THE Wairarapa Mercury. MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1867. THE WOOL MARKET.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume I, Issue 48, 2 December 1867, Page 2

THE Wairarapa Mercury. MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1867. THE WOOL MARKET.

,T Q ; W-ST.V'E D I T I 0 N.

is wool is tlie most considerable, as well as the most valuable,-product of this district, a rise or fall in its price raises or depresses; as the case inay he/tße hopes and expectatibns'ofthe numerous settlers in this important valley.. Just now th® -most gloomy Views have taken possession of our Wellington mercantile cpmpmnity; because of a considerable lall ihi the price of wool in the; London markets. A fall per lb. dunng the and a fall of a similar amount placo in the last—the August sales..: The total decline may therefore be taken at dd per lb. which spread ,oyer all New Zealand' entails a: probable loss, of almost £400,000 to wool growers, l as compared with the rates obtained in 1866. ’ This is a serious loss-to the colony. -How much better would it have been,if that j&WO,000 had been added to the*working capital of the country ? We admit the loss—but need we despond over it; or are not our wool-buyers making a little more out of it by- assuming am excessive desponding tone than the circumstances of the case warrant? We think they are; and will briefly state oUr reasons for doing so. “Prices current of colonial wool,’’delated London, September 21st, 1867; which has been specially forwarded to us, and states thatrduring the August and" September sales there were offered as follows : 87,066 Bales New Zealand, 36,942 “ Port Phillip, 32,954 “ Sydney and Queensland, 6,755 “ Van Diemen’s Land, 6,896 “ Adelaide. 474 “ Swan River, 22,944 « Cape Good Hope, Total 143,031 “ Colonial

It is gratifying to see New Zealand the greatest contributor on the list, and wo have: placed her at the head of it. Twentynine years ago, we may safely say, there were not 60 sheep in all New Zealand. There was a time, almost' 16 years ago, when the Wairau and the - Wairarapa were the two greatest sheep districts in New Zealand,* yet, we doubt, whether at that time they would have counted 90,000 sheepin the two places. Now the East and West Coasts of the Province of Wellington alone, have each over a quarter of a million of sheep, and Canterbury and Otago can show far greater numbers.

• But as regards what we have adduced respecting the depressing tone used by wool-buyers, we simply putin comparison with it, the prices (in the circular we have before us) which were obtained for New Zealand wools at the last London sales. i

i Scoured fine wools from Is lldto2s 3d Fine clear fleeces “ Is Bdto2sod Superior ............ “ 1 8 2d to Is 5d Unwashed ......... “ Os 9d to Is 2d Strike an average and deduct 3d per lb. freight, insurance,■ commissions, &c., we have the probable average nett value of each, description.of wool above-named; but wool-buyers quotations at present, we fear, are much below, these prices, and while they state, individual losses, they emit, or are not able, .to give the general gains on last year’s purchases > of wool. Merchants cannot be expected to buy—to lose.' Nor can wool-growers be made to believe that 'wool is worth much less than -the prices above quoted. One thing, we think, wool-growers are to hlame for, and which has been one cause of the low prices obtained for some of their parcels of wool, (i.e.) their carelessness in sorting and packing. So apparent and marked has this been, as to necessitate the Messrs Hughes to insert in their circular, from which we quote the following parsgraph:— ~ :

New Zealand, light-conditioned long-stapled flocks show a reduction of about IJd. per lb., shorter and wasty descriptions "rather more. We must call the attention of our Wellington friends to the very uneven manner in which their wool is generally packed; both half-breds and merinos being indiscriminately mixed. This not only materially injures the., sale, but renders it extremely difficult for buyers to form a correct estimate of value.

We hope it is hot too late for our Wairarapa sheep farmer’s to take advantage this season of this good advice, and we venture to think that wool-buyers may see it to. their interest to advance upon present rates ;■ producing 1 as they do, or ought to do, that the recent fall ol 3d. per lb. to a certain extent opens the American market, which last year was virtually closed to them by the duty of 6 cents or 3d. perdb. imposed by the United States on foreign wools.