The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 1878.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5323, 18 April 1878, Page 2

The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 1878.

The progress of the trade in wool, the staple product of Australia and New Zealand, is a subject of the utmost interest, and the rapid advances it has made of late years; and the high value which the wool of these colonies maintains in tlie leading markets of the world, are matters of very general congratulation, not only amongst the producers of this valuable, article of commerce, but also amongst the community generally, who indirectly participate in the benefits accruing from prosperity in the trade. We have been favored with the perusal of a pamphlet published in London in January |ast, and forwarded by the last mail to the Chairman of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce by Sir Julios Vogel, who is ever mindful of all that interests the colony which he so ably represents as Agent General at Home. This little work is entitled “ Statistics relating to Wool and Sheepskins,” arid is compiled by Messrs. J. L. Bowes & Brother, of London, and contains much valuable information with regard to those descriptions of produce. : The writers of the pamphlet referred to, who have evidently gone very practically and carefully into the subject of the progress and position of the wool trade, divide their subject into three distinct sections, designated Ist, the clothing; 2nd, the combing ; and 3rd, the carpet and blanket branches. In the first-named class are comprised all Merino wools, in the second, English, Mohair, and Alpaca,; and in the third, such coarser wools as are at present grown in the East Indies, Russia, Turkey, and some parts of Scotland. An enormous increase appears to have taken place within the past ten years in the production of clothing wool, whilst the growth of other descriptions has been comparatively stationary., A diagram and the figures which are appended thereto show that as regards the course of the market for,; clothing wools this branch of the wool trade has occupied an exceptionally favorable position during the whole of the past year, and that although prices are substantially lower than they were twelve months previously, the decline is more moderate than it would have been' had not the Home demand been increased by the fashion for clothing made from Australian wool; and this is especially the case as regards material for ladies’dresses. To some extent also the English trade has been assisted by the demand for army cloth. In former years it appears that the wools of Lima and Arequipa were used for this purpose, but lately Australian and New Zealand w-00l has superseded it. The demand for Buenos Ayres wool has also declined.The branch, of the trade which has suffered most appears to have been the manufacture of worsted goods at Bradford during the past five years, and the' depression in this direction seems to have been most marked in bright-haired wools. : The pamphlet before ns informs us that during the forty years which have elapsed since the manufacture of alpaca was commenced in England there has been no period of depression so prolonged and acute as that which has existed for the past two years. In July 1876 average Islay .fleece had fallen to per lb., a point lower than any which had, been touched 1 since 1870. Carpet and blanket wools, after experiencing a fall in the early part of last year,' remained steady at the low range then established,, the carpet trade in . particular suffering severely. , Messrs. Bowes - point out that the; chief supply of clothing wool in Europe is derived from Australia and New Zealand, the Cape of Good Hope, and the. River Plate ; and that the price of the wool received from those countries, , and of that grown in / the United States, I governs the -value of what is raised and consumed in Germany, Franco,-and Spain. . There appears to be every inducement to growers of l clothing wool to extend the production, fornotwithsitariding,' the hitherto great increase of it, the price has been well maintained, apd yearjbyyeaf tlje wool as grown haagono'into consumption. ’ The average price of unwashed; Austx-alian. wool from. 1855 to 18G2,was 12id per lb ; from 18C3 to, 18G9, ll jsd ; and from 1870 to : 187 G, 13M. r From a diagram showing, the production of wool

during the last 20 years, it js shown that in 1858' there were thirty fmillions of pounds of wool produced in Australasia, -whereas in-. 1877'■this amount?had risen to one' hundred and sixty 'million pounds. Truly a wonderful increase, and a fact worth a thousand arguments in proving the vast growth and importance of the trade. The ties, financial as well as domestic, which bind the colonies to the mother country,' it is-pointed out, naturally draw their produce to. London, which has , be-, come the chief depot fori the wool grown in Australia, New Zealand, and the Cape, and about one-half of the whole amount of clothing wool received is taken by French, Belgium, and German consumers. ; The progress made by Continental manufacturers in this direction has more than kept pace with the increase in produo- i tion, and France has outstripped both her neighbors in the development of this branch of industry. In 1855 France took about ten million pounds of wool; in 1876, eighty-nine, millions; whilst as regards Belgium and Germany the increase during the interval referred to was from nine and a-half to, thirty-six millions in the case of the former, and from six and a-half to twenty-live millions in the case of the latter. As regards sheepskins, the last season appears to have been a fairly satisfactory one to both importers and fellmongers, and the‘result of a careful reading of Messrs. Bowes’ pamphlet more than ever convinces of the vast importance to Australia and New Zealand of the growth and prosperity of the wool trade, which for many years to cmne must be a leading industry, whatever may be the coarse of events in the more distant future. ■ ■ ,: