OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2682, 11 December 1909, Page 2

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

WOOL FOR TOP-MAKING

PURPOSES

(From Our Special Correspondent.) - BRADFORD. Oct. 29.

The paramount question in the wool trade is present every day, and effects both the grower and user. It is, of course, that of price, users always manifesting concern about the value of the raw material. ’ Wool growers never see altogether the side of the trade that effects the spinner and manufacturer, though weekly I try to bridge the gulf that separates the two parties. This question of value eclipses every other, for it determines the cost of the raw material and also the selling price of tops, yarns, and pieces. At the same time the imported topmaker and wool merchant stands the closest to the producer, and to the former the price of the raw material is the very pith and core of bis trade. Every'-spinner lias to cost bis yarns, in otheiv. words to know at what price lie can sell, and the same is done by manufacturers and iiiiported topmakers. who know before they start the "limit to, which they have to work. It truly i.s a science of no mean order to go into the market, value wool, and buy at a given price. I know for a positive fact that during the past fortnight many Bradford buyers* have been trying to pick up wool on a basis of 25d for super 60’s, and if they have been able to do better, they will naturally feel well pleased with their efforts. "Wool-growers and wool buyers while having many things in common, can never sec eye to eye upon this question of price, the former hoping to obtain an excellent figure for his clip, the latter wanting wool at as low a price as possible. Both parties occupy a natural position, and neither can be blamed. At the same time costing tops or any other semi or fully manufactured article is no light task, and the more one knows about the wool trade, and the more important does the subject become. Ideas vary considerably as to the character of wool required for topmaking; in other words there are tops and tops, like there is milk and milk. The standard of some firms varies considerably froEV others, anti this is seen in the price of super 60’s tops varying a penny per lb. There arc in Bradford quite a number of firms who produce several descriptions cjf merino tops, all making at least two qualities of 60’s, namely a short and long, and two of 64’s. It is really surprising wliat is made out of a bale of wool by. those’ who go in for a thorough system of sorting. / There are plenty of firms who sort a bale of wool, both merino - and crossbred, for all it is worth, delegating almost each handful into that respective basket for which it is most suited. If a man is sorting say for 64’s, and he comes across a fleece of good length but a shade down in quality, then he will put that wool into 'his long su,per 60’s, while his short 64’s wool will go into a short top. Every sorter will have instructions to make a cast 60’s, which is composed of wool hardly up to the standard of super 58’s. Then all the bits of stained will be thrown aside for producing a discolored 60’s. The secret of successful topmaking lies in a man making the most of his Wool, and if a.s constantly happens wool is sfljd to be dearer in London or Australia than tops are in Bradford, then a topmaker up to his job by sorting and blending will produce bis standard top at the price at which he has sold, that is, if it can possibly be done. The reader can see that, if a buyer estimates the value of the wool, the bulk of which is say 60’s, and he obtains out of the same hale a fair proportion of 64’s and 70’s, then he can produce the two latter qualities at a more reasonable price than if he was buying say a 64’s or 70’s. Probably if he buys the latter he will be able to sort out a proportion of 80’s, which will cheapen his 70’s, and the same principle, obtains in the production of both merinos and crossbreds. I repeat that by careful sorting topmakers get the most out of every bale, and tops are more uniform in lengthy color, and quality’—features which spinners like. Although many firms of note make, standard tops, yet they- are not always attlie, never can be, and never will, simply because no man can. buy the self-same wool every time. Firms making standard tops have to try their best to pick up wool as near to their ideal as possible, and some seasons a firm will produce a better style of 60’s, 64’s, and 70’s simply because 'they arc fortunate in getting hold of a better type of wool. This brings up the question of what topmakers usually buy for combing purposes.

CHARACTER OF WOOL USED. The standard of users varies just the same as two faces. Some topmakers have a very low conception of what wool is required for producing both a 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, and. 70’s top. One firm must have, tip-top combing wool, while another is content to buy broken, pieces , and bellies. It is that fact which produces the different standards of tops. There may be the same quality, but the two articles will vary considerably. For instance, there are plenty of firms that will use a portion of good combing, but will also use a larger percentage of pieces and very secondary wools, besides blending the same with a fair proportion of skin. That is the way Bradford topmakers can produce a reasonable article, and explains the surprise which is often

. expressed .by outsiders, when they., know that -wbdl'lsi cfistmg a fair ;big figure and tops .are Id to 2d below what might have been expected. I am positive that wool is often used for coinbing purposes which would cause those with only a superficial knowledge of the trade to express surprise if they saw the same being blended with other sorts for producing crossbred and. merino tops, as the case may be. Thousands of bales of short, six months’ grown Cape wools are used every year for combing, but, of course, the top is an exceedingly short one. Still, it can be used in conjunction with others by being “run up” in the drawing process, every spinner in the production of a worsted yarn blending from three to six different tops of the same quality. By so' doing he is able to obtain a more satisfactory result than if the yarn was spun from one top, unless lie knew that that top had been produced out of straight greasy Australian combing wool, and not a blend of half-a-dozen different classes. If a man wants a good top and a corresponding good yarn, he must have good wool"in the first instance, and it is exactly here that the growers’ interests tell the most. If a clip is well grown and straight, then good results can be expected. The writer has been connected with the ti'ade all his life, and after all it is quality;', length, soundness, ‘and character which determine the price. ' We are not likely this next twelve months to hear a great deal about leanness of tops when Australia’s new clip is so favorably spoken of, but all the same, the good wool is certain to he niade the scapegoat as it were for “lifting” and “pulling through” a lot more of inferior material. Plenty of people question very seriously the .wisdom of topmakers sacrificing almost everything to price. Where a firm is known for producing a really excellent type of top, that firm can always command a corresponding better price than the firm who strives at cheapness instead of length and quality. COURSE OF PRICES. Taking things as a whole there is perhaps less disposition to take lower prices than were current a week ago, and although the market is quiet, still ‘bears” are a trifle less in evidence. Importing topmakers are offering at 2s Id and 2s 2d for super 60’s and G4’s tops respectively, delivery in the new year.