STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 113 



Difference between receipts and exports has been taken by local 

 mills. 



The weights of receipts and exports are gross. The usual tare of 

 bags received is about three pounds each ; on pressed bales shipped, 

 fourteen to sixteen pounds each. 



Fully two-thirds of the wool graded during the past year is Al. 

 The balance is A2 and B. This proportion has been unchanged for 

 the past six years. 



The wool market during eighteen hundred and seventy-five has 

 been free from any great fluctuations or excitement. 



Stocks on hand are the smallest for several years, as the demand 

 has been sufficiently large to take not only the increased amount 

 shorn but also the large supply of the previous clip on hand at the 

 beginning of the season. Purchasers for account of Eastern buyers 

 have taken the largest part of the wools, and the amount so taken 

 increases each year. 



The spring clip, excepting southern wools, was in good condition, 

 but the staple was below the average, owing to extensive shearing 

 in the fall of eighteen hundred and seventy-four. Many parcels 

 from the extreme north were less desirable than formerly on this 

 account, their length of staple causing them to be in good demand. 

 Southern wools were inferior, as they were short stapled, in poor 

 condition, and contained more defects than in eighteen hundred and 

 seventy-four. 



Fall wools began to arrive in August, and the whole clip was 

 received earlier than usual. 



Low prices, and the financial disturbances at the time when wools 

 usually come forward most freely, deterred many growers from shear- 

 ing. The amount of the clip has, however, exceeded estimates made 

 early in the season, and shows that the loss of sheep in consequence 

 of poor feed and from being driven out of the country was over- 

 estimated. 



The condition and staple of the clip were above the average of the 

 previous year. 



Wools of good staple and medium grade have been in best de- 

 mand, and have brought comparatively higher prices. The loss in 

 scouring is less, and they can be used more extensively than short- 

 stapled, fine-blooded wools. The shortness of staple in the latter 

 limits their use to a few manufacturers, and growers must accept 

 low prices for them because the demand is small. 



California cannot compete with Australia or South America in 

 raising fine wool, as the climate is unsuitable. Manufacturers use 

 California wools because they cost less clean than the best foreign or 

 domestic, and when the shrinkage is heavy the price for the wool in 

 the grease must be low, because it cannot be used in making high- 

 priced goods. 



The supply of wools of medium grade and long staple is always 

 less than the demand. By raising wool with these characteristics, 

 growers would obtain good prices for their spring and fall clip, as 

 both would be of good staple and condition. There is a difference 

 of twelve to fifteen per cent, in favor of medium and against fine 

 wools from the same section, and the former are preferred at the 

 increased price. Better wools would be produced if growers would 

 shear early in the fall, and give as much time as possible for the 

 growth of the spring clip. 



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