The Manawatu Standard. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. SATURDAY, APRIL 8, 1886. THE WOOL MARKET.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1675, 3 April 1886, Page 2

The Manawatu Standard. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. SATURDAY, APRIL 8, 1886. THE WOOL MARKET.

Ths news of the state of th« London wool market m ('says the New Zealand Times) exceedingly discouraging to New Zealand aettlera. Wool is still by 'far the largest article of export m the Colony, and on the prioe obtained for it. to a great extent, depends the prosperity of th« people generally. Five or six months ago there seemed every sign of better times for woolgrowers. Shortly before the November sales m London, wool sales were held ip Melbourne and Antwerp, and m both placet buyers evidently believed that they were perfectly safe m bidding freely, and prices advanced perceptibly. The November sales also opened with good prospects, but «ince then things have been goin£ steadily backward. The belief was strong m the minds of business men on both sides of the world that the wont of the depression m wool was past/ nnd that for a time, at all events, sheep-far-mers wert to reap something for thvir labour. The event has hot justified the belief, and vow the look-out is almost as black as ever. It is true that m certain classes of crossbred wool there is no recent change, bur the report of merino wool is very unfavourable. Notwithstanding much crossing and the introduction and increase of longwooled sheep, merino largely outnumber any other breed, whether pure or crossed. Most of the large flockownera m the South keep to the breed to which they are accustomed, and a fall iv merino wool is a greater disaster than if it ware confined to any other sort. Merino sheep art not generally kept on farinu, but, as a rule, m large flocks on runs. Th« owner of such a flocks usually has his eggs all m one basket, and is mainly dependent on his wool for his income. The wethers are not suitable for sending Home frozen, and the prices to be obtained for them are miserable. In f aot all sheep, especially merinos, are to be had at prenent m many parts of New Zealand at exceedingly low prices. Altogether it is not surprising to bear of tenants of Crown lands m the South .abandoning their holdings, and unless things improve it may bo expected that there will be a serious loss of revenue as more and more Crown tenants find themselves unable to bold their runs at the present rents.