lUG Journal of the Department of Agriculture. — Aug., 1922. 



The Quality of South African Wool. 



Commenting on the prices obtained at Port Elizabeth for wool 

 at the beginning of the year, a well-known Bradford authority states 

 that it may be interesting to learn that the prices paid were so much 

 above the market level in London or Bradford that one of the 

 principal buyers has not yet been able to get back his own on what 

 he purchased. The sentiments of buyers are being voiced when it is 

 said that several of the clips sold at the sale showed unmistakable 

 signs of being a little low in quality. Strictly speaking, several of 

 them showed no more than super GO's quality, which is too low for 

 South African produce. One of the largest buyers in Bradford states 

 that samples of the wool bought at Port Elizabeth had been shown 

 throughout the trade, and several parcels were described by all who 

 saw them as being deficient in quality. This cannot go on indefinitely 

 without strong complaints being heard. Some of the stud samples 

 are just a little on the "strong" side, and breeders should certainly 

 not lower their quality one single count below its present standard. 

 If these rams were carrying fleeces three to four counts finer, they 

 would be just about perfect when viewed from a manufacturing 

 standpoint, which is the one which needs to be kept in mind. Several 

 Australian ram breeders are breeding so-called merino sheep whose 

 wool is no more than 58's quality, but no South African breeder 

 should follow on such lines. No ram should be allowed to go out 

 whose fleece is anything lower than super GO's. It is known that the 

 wool of stud sheep is always of a lower quality than that of average 

 flocks, and breeders maintain that the use of such rams is necessary 

 to impart stamina to the rank and file of the flocks. This may be 

 so, but there is no need to go to the other extreme. Quality is always 

 an important factor in determining the value of merino wool. This, 

 combined with length, determines its spinning capacity. 



Lucrative Pig Farming. 



Pig farming in the Union is still in its infancy, but its great 

 possibilities of development in this country, which is well adapted 

 for that class of farming, are being recognized and the industry has 

 entered a stage of progress from which much is expected. A valuable 

 series of articles designed to assist those who are engaged in pig 

 farming, or who contemplate doing so, is being published in the 

 Journal, the first of which appeared in the December, 1921, issue. 

 The articles are written by Mr. Morkel, the Lecturer in Animal 

 Husbandry at the Elsenburg School of Agriculture, who has made 

 a special study of the subject, and is able to furnish practical advice 

 on the up-to-date methods t'hat are required to make the industry a 

 success. A further contribution is contained in this issue of the 

 Journal in which the origin and breed characteristics of the Berk- 

 shire, to-day the best known and most w^idely distributed of all 

 British breeds of pigs, are described. This breed possesses charac- 

 teristics that are well suited to South African conditions, and Berk- 

 shire boars have already done much in raising the standard of 

 excellence of our grade herds. As a cross with the Large Black 

 (sow) highly satisfactory results have been obtained in the produc- 

 tion of baconers. 



