OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2817, 11 March 1908, Page 8

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

(Feom Our Special Correspondent.) BRADFORD, January 17. lixcold-mp:rino crossbred wool. If ye could bring back the manufacturers and wool users of 75 to 100 years ago, and show tli9m the great variety of wools which is now placed upon the markets of the world 1 , they would stand mesmerised at what they saw. I have an intimate relationship with one of the oldest buyers, •who has gone to London sales since Maieh, 1872, and he tells me that the number of qualities which now confront the trado is simply legion compared with what they saw in the early seventies and eighties. Why, in those days it was all merino wool, and the finer the better. Seldom did they see crossbreds ; in fact, the only crossbred wool that was then available consisted pre-eminently of Englishgrown fleeces. The great colonial eroisbred trade was then unborn, and not till the eighties were well passed did the famous New Zealand crossbred wools begin to appear. It would be a very interesting and historical fact if it were possible to ascertain who first of all coupled an English mutton eire with a merino c"we, and who laid the foundation of the big orossbred trade in wool. I remember well tne cheap wool days, when merinos were but the price of an old song, and when every bale of New Zealand crossbreds was snapped 1 up like penny cakes in a famine. That, of course, was due to the comparative scarceness of the article, coupled with the great fact that the textile trade had almost gone mad over the. novelty of producing very saleable fabrics of a somewhat different texture to the coarser wools of British growth. Ou.e can easily see that when for generations nothing but fine-faoed, soft fabrics such as merinos produce had been in vogue, such a drastic yet acceptable chang'3 was bound to inspire pastoraiists to produce crossbred' wool when such handsome prices wore forthcoming, which, coupled with the increased value of the carcase, has led to almost a universal adoption of tho mutton cross. Schwartzes, in their animal circular, estimate the production of crossbred wool for last year at 45 per cent., compared with 31.7 per cent, in 1895. In the years 1903 and 1904 they estimated the production at 51.8 per cent., no doubt the larger giowth of Australia during the past thre? years diminishing the proportion of crossbred and increasing the growth of merino. LEADING FEATURES. It is a huge mistake to think thai all crossbrcc! wools show or posses^ the same characteristics. Every cross has a special distinction of its own, and it is reasonable to assume, and experience confirms it, that one cross does better in one locality than another Ido not think the fact will be disputed that the English Lincoln and Leicester hrfve done most in bringing to the from. cro3sbred wools, and I am persuaded that (speaking from a wool standpoint) no other English breed of sheep can produce a more useful crossbred fleece when mated with a merino ewe. This, of course, gives us a gocd halfbred fleece, fine, nice length, sound, fairly Justrous, and much deeper than the merino staple. But it is succeeding crosses which perhaps concern more the average grower of crossbred wool, and it is not so much the pure haltbred fleeoe that is the bone or contention as the later crosses. Halfbred wool always oomes under the category of fine crossbred^ and will range from sQ's to 56's quality. This is very largely used in the production of worsted coatings, fine serges, knitting yarns, and anything where dead fineness js not required. English, Continental, and

American buyers all revel in taking fine halfbred wool, the United States wanting, of course, light condition. Coming to the next cross, or a quality low-er, here again either the Lincoln or Leicester, and lately with many breeders the Romuey Marsh, cross is a popular one. I am not now advocating either one or the other, but stating actual facts, leaving sheep-breeders everywhere the option to cros-s with either, according to the financial results accruing. But I will say this — namely, that either the Lincoln or Leicester cro&s produces a longer and more lustrous staple than does the Romney Marsh or any of the Down breeds. During the past two years complaints have been very numerous over the short stapled character of New Zealand crossbred wool. Every Bradford buyer has complained bitterly at the stumpy character of the staple, being mostly what are' known in the trade as of carding and not combing length. Let the reader bear in nnnd that in good 40*6 wool length and lustre are two essential characteristics, and in very many — perhaps the bulk — of the last New Zealand clips these have been wanting features. I may be wrong, but I rather incline to think that this is entirely duo to the discarding of the Lincoln and Leicester ram and its substitution with such a breed as the Romney Marsh, whose fleece comes under the description of demi-lustre wool, which is much shorter than either the Lincoln or Leicester. Let no reader suppose* lhat this its a fad of the writer, or that he has a grudge against such breeds as the Romney Marsh, the Downs, and the like, for such is not the- case. The Romney Marsh undoubtedly is a splendid cross in producing an excellent freezer, and may influence the sale of fat sheep with the freezing establishment, but from a fleece standpoint we get an altogether longer staple, more deep grown, and more combing property about it when a strongerwooilcd ram is used. There is nothing more valuable in crossbred wooi than plenty of length of staple — I mean in coarse orossbreds of 36's and 40's quality. In medium crossbreds ranging round 46's quality the Romney Marsh undoubtedly is a very valuable sire, but the complaints have been all along that flocks that have got a name for producing an excellent 3tyle of 40's combing wool have this last season or two been altogether finer -and more stumpy in character, the comparatively dull appearance of the staple indicatmer clearly the non-use of the Lincoln and the Leicester. When we turn to look at River Plate crossbreds, we see there a continuance of the free use of the Lincoln, this sheep dominating every other where crossbreds are kept. At the first sale in Liverpool'of "new clip" River Plate orossbred wools, held last December, I heard several buyers say that^ some of the clips were "as bright as silver," and the length was splendid. Unfortunately, very low prices prevailed compared with recent times, but then they were full market ones, the shorter-stapled , wools not doing as well as the better grown wools. Now, let no one suppose that I am here advocating the free growth of wool excessively coarse and low in quality. What is wanted i- a 4-o's, good length, and bright. Patagonia is now producing some firstclass lines of crossbred wools, and the characteristics here are somewhat different to either the wools of New Zoaland or the River Plate. They do exceedingly well for hosiery purposes, the staple being soft and somewhat short. As a rule they are rather wasty in condition, but serving a somewhat different purpose to long preparing wools like good 40's New Zealand or River Plate, and nobody looks for either length or lustre such as wo get elsewhere. A STEADY BUT QUIETER MARKET. During the past week things have tapered off considerably in Bradford, and it ie now practically a foregone conclusion that iittle will be doing between now and the opening of the wool sales irr Coleman street next Tuesday. In the aggregate a considerable business ha-s been done, all qualities very largely participating. It looks as if for the present things have gone as far as they are going in an upward direction, and unless the temper of other users is different to those in Bradford, I don't think values are going! to rise much further for the present. A lower bank rate will no doubt encourage and strengthen the market, but there is not the business doing that

was evident a few months back, and there f* a lack of that stimulating confidence which was eg pronounced a feature some months ago. Then the weight of wool in prospect is such that it will take the trade all its time to get rid of arrivals, and even with a lower bank rate it is certain that we shall see bankers more particular in regard to allowing overdrafts than this time a. year ago. The immediate future of wool prices is essentially one of finance more than anything else, and as far as one can see, the coming sales will not show a great deal of differenca when compared with last series. Good combing merinoß may go par to 5 per cent, up, while the majority are looking for orossbreds to come down to enable Bradford topmakers to work on a 13£ d basis for good 40's prepared. The missing link to-day in Bradford is that the Continent has m no tense reciprocated the recent move in Bradford, and reports are not of the best character. Yarn orders are not coming through at all well from Germany, and until there is a show of life abroad it is hardly to be expected that either spih.rers or manufacturers will go in heavily. It is now plain to be seen that the bulk of the recent business was put through at about the bottom rates, and somebody will require a fair weight o! cheap wool to make the tops at the prices they have been sola at. The market is very steady, and can be described as firm. There is nofr yet that confidence felt about the permanence of to-day's prices that one could desire, and nobody need be surprised to see jet a repetition of forced sales. It is satisfactory to know that consumption/ par., ticularry in merinos, continues large, and spinners are committed for some months to come. The orossbred end of the trads is nothing near co healthy as fine wools, and some would be glad of "particulars." There is no big weight being shipped abroad, though remittances are coming to hand somewhat better. Mohair is quiet, and unchanged.