OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2679, 8 December 1909, Page 2

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

TIMELY TOPICS

(From Our Special Correspondent.) BRADFORD, Oct, 22, 1909. There is nothing very pronounced to be said in connection with wool at this writing, there being no burning question agitating the mind of the trade. All eye s are turned in the direction of Australia, and cable news this week- has been practically a blank. I have often thought that a daily cable ought to be sent by Reuter or some commercial press agency when important sales are being held two or three days in succession in Melbourne or Sydney, but such is not the case. After every Adelaide sale Messrs Elder, Smith and Co, Ltd., send the best cable that ever comes from Australia, and the gratitude of the whole trade is of no mean order, all alike, approving of that course of conduct. There are times and seasons when a cable would be of little good, but at the beginning: of a season when the trade hardlv° knows which way to turn for the best-, a report from the Commonwealth would be a valuable? factor. However, not a great deal can be said of the standing of the raw material. There is no change of importance, the whole fabric holding intact just the same- as was the case a week ago. It anything there is a somewhat better tone, a little more business has- been astir, and there is a shade better feeling. THE FASHIONABLENESS OF MERINOS. Fine wool, or the product of the merino sheep, occupied to-day a front rank position in the eyc.s of the manufacturer, and whereas from 1902 to 1905 crossbreds occupied the box seat, merinos to-day have the reins in hand and are driving strong. That is entirely because fine, soft faced goods are fashionable, and will be if prices remain at ail reasonable. There i.s today no factor except extravagant rates that can dethrone merinos, and that is the only fear which users have. I was talking the other day to one of" our best and most reliable wool brokers here in the City who said lie had been talking to one of the biggest Huddersfield worsted manufacturers, and it was his firm conviction that wholesale fabric buyers would, not follow for lon o, very high wool prices. He put it like this: They were just about beer inning to show new clothes for the winter season of 1910-1911, and they had been forced to raise their flriotations to a parity of 2s 4d for a 64 s top. Said lie, emphatically: Up to the present we have sold everything on a basis of 2s Id, and when it comes to a question of figuring the cost on heavy weight fabrics tor winter, it means something.” The reader can well see that- when very fine heavy worsteds sell wholesale at 7s to 8s per yard, the -garments are going to cost a good amount tyffore they reach the wearer’s back, and it is when the woollen merchant asks for the “next best” that it is time to look out. There is reason in all things, and I have been long enough in the trade to know that exorbitantly high prices never last for long, and if worsteds get very dear then woollens are soon taken under the wing of the merchant, wholesale clothier, and retail house, and are pushed for all they are worth undei the excuse of being “quite as good, and much cheaper.” I don’t say that- the industry is to-day suffering much on that account, -but the fact is very KI S" nificant that Scotcli "tweed makers over the border are busier than they have been for years, and the outlook with them is distinctly bright. THE MUTTON TRADE. English sheep farmers this year have felt very keenly indeed the serious fall in the price of—sheep and lambs. I read the other day an advertisement in a Scotch, paper that Glasgow butchers were prepared to send “carriage paid” good Scotch fresh killed mutton at the rate of 44d per lb. if a customer would take half a sheep. Several of my friends have liad to take from 10s to 15s less per head for their half bred fat lambs than they actually made two years ago, and the price of sheep has come down at least a sovereign per head. This i s very serious, and as'far as one can make out the outlook is. by no means entertaining. An unfavorable aspect of the present depression is that retail butchers report a falling off in the enquiry for mutton from their customers. How has it come about that mutton seems to be less appreciated than formerly ?. is a question that cannot he answered in an off-hand way. It is well enough known to all stock raisers in this country how The frozen mutton and _ lamb industry* has grown, and how it is that British mar-

lcets have’to hear tli e brunt of tlie com. petition with this product. 'There is practically no market on the Continent for mutton, but colonial; exporters will doubtless now turn their attention to the possibility of securing new markets in Southern Europe, either in-France or Italy, in order”to save themselves from a repetition of the unprecedented slump in prices which lias characterised this season’s trading. , To begin with, the “forward” buyers have lost heayily. However, favorable the wool position may bey the price secured for the mutton or lamb carcase is as important to the colonial producer* for one thing land values have greatly increased just because of the long-continued run of satisfactory prices, and it would have required a continuance of these prices to enable Hie colonial producer to face liis liabilities. A moderate estimate of the deprecation in value on this year’s trading alone would he to place it at £1,800.00 on the quantities imported from Jan. Ist down to the end of August. This is on the basis that prices have fallen on an average about 10s per cwt., but as there lias recently been a further fall in price with small prospect of a recovery for some time to come, the loss on tlie supply imported before the end of tlii s year will certainly exceed £2,500,000 when compared with prices current for some years past. A good deal of the blame for low prices seems to be due to the unpopularity of mutton as an article of food. The price of beef all through this year has been tinitsually high, and the "public taste has not been in. favor of mutton to the same extent as formerly. A few English journals are trying to eon-, sole their farmer friends that “frozen mutton is riot alwriys particularly satisfactory as a flesh "food,” but sevententlis of the butchers’ shops in London retail both Colonial and River Plate frozen mutton, and if the carcases are well thawed it is hard to tell the difference between them and fresh killed.

I think the glut lias been very largely responsible for the great slump in prices. With Australia now carrying such large sheep stocks* coupled with more sheen in New Zealand, the amount of* frozen mutton has shown a colossal increase. Nothing has struck the writer more than the large number of shops in manufacturing districts, in the West Riding that .sell frozen mutton and chilled beef, every important company in London having branches in all the big villages and towns throughout Lancashire and Yorkshire. lam unable to say/what is the extent of tlieir business, hut full shops on Thursdays and Fridays seem to bo empty on Mondays, and it appears to a casual onlooker that a good trade is being done. The demand has fallen off in tlie aggregate, while at the same time there have been large increases both from South America, Australia, and New Zealand. ANXIOUSLY AWAITING DEVELOPMENTS. Tlie market has not travelled very far when compared with a week ago, everything more or less marking time. The predominant feature continues to be a strong desire on the part of everyone to acquire cheaper wool, and all alike are anxiously waiting to see things lower. Business for the time being continues to be very slow, and it is mostly confined to future months. Importing topmakers are not risking a very great deal, although they are selling forward if they get the chance, but their quotations are not low enough for the majority of spinners. Plenty will buy and buy heavily when they feel that the time is opportune, and although prices have come down 14d from the highest point, yet everybody almost is expectiug to get in at less before they are actually compelled to again come into the market. The feeling and sentiment is hardly so bearish as last week, and some are of tlie opinion that users will have to again come into the market and buy at no distant date. Merinos continue to he well held, although it is possible to buy even’ for spot delivery at a good penny under wliat could he done a fortnight ago. The high prices quoted at the last London sales were never realised, and the trade is more sceptical than ever about last sales’ prices being maintained when wool becomes more plentiful. What this whole district wants is an adequate supply of fine wools at a cheaper rate, and given reasonable prices a big trade will be done. Spinners are all taking in deliveries at a rapid rate, and consumption is well maintained. The supply of fine tops is comparatively light, though it is surprising when markets turn somewhat slack how lots of wool and tops come out and are offered. / Crossbreds are steady and firm, particularly 46’s and upwards, but there is less doing in strong sorts, and 40 s still stick. There continues to be a healthy demand for 50’s, and supplies here are exceedingly light- America is buying freely of wools suitable for its requirements, and some nice weights are being shifted both of English and Colonial fleeces. Noils are again, quieter, and prices somewhat sag. There is also no great amount of activity an mohair, though there continues to be some fair transactions at the sources of supply. Taking things as a whole machinery is being well run, and tiacle continues good. "

NEW ZEALAND LAMB. THE DEMANDS OF THE CONSUMING PUBLIC. “The cry in London for a long time bast has been for small carcases, so states the “Otago Witness” of 16th June, 1909; and this assertion is fully borne out by every man possessed of any practical knowledge of the situation as it exists to-day. ■ Heavy carcases are' not wanted, witu the result that there is an enormous glut of this class on the London market at the present time, for which very low prices must be accepted to effect a clearance/ Yet the production of the proper class—i.o.. Prime Light-Weignt carcases —involves only sound ment and good management. The skilful manager will mate his ewes with rams, of the most rapid maturing breeds; provide for the lambing ewes clean and abundant pasture, and

■lfor; the' lambs, >'on being"weaned, .an -abundance of the best fattening feedj such -as Tape* etc., to 1 : toia” them off;, and, above-.all things, he IwilLlie/careful that his exortions in other points of management arc not brought to nought by 'allowing Iris lambs to beWorried by vermin. For cleansing sheep and lambs - intended for short keep from ticks, lice, and other parasites, Quihell’s Liquid Dip lias no equal, as hundreds of the most practical sheep-owners in New Zealand and Australia to-day who have tested it for this purpose .against the best-known poisonous and non-poisonous brands of sheep dips can fully testify.; , Y ; .■