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Colonial Exports of Raw Wool.

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of 1883-85, than has been obtained by his foreign and colonial competitors. In any comparison of this nature depreciation in price entirely depends on the years selected as a basis; but I believe the years 1883-85 to be fairly normal in their character and sufficiently recent to make comparison justifiable. Taking then one year with another, half-bred, Lincoln, and Leicester may be said to have kept up to the average and fetched better proportionate prices than cross-breds, while Southdown and Highland have done as well or better than merino.

But though the price of this commodity may not present so depressing an aspect when looked at over a long period as it often does in particular years, recent times, and particularly 1901, have seen wool of all kinds at what is probably the lowest level ever known, and this fact perhaps necessitates a passing reference to the question of supply. In view of the great decrease in the sheep stock of Australia, it might be supposed that the quantity of wool available in the world has diminished, but it would seem that the balance has been made up by the increased output of Argentina.

The exports of raw wool from Australia increased from 366,000,000 lb. in 1887 to 541,000,000 lb. in 1892; from that date they steadily decreased and only amounted to 335,000,000 lb. in 1900, but the quantity was larger in 1901. New Zealand, which only sold 89,000,000 lb. in the earlier year, now disposes of 147,000,000 lb., while in the case of Argentina the export has risen from 240,000,000 lb. to 521,000,000 lb. in 1899, and 502,000,000 lb. in 1901. Including Cape Colony and Natal, the total available from the resources of these countries alone increased fairly steadily from 772,000,000 lb. in 1887 to 1,189,000,000 lb. in 1898, but in 1900 it only amounted to 729,000,000 lb. The figures for 1901, however, showed a recovery, and the quantity is estimated at 1,150,000,000 lb. The diminution in the export in 1900 does not seem due to any failure in the supply, but to an absence of demand, which was indeed so pronounced that one series of London wool sales was entirely abandoned, while in those which were held very large quantities were withdrawn or remained unsold. Large shipments late in 1899 also affected the output from Argentina in 1900.

So far, however, as this country is concerned there is no reason to suppose that there has been any decline in the demand for raw material which could have been a factor in the fall in prices. The evidence of the Customs' figures of our imports and exports show that the quantity of imported wool retained for home consumption increased from 236,000,000 lb. in 1883-5 to 385,000,000 lb. in 1898-1900, while in 1901 the amount was 398,000,000 lb. The production of the United

Kingdom has for many years been estimated annually by the Yorkshire Daily Observer; and, taking these figures, it appears that the home supply, which does not vary very much, was 138,000,000 lb. in 1901. From this total, deduction must be made for the export of wool produced at home, and it then appears that the net quantity of raw wool retained in this country for manufacturing purposes has steadily risen from 348,000,000 lb. in 1883-85 to 505,000,000 lb. in 1898-1900, and 516,000,000 lb. in 1901, an increase not merely large in itself, but large relatively to the population. In the earlier year the supply proportionately to the people was only 93 lb. per head, whereas in 1901 it was 123 lb. The supply and demand in this country constitute, however, only one factor in fixing the price of wool, which is arrived at by competition in the markets of the world.

In this connection it is important to recollect that the American tariff imposed in 1897, lessened the consumptive demand in subsequent years, for the imports of that country, which in 1895-97 were 263,000,000 lb., only averaged 122,000,000 lb. in the three following years. As practically the whole of the exports previously referred to are sent to Europe and North America, the quantity thrown on the European market, after deducting the United States imports, was, in spite of the small receipts in 1900, 899,000,000 lb. in 1898-1900, as compared with 874,000,000 lb. in 1895-97; and it is, I would suggest, the increase in the quantity available, accompanied by a decrease in the demand from the United States, which has been the primary cause of the fall in the value of this commodity.

The limitation in the output of 1900, together with the continued restriction of the supply consequent on the persistent drought in Australia, in conjunction with a growing population, must however produce its natural effect. In the present year it appears to have resulted in improved prices for merino wools, while signs are not wanting that this will be accompanied by better values for cross-bred and other wools. It must be remembered, however, that in a comparatively short period of not quite twenty years the position of the British farmer in regard to wool has entirely changed. Twenty years ago the imported wool was chiefly of the merino character, and could hardly be described as a competitor with the long wools, the half-bred and the Down wools produced from British sheep. At the present time this comparative monopoly has been quite lost. Cross-bred wool, suitable for almost every purpose for which British wool can be employed, comes to us from Australasia and South America, and is placed in large quantities and in good condition on the markets of London, Bradford,

Effect of American Tariff of 1897.

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Liverpool, Glasgow, and elsewhere, and, although the recent contraction of the flocks of Australia may limit for a time the world's total production, the demand for mutton, which is now the controlling factor, is likely to increase rather than diminish the production of cross-bred wool in the principal pastoral countries of the world. R. J. THOMPSON.

3 St. James's Square, S.W.

THE PRODUCTION OF BRITISH WOOL. TIME was when wool was a staple British product and an important source of national wealth. Only a century ago its exportation was illegal; and in 1787 the Lord Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer imposed a penalty of 7321., at 3s. per lb., "for exporting wool out of this kingdom." Such a record is curiously quaint at the present day when the annual export of all kinds of wool is something like 27,000,000 lb. in weight and the price only about one-fifth of the rate of the penalty imposed not much more than 100 years ago.

Although long accustomed to the economic changes effected by the vast production of fine wool on the Australasian, African, and American continents, the great drop in the prices of the coarser varieties of British wool that has occurred during the last five or six years is a disquieting feature, which the British farmer cannot view with equanimity. The causes of this depression and the means of combating it are therefore matters of considerable interest to the practical agriculturist. The extent of the depreciation in price may be gathered from the following statement of the annual average prices of British wool during the five years, 1897-1901 :

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Before touching upon the question of cause and remedy, I would direct attention to the present position of affairs connected with the production of wool.

English wool may be said to be divided into two sections, the long and coarser wools for the production of fabrics for bright goods and similar materials, and the finer wools from the Down breeds for the manufacture of hosiery and other clothing to supplement in some cases the use of merino. According to statistics given in the wool sheets of the Yorkshire Daily Observer, it is estimated that the total amount of home-grown wool left for consumption after a large exportation had taken place amounted in 1901 to 118,251,539 lb. In comparison with this, the total imports of foreign and colonial wool, alpaca, and goat's hair, left for home consumption after a very large amount had been re-exported, amounted at the end of 1901 to 423,319,000 lb. Of the wool imported into Great Britain, Australasia contributed about two-thirds.

It is interesting to note whence the English supply is obtained, and the following is an estimate of the production in 1902 of the five largest wool-producing counties, obtained by calculation from the number of sheep and lambs. Sussex is added to show its yield of short wool. The estimate is arrived at by taking an average weight of wool per animal. This in the case of Lincoln sheep is taken at 93 lb. per animal, and in the case of Welsh sheep 3 lb. per animal. From the figures thus obtained, a fair proportion is deducted for sheep slaughtered before arriving at the final clip of wool for the year, but for our present purpose of comparing the respective yields of each county the gross yields will suffice. The following counties are selected as being of the most interest in connection with this article:

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The wool production of each of the first five counties named above far exceeds in weight that of any other English county. Yorkshire stands at the head, probably because of its large area. Lincoln with its heavy fleeces follows closely on Yorkshire. Northumberland with its great sheep farms has less weight of wool per fleece, and Devonshire produces a breed of long-wool sheep. Kent contains both long and short wool, but the wool from the large flocks of Sussex is almost entirely Southdown, and consisting of the best quality of fine wool yields less than two million pounds in weight. The difference between Sussex · and Lincolnshire is partly accounted for by the average weight on each sheep in Sussex being not much more than half that in Lincolnshire, and in 1901 there were, moreover, in this large county 1,117,899 sheep as against 413,929 in Sussex.

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English Wool-producing Counties.

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It would seem to the casual observer that the great increase in the world's population would have caused a proportionate increase in the demand for British wool; on the contrary the price of washed wool from the great wool-producing breed of England, the Lincolnshire long-wool, has fallen below 6d. per lb., and that of the higher quality, but smaller-producing Down breeds, makes only 8d. per lb.

One of the chief causes which tends to depreciate the price of British wool is the competition that has of late years. sprung up from abroad by the production of half-bred and coarser wools, which English farmers in some districts supply. Thus, on the Estancias of the River Plate, in Australasia and elsewhere, the successful production of mutton, frozen for export, has led to the practice of crossing the pure-bred merino, after they have supplied several years' fleeces, with large sheep of the long-wool breed. The result is that an immense production of coarse and low quality wool is thrown upon the market and the price depressed. English flock owners have therefore to face not only the competition of imported mutton, but also of the wool grown by the sheep before slaughter, against which, however, it must be remembered that the sale of exported pedigree animals is a valuable set-off.

Merino sheep not being so remunerative for the production. of mutton for export, and having suffered serious losses from drought besides being more expensive to rear, have decreased in numbers, while their wool has increased in demand. This rise in merino wool brings us to a second cause, viz., change of fashion. This has always been a highly important factor in the relative price of the wool of different breeds of sheep all over the world. Fine fabrics of soft wear are now in use; the coarser bright goods are but little worn. This has decreased the demand for long wool, and merino has profited to some extent. Importations of alpaca and goats' hair also come in to swell the competition with the coarser wools.

It is also interesting to note in connection with the production of mohair that growers in South Africa are affected by The object of many breeders has these changes of fashion. been to produce length and weight from goats of the Gederah breed, but now the finer quality from the Angora and Beybazar varieties, which more closely resembles the mohair produced in Turkey, is more in demand at Bradford at the present time.

The third cause of depreciation is the use of various substitutes for pure wool, a question which engaged the attention of sheep breeders at the International Conference held by the National Sheep Breeders' Association at Carlisle on July 5, 1902, and more lately the Council of the Central and Associated Chambers of Agriculture on November 4, 1902, who passed a

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