Purses in lambs' wool a worry

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 265, 29 November 1988, Page 13

Purses in lambs' wool a worry

An eloquent letter from a Japanese wool spinner to a New Zealand exporter highlights a problem with purses left in lambswool shipments, according to the Wool Board.

"The wool broke the needles of the card and the broken needles also went into the next card and broke other card needles," says the letter. "We found large hard skin pieces on the machine ... the most surprising matter is that the skins were nearly all in the same shape and size and also numerous ring rubbers. We think these are ears, balls and tails of sheep. Guesswork "While we do not wish to make a guesswork we estimate the repair charges would be

several hundred thousand yen ... could be high hundred thousands. "We are of opinion these kind of skins are not usually found in a shearing shed nor in greasy wool bales and these are the ones which specially have to be kept apart from shorn wool at a n y stage of wool handling. "We understand every person in charge of wool handling is aware of this and given precaution against contaminations. "This case is not to be treated as bad luck.

"We heard a story that an iron bar weighing about a kilo was found in a bale of wool. Unbelievable thing may happen?" "Shearers and rousies should be asked to throw purses out the portholes," said Wool Board Production Manager, Mr L.K. (Lance) Wiggins, commenting on the letter. The complaint was serious, involving 16 tonnes of wool. Lambswool was not picked over in the course of processing, so it was important to remove faults in the woolshed. "It is a small thing in the shed but can cause a lot of anxiety in the mill and lose us customers," said Mr Wiggins.