OUR BRADFORD LETTER.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2177, 29 April 1908, Page 4

OUR BRADFORD LETTER.

GRADES OF WOOL. HOW QUALITY IS CALCULATED. (From our Correspondent;) BRADFORD, March 13, I'JOS. Havo readers a clear idea of what is meant ivhon one speaks of ISO’s and ■lo's in wool? 1 sometimes think that wool men employ technical trado tonus in the most glib fashion without thinking about the general reader being able to follow and understand what is tho real significant meaning, and by way of a change from tho ordinary routine of matters usually discussed at considerable length, I will, with the editor’s permission, try _to turn this article Into <an educative one, and say something of practical moment to ono and all. PURPOSES TO WHICH WOOLS ARE PUT.

In ail article of this nature it is impossible for mo to dcscriibo tho various features and construction of tho spinning frame, or to enter Into tho mechanism of tho varied machinery employed in manipulating' wool by converting it from the greasy, messedup appearance to the nice finished fabric ‘ns seen in the manufactured article. When a buyer goes to tlio London sal?s with tho object of purchasing wool ho first of all asks the question, “Wliat class of wool do I require, and what purposo shall it bo put to when it outers my mill at home? If I want wool for the manufacture of worsted coatings of a nico quality, or raw material for tho production of ladies’ dress goods known as ‘cashmeres,’ then I should pass by every bale of .wool that is grown in New Zealand or tho,River Plate, and confine myself to merinos capablo of spinning no lees than 35,810 yards to evory pound weight ot clean material.” This may seem a big length t 0 spin out of every pound weight of material, but it can he accomplished with tho greatest easo if the fibre is fine enough and the circumference equally small. Readers may not know, but the principle of spinning is such that a man can spin down a ,wool to a thicker count of yarn when it is impossible to spin up .a wool or produce a smaller yarn than what the wool will spin to. It is this fact that has brought about wool to be known, as 60’s quality, 50 s quality, 40’s. 32’s, and even 28’s, as the case may bo, and a practical man used to and conversant in handling wool can tell in a moment how far it will spiii, or, to he precise, what quality it is. THE TWO PRINCIPAL GRADES OF WOOL. '

Tho wool trade of to-day centres around two decided and distinct heads, separating itself into two departments, ancl known as merinos and crossbreds. The ancestors of tho writer have, not many years ago, pointed to the day when they sat in their own home, as the custom then was, and with tho use of a hand-comb used to comb out the fibres of the staple; and hand combing in {Bradford was the' industry from which the present massive trade has sprung. In those days, when combing was done by the hand and spinning done on tho “jenny,” turned and worked by the hand, crossbred wools were only used on .account of the length, and the longer the staple the better and more valuable was the .wool. It was this fact that made the English Lincoln breed of sheep so valuable, and when other shorter stapled Down wools were on the market Lincolns arid Lesters “howled” everything else out. At that time Australian, merinos and crossbreds were a thing unknown, the first merino wools arriving in England coming from. Spain. At that time the question of fineness was not such an important characteristic as was length of staple, and it is only within the last thirty or forty years since machinery has become perfected and able to manipulate fine wools that these have assumed such an important position as they have done. Sixty or seventy years ago the question asked was, how long is the wool ? and not, how fine is it? To-day it is just reversed, and quality or fineness ranks as first consideration in wool buying. If the .past history of the wool trade of Bradford could speak, its voice would tell of marvellous changes that lmvo been effected, results accomplished which at one time were thought absolutely impossible, and which to-day figure in the world of wool manufacture as marvels of the past. Men today aro not very greatly troubled about the length of the staple in merinos, even thousands of bales every year now being combed pi six months’ grown wool, the majority of Cape mormo'sheep men shearing twice a year, and .all that top-makers do is to provide a few more bales that are longer in staple to act as “throughs” and then the lot goes through the combing machine, and what is known as ‘a “weft” tori is .produced. At the same time a good “warp” wool, say 2.) to 3in long, is greatly .preferred- by all users for top-making purposes.

METHODS OF CALCULATING QUALITY. What will it spin ? is the question which every wool buyer asks as he sallies fortlh on his errand of wool buying. Merino wools are designated as such if they will spin, out to 60 hanks, each measuring 560 yards, before weighing one pound —or, in other words, ono pound of merino wool of 60’s quality will spin out to 33,600 yards before weighing one .pound. Let it niever be forgotten that no merino wool is spoken of as such unless it will spin out to this length, 60’s quality being the lowest recognised standard in'the trade, while anything above 60’s —say 64’s, 70’s, 80’s, and upwards —.all come under tho name of merinos. In judging merino wool tho broad general principle to work upon in ascertaining the count is to know how far it will spin, and according to .this depends everything as to what quality, and position it fills. •It may seem strange to the general mind, .but certain wellknown superfine Australian merinos grow a quality of wool that is spoken of and known as 80’s—this meaning that a pound of clean wool from these flocks will spin out to 80 hanks of 500 yards each before it will weigh one pound, or really a production of 44,800 yards to every pound in weight, ouch a statement is an actual fact, and can bo proved by any mail obtaining a pound of this class of single yarn,, when lie will find by tying one end to a stick and walking along that before the end comes of the last 80' hanks ho will h av© covered oyer 25 miles. There is.no doubt that -the ccienc? 6J‘- sheep-breeding. and ttool-growiug has -now • reached a high pitch <ol' perfection, and the merino wools of Australasia can claim the premier position of similar wools grown in any other country hi the known world. The Australian climate especially seems to J'avor the merino, while New Zealand is undoubtedly the home mf the crossbred. ‘ TYPE AND QUALITY OF CROSSBREDS.

In speaking of crossbreds, this is the general term used in tile wool trail© of Yorkshire to denote all wools that range below 58’s quality, .anil anything between 58’s and 60’s is spoken of as a “bare 60’s” or as “low CO’s,”. according to the individual expression of the person speaking; but when a wool will spin no more than 58’s count- it comes under the category of crossbreds. Somo readers may say that this is rather a vague term, and so it is; so in *.-r----der to simplify matters the trade cuts up-this broad expression, and- speaks of crossbreds as fine, medium, and coarse crossbred wools. The wisdom of this is seen in the fact of there being such an extensive scale to work tlpoii”, anything from the coarse wool of the Scotch black faced sheep up to the first cross of a merino ewo and a Lincoln ram all coming under the term of crossbred wools. In order, therefore, to make matters more plain and distinct," the trade speaks of fine crossbreds when it refers to wools of from 50's to -56’s quality, medium crossbreds signifying 44’s to 50’s, and coarse crossbreds from 32’s to 44’s.