The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY, JANUARY 21, 1910. THE WOOL MARKET.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2715, 21 January 1910, Page 4

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY, JANUARY 21, 1910. THE WOOL MARKET.

The best news that has come to hand for some time is that concerning the wool -sales' at present being field in London. The cablegraphist informs us that the sale opened briskly, with a keen demand for all classes of wools. The -price of crossbred, which chiefly concerns this district, lias risen from 74 to 10 per cent,, and good quality fleeces are realising up to a shilling per lb. The recent sales at Napier, Wellington, Auckland, and -Christchurch have all been marked by good ■clearances at satisfactory rates, but the news just referred to indicates that fop values have not yet been reached. How intimate is the relationship between London and colonial values is shown by the fact that prices at the Invercargill sale, which took place on Wednesday, were virtually oil a parity with those at London the same day. Woolbuyers as well as brokers at Invercargill bad information in advance a s to the (probabilities of values at the London opening, and they based their calculations accordingly. The most pleasing feature of the latest phase of the wool market, however, is not that high prices are realised, but that manufacturers aro said te be seeking supplies. In other words, the market appears to be hare, and values are. therefore, based on a legitimate demand. Wfiat a good price for iwool means to the country will be understood when -we mention that during

the present month more than a million

pounds sterling has been paid over by woolbrokers for the wool sold at the four New Zealand centres just referred to.

, For the nino .months ending December 31, 1909, the wool exports from the Dominion amounted to 86,622,830 lbs., valued at £3,002,636, as compared with 71,849,3481b5., valued at £2,299,941 for,the corresponding period of 1908. Here we see a gain of 10,773,488 lbs. in weight and £702,695 in value. Thus, both in quantity and in price there have been substantial gains. In the first quarter of 1909 the exports totalled 107,824,7261b5., or over 50 per cent, /more than the total for the previous nine months. This wool was valued at £3,237,920. Assuming the increase in the present quarter to be only five per cent., which should he well within the mark, the output for the three months January-Marcb, should approximate to 113,215,9621b5. The smaller shipment in the first quarter of 1909 was assessed at £3,237,920, hut with the larger shipment this quarter and the higher prices the 113,215,96211>5. should bring in about £4,371,192, so that the wool shipments for the year ending March 31, 1910, should .approximate to £7,393,800, a,s compared with £5,537,861 for the year ended March 31, 1909, an increase of £1,855,939. This will be a magnificent achievement. In discussing the figures the “Dominion” points out that it is to the farmers as a whole and the woolgrowers in particular that we owe the speedy recovery from the depression of 1909, and the prospects of a prosperous year in 1910. The increase estimated, of £1,855,939, is, .as our contemporary emphasises, very much better for the country than a loan obtained by the Government for, apart from the fact that it is our own money, legitimately earned, its distribution will do' more good than that of an equal sum of .borrowed money spent by the Government. "Wool premises to be a handsome asset for some time to come, and the sheep-farmer j R consequence is a person to be encouraged in every possible way. Any increase in the production of wool must directly benefit the whole country.