H—29

As in most cases little or no premiums were paid for well-classed and for skirted clips as against badly prepared clips, farmers tended in quite a number of cases to go back to the old slipshod " all-in " methods. Devaluation of sterling has brought a wider range of buyers into the market and the consequent rise in the prices of practically every type of wool has led to some carelessness in preparation of wool-clips generally. Auckland : Favourable seasonal conditions resulted in a good to average selection of wools at the first sale. The wool was of quite a good colour and fairly light in condition with very little seed, and the oddments were also of good colour and free from seed or discoloration. For following sales, however, faults started to creep in, in particular, seed and cotts, &c., and as in previous years growers for the most part paid little attention to the " get-up " of their clips. Napier : The Hawke's Bay Province enjoyed a mild winter, but though the wool for the first sale was well grown and of a good colour, it was not comparable with the high standard of the corresponding sale last season either for condition or style. The get-up of the clips in this district is always of a high standard and this year has been no exception. The main faults to be found were the early appearance of sheep's burr and the later appearance of bidi-bidi, which is very prevalent in the district. Hogget wools" were for the most part extremely attractive and other fleece lines were well grown but slightly heavier in condition than usual. Wanganui: Good autumn rains and a mild winter were responsible for a better growth of wool this year. Unfortunately, however, far too many growers spoil their clips by a somewhat haphazard system of preparation. Encouraged, no doubt, by the really excellent prices and the fact that in most cases no premiums were paid for good preparation, growers are slipping back to the old " all-in " methods. Early-shorn wools were much in evidence in the early part of the season, and these wools are short in staple and unattractive. Hogget wools were disappointing, being mixed in quality and irregular in length. In later sales seedy wools became far more prevalent. Wellington : A mild winter and good spring weather to follow resulted in excellent showings of wool at all sales. Early shearing, which seems to be on the increase, resulted in a quantity of the offering for the first sale being short in staple. The good impression gained at the first sale has been maintained throughout and prices in consequence have been exceptionally good. Faults were not conspicuous, except for touches of seed in the latter part of the season. Woolly hoggets were exceedingly well grown and sound. Christchurch : Following on a dry winter the proportion of showy clips was less than usual at the first sale. There was, however, a good selection of all types in good average to super style wools. The fine wools were well grown and more robust than usual, though some Merino clips were irregular in quality. A few Marlborough Merino clips were outstanding. * The crossbred clips were for the most part unattractive and a few west coast clips, although light conditioned, were discoloured. Later offerings were much the same, but touched with seed, burr, and other vegetable faults. Timaru : Owing to a dry autumn and spring, the wool-clip taken over-all did not open up as well as last year, a considerable portion being a little off colour and showing tenderness. Early-shorn wools were present at the first sale, these being short stapled but sound. Faults seemed to consist mainly of tender wools and yolk stains, but there was relatively little vegetable matter present.

106