Report of the Department of Agriculture. 537 



E,epiesentatioiis were ininiediately made to the Goveinmeut of the 

 United States by the LTiiion Government and 1)y conunercial houses, 

 pointing" out that the imposition of wool duties on a weight basi.s 

 would be specially prejudicial to South Africa 'oy reason of rhe lower 

 average yield of this country's clips, and that if an import tariff 

 was considered necessary, it would be preferable from a South 

 African point of view that it be levied on an ad valorem basis, the 

 latter being calculated according to clean scoured results. The new 

 customs tariff, however, has been based on the clean scoured yield, 

 and imposes a duty of 12h cents on wool of a 37 to 40 per cent, yield, 

 10'6 cents on 29 to 34 per cent, yieldiug wools, and 33 cents per 

 pound on scoured wools. 



Thei'e appears to lie a steadily increasing demand for expert 

 services: the Departmeitt will be better able to c-ope therewith in 

 the coining season ou account of the expert staff having l)een 

 increased by six young men who have taken sheep and wool courses 

 at Grootfontein and in Austialia. Farmers are beginning to realize 

 more than ever that tlieir only salvation lies in improved methods 

 of production, and that the growing aiid proper marketing of good 

 wool is a most stable and lucrative investment for capital to-day. 



The work performed by the expert staff is reflected yearly in the 

 general improvement in quality and quantity of the Union's wool 

 clip. The farms are being improved and the general system of man- 

 agement is becoming much more efficient. A large conservative 

 element of farmers, however, still remains to be converted to the 

 advantages of modern wool-growing methods. The excellence of the 

 general average of Australia's flock sheep was brought about solely 

 by sheep classing and good management of flocks. At present the 

 average weigdit per fleece in the Union is only about 6 lb. This must 

 be increased. [f within the next 10 years the weight per fleece 

 in the Union is increased by 2 lb., at Is. per pound the value of 

 the Union's clip will be increased by £2,500,000. 



There are great possibilities for the expansion of the merino 

 sheep industry in tlie Union. (Jwing to the decrease in th.' world's 

 merino wool supply, every effort should be made to increase 

 production - 



2. Wool Classing. — There was a certain amount of improvement 

 in this direction, but not nearly enough. There are still too many 

 farmers who pay little or no attention to the " get up " of their 

 wool. Great credit is due to those progressive ^nen who by carefully 

 classing their clips are building up a good name for the South African 

 article on the world's markets. The present expert staff is doing 

 everything possible to achieve that object. Short courses in wool 

 classing at the schools of agriculture and demonstrations at farmers'^ 

 meetings were also given regularly during the year. 



A certain amount of false packing still continues to be indulged 

 in by unscrupulous growers, and unless steps are taken to deal suin- 

 niarily with these offenders, the confidence in the Unio;i wool clip 

 overseas will soon be shaken. 



Soutli Africa can grow wool equal to that produced in Australia, 

 but owing to the prevalence of scab and the continued pernicious 

 system of kraaling sheep, a big percentage of the Union's clip is not 

 rnarketed as attractivelv as it should be. As long as farmers tolerate 



