed in at 9fd at the last sale realised IOJd on Monday. In another case 9|d waa the highest offer at last sale,, and the wool realised on Monday 10 Jd. The buying was practically confined to Yorkshire and Continental representatives. The range of wools suitable for America was small. The advance wafs in ordinary crossbreds, which represent the bulk of the wool grown in this island. The great bulk of the woftl was sold, tho largest proportion • of passed in lots on a catalogue being ; probably not more than 10,/ per cent. The condition of the wool naturally heavier than at the lastfale, and much heavier, thatt at the first sa|e of the season. ;#;<>ols, in cases were apparentlycheaper, on' account of their lower percentage of yield. Perhaps tho most unsatisfactory feature of the catalogues ,was the large percentage of the limited amount of wools suitable for America, including ' lambs' wool; showing seed. Time and again American valuers were attracted by a but, finding seed on,.the „ | tips, were reluctantly Compelled to exclude it from consideration. Though the Amercians ; \vould riot touch seedy wool, Home and Continental operators paid better money, than formerly for it, owing to thoßinproved method now in vogue for effectively eliminating extraneous matter. For the same reason "pieces" have considerably appreciated in value. A conspicuous feature of the bidding was the comparatively high prices given by both French and Bradford operators, but principally the former, for pieces and locks. The. Frdnch section were the principal operators in lambs' wool. The following is the range of pricel|: —Merinos, 10Jd to lid; halfbreds,;'ltd to 12? d; superior fine crossbreds,'lid tol2£d; medium crossbreds, 9Jd,%0 lid; coar3e crossbreds 8d to 9Jd; inferior crossbreds, 7Jd to B£d; pieces and bellies, 6d to 9d; locks, 3d to sd; lambs' wool, superior, lOd to lljdj medium, 8d to 9Jd; inferior, 7d to Sd,

The extermination of the dread Canadian thistle has been a serioua problem to farmers in ihis district and in the far South, says the Oamaru Mail. Mr Arthur Macarthur, of Oamaru, who was in his early days a manufacturing chemist in Scotland in a big way, is satisfied that he has at last made a discovery which will be absolutely effective, and the simplicity of which is its chief virtue. The preparation has been tested with direful results to the thistles experimented upon, and the Agricultural Department has now/taken the matter in hand with a vi'ew to satisfying itself as to its effectiveness. A few weeks ago a paragraph appeared in these columns dealing with the increasing nuisance of "mason bees" to householders in the district. Similar complaints come from the South, and at Furau (says the Christchurch Press) these insects are becoming so plentiful as to constitute a serioua pest to residents. Tho habits of these insects are, to put it mildly, open to grave objection. Their living rooms they construct, with much ingenuity, out of mud, and when they choose the interior of a house as the site of their tiny dwelling places, the householders are inclined to object. No corner, receptacle, piece of furniture, or article of clothing which affords shelter or concealment, is safe from their attentions. Another habit, which is also remarked on unfavourably, is credited to the female inßfict. When it is about to lay its eggs, an essential item in the programme is forcible capture of a spider. The fortunate web-spinner is stung With paralysis, and then located in the vicinity of the nest. Tho eggs are then laid and hatched, and the young ones And meals on paralysed spider ready to hand. 1 'y . ' 1