NEW ZEALAND WOOL.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8551, 9 October 1907, Page 5

NEW ZEALAND WOOL.

WHAT MANUFACTURERS AND TOPMAKERS COMPLAIN OF. (Specially Written for the Wairarapa Age.) It has been remarked from time to time by the Chambers of Commerce both in England and the Dominion, and. also, in the public Press, that there are large and increasing quantities of vegetable substances, such as jute, straw, and string, mixed up with the wool imported from both colonial and foreign sources. This state of affairs appears to be largely due to sheep being shorn, and wool wound and handled in places where fragments of" grass, straw aid chaff are littered about, and in other respects werelargely to the twine, hemp, and jute material used in packing the wco). for shipment and sale. It is stated that for some years past the wool. packs used are manufactured of very/ inferior material, and also that they are much more loosely woven and spun, and, therefore, become much more easily frayed, and to bear out this statement complaints have beenmade to local importers as to theinferior quality of the packs supplied 5 to clients. This may oe a difficult: matter to overcome, but there can beno excuse for straw, grass, chaff andends of twine being mixed with the wool, as this can be avoided by care* and cleanliness i - the shearing sheds.. These sheds are so "often used as receptacles for storing hay, chaff and: other substances, that they require a thorough sweeping, and washing out. before the work of shearing begins. In the handling of wool for cartage,, warehousing and shipping, thebales become more or torn, about and damaged, and fragments of hemp and twine become detached and intimately mixed with wool. A visit to some of the warehouses Jn the colonies where wool issold will demonstrate how the bales are cut and hacked about, so that buyers may have an opportunity to sample the contents. Perhaps a great deal of this is brought about through the practice that some farmers have of dishonest and false packing, for if the wool was classed even • ly, and honestly got up, there should be no necessity to do more than open two sides of the top of the bale. Owing to the colour of these fragments being practically Hhe same as the wool they are hard to detect and remove, and should they not be observed and eliminated when the woo is sorted'they not only become white, but during the after stages of scouring and top making become intimately, distributed amongst the wool. It is all but impossible t. detect their presence in the yarn They then become incorporated as part and parcel of the woven material, and only become visible when the piece is dyed and finished. It may not be generally known that vegetable matter and fibre abso lutely refuses to take the dye used for wool, but this is a fact, and consequently when the pieces are dyed the particles stand out in strong relief on black and coloured goods, as white specks or lines, to the serious depreciation of the article, and perhaps to its being discarded by the firm that ordered it. Several remedies may be suggested, some of these being very simple of achievement. All Wool sheds and other places where wool is shorn and handled should be thoroughly cleansed of all vegetable substances. Every care should be exercised to pick out grass, straw, sticks and other foreign substances before the wool is wound on the wool table, that all loose and short ends of twine cut off when the bales are being sown in the press, should be carofully picked up and stowed away in a bag or other receptacle; this practically covers what should be done in th? shearing plied. In the warehouse the bales when being sampled for sale should be opened close to the seams, and not cut. about indiscriminately, in order to minimise the risk from fraying and loose ends. It has been, advocated that the bales should be lined with paper so as to prevent the detached particles of bagging getting into the wool; it has also, been suggested that the inside of the bales should be singed to remove these particles of hemp. An idea that seems to find a good deal' of favour is that the wool packs and twine used should be dyed black so that any particles would be easily visible during the process of sorting. Many farmers use the ordina-y coarse binder twine for sewing purposes, this is a mistake, as only that of a smooth texture should be used. If sheepfarmers would unite and bring pressure to bear on the manufacturers of wool packs no doubt a bstter article would be produced and muehJoss to a great industry obviated. The question is certainly one that should claim the energy and serious attention of the Farmers' Union.