WOOL AND THE WoOL TUADK. 



I. AND Tin: v :\DE. 



Mr. Hubbard's ertimat* for 1828 was - 



Short wool 159.917 



Loaf wool 263,847 



Skin wool 69,405 



463.169 



a pick being equal to 240 Ibs. It has often been awerUsl that the 

 attempt* to improve the quality of English mutton has deteriorate! 

 the 9 lo/iVy of the fine wool, but increased the quantity of tin- I'tii; 

 wool : and this seems to be borne out by tin- number* hare given. Mr. 

 JJischoff gives a table to show the quantity of foreign wool im 

 every year from 1741 to 1841. We will give a few of the yean. 



IbS. 



1771 

 1781 

 1791 

 1801 



1,478,331 



3,014,511 

 7,371,774 



1811 

 18JI 

 1831 

 1841 



4,739,972 



9,770,103 



31,653,029 



49,710,396 



These numbers sufficiently show how prone English woollen manufac- 

 ture a, when left to itself," t<> derive aid from the use of foreign wool. 

 All the finer wooU used to be brought from Spain; but in 17i;."i tin- 

 elector of Saxony imported into his dominions a few Merino sheep, 

 which have had a most surprising influence on the trade in wool. The 

 Saxony Merinos, instead of degenerating, improved upon their Spaniah 

 progenitors, and tin- wo.<l afforded by them has almost driven the 

 Spanish wool out of the English market. In 1800 the imports of wool 

 from Spain were fourteen times as large as from Germany ; whereas in 

 1840 those from Germany were seventeen times as large as those from 

 Spain. 



The inquiries made within the last twenty years, into the history of 

 the wool-trade, present many points of interest. How many sheep 

 .re grazing in the United Kingdom at one time, and how much 

 wool is obtained from them, are matters on which no trustworthy 

 figures have been given. All is guess-work. In 1860 Mr. P. L. 

 Sitnmonds gave a curious comparison of estimates made at different 

 times during the present century, relating, in most instances, to the 

 number of sheep supposed to be living at one time, but more especially 

 to the supposed weight of wool annually obtained from them. These 

 estimates are eleven in number. The quantities, or round numbers, 

 are as follows : 



Year. 



1801 



1828 



1S3I 



1835 



1845 



1851 



1852 



1857 



1858 



1860 



1800 



Computer. 

 J.utcock . 

 llubbard 

 MTulloch . 

 M 'Queen 

 Low . 

 Southey . 

 Poo'.e . 

 Ashworth 

 1'ainr- . 



Wray 

 Siiumonds . 



Sheep. 

 . 26,000,000 



I 



32,000,000 



48,100,000 



35,000,000 



55,000,000 



32,000,000 



! 



J 



. 55,000,000 

 . 50,000,000 



Wool. 



84,000,000 Il. 

 111,000,000 



1 



217,000,000 

 157,000,000 

 275,000,000 

 12S, 000,000 

 143,000,000 

 200,000,000 

 275,000,000 

 250,000,000 



Mr. Leonard Wray, in I860, made an earnest attempt to arrive at 

 the truth ; the opinions expressed to him by wool-growers and wool- 

 staplers were most discordant ; but he arrived at a hypothetical result 

 very similar to one which Mr. Southey had put forth in 1851 . MV. 

 Simmonds has given a curious comparison of the wool-produciug 

 power* of various kinds of sheeps' food, only possible since the wide 

 development of the study of agricultural chemistry. According to 

 this comparison, equal weights of the following kinds of food 

 will lead to the production of the following weights of wool : 



Potatoes, raw, with *alt 



Mangel-wurzel, taw . 



Wheat . 



OaU .... 



Bye, with nail 



Rye, without salt 



Barley . 



Peaa .... 



Buckwheat 



6} of wool. 



} 

 14 



10 

 14 



i<4 



10 



Peas, wheat, and rye with salt, thus appear to bo the best. What U 

 the best mitWofl-producing food for sheep, as contrasted with tro/-pni- 

 dumng, we have no concern with here. There are six different quali- 

 ties which manufacturers look for in wool fiiunett, or equable thinm * 

 of fibre ; fullnctt, or closeness in the growing of the locks on the 

 sheep ; frttnem, or absence of entanglement in the fibres ; fninilnta, or 

 strength of fibre when pulled in combing ; length, or a fitness in the 

 length of fibre for each partii.-ul.-ir kind of manufacture ; ami 

 or a certain degree of silkiness to the touch. According to Hie 

 degree in which wool possesses any or all of these qualities, BO 

 is the price which it will command in the market. During the 

 latter half of the hut century, English wool commando 1 fn.i,, 

 1*. 1<l. per pound. During the first quarter of the present century, 

 the price varied between the wide limits of 7d. and 3>. Since the 

 freedom of import and export, the price has depended more con- 

 sistently on the actual quality. While Knjdi-h wool, very little 

 applicable to the manufacture of fine cloth, selU at 10</. or Is. per 



pound, Saxony or Merino wool will often command 2*. to 4'. 

 good Saxony fleeces are always smaller in weight than the coarser 

 English; the former varying from 2 Ib. to 8 lb., the hitter fro:. 

 to 5 lb. About half the home supply is used for worsted good 

 half for cheap woollens ; the best woollens now depend wholly . 

 use of foreign wool. 



f the most notable present features in the wool trade i- the 

 eom|H-tition of Australia. We have said that :..-.irly .li..\,- 



it of the market; and now Australia is .iiiiauy. It 



in found that tin- el-nut.- and soil of Australia, and tin- Kind ]" 

 obtainable, are favourable, to the growth of wool. This has be. ], 

 with very little ineoura, , external sources. 



: in largely imported from tin- lliitinh possessions in 

 Africa. India, it is believed, could easily supply us wit '.. 

 of wool annually, by the display of a little energy. Chinese 



ica. have proved very profit 



ing large fleensof wool suitable for cheap giwxK AM 

 increase her presort supply, did not gold-diggin:- 

 disturb the eour.- ; . -,.(1 States 'I 



produce : -their own manufactures ; they b 



wool from Europe, and eheip wool ; -a. It a'l 



einiousinstiuee of the tendencies of trade when unshac!.: 

 United State-' Inch has com.- t.> them 



rid England a distance altogether equal to two-thirds of the cii 

 the globe. 



The total quantities of wool whether sheeps', lambs', or Alpaca, 

 imported in recent years, will conveniently be shown by taking i 

 three years apart : 



Ibs. llw. 



1843 . . . 49,243,093 1852 . . . 93,761,458 



1846 . . . 05,255,402 1855 . . . 99,300,446 



1849 . . . 7G,7G8,047 1858 . . . 126,738, 123 



It will suffice to take one year, 1800, to show the trade a littl 

 in detail : 



11*. 



Wool from Australia 59,165,939 



,, Northern Europe . . . . 38,840,961 



Eat Indies 20,214, 17J 



(South Africa 16,574,345 



,, Other countries .... 10,705,233 



145,500,661 



Of this quantity, however, rather more then 30,000,000 lb?. 

 exported, leaving about 115,000,000 Ibs. of foreign and colonial wool 

 to be used up by our woollen and worsted man u fact u 



It will be desirable here to say a few words concerning tli 

 spective supply of that peculiar kind of wool called alpn 

 Ai-I'ACA WOOL it was stated that Australian Mieep farmers were 

 beginning to attend to this subject. We will here briefly notice what 

 has been done since that article was written. It is to Mr. Charles 

 Ledger that we owe most of what is known concerning the wool of the 

 alpaca, llama. tUntHu, and Hanaro, animals which pasture on th<- 

 table-lands among the Andes. Those .four kinds have slight 

 and by cross breeds between the animals it is believed that wool will 

 be obtained of finer quality than any yet known. The P. 

 llama wool for sacking, cordage, carpets, bed coverlet", Sic., nnd 

 wool for various textile fabrics. Mr. Outram, of Halifax, first over- 

 came, in 1835, the difficulty of spinning alpaca wool by marhincry ; 

 and Mr. Titus Salt, of Saltaire, made those further improvements 

 which established alpaca among the staple manufactures of York 

 especially when combined with cotton warp for strong but cheap 

 goods, and with silk for waistcoatings and ladies' dresses. Ad 

 having been thus created, the supply has gradually increased, 

 comes to England in small liales, from 60 Ibs. to 160 Ibs. each. 1835 

 v.as the first year of considerable import; it amounted to alxiut 

 100,000 Ibs. ; this increased to 1,200,000 Ibs. by 1845; and fr.u. 

 to I860 the imports averaged about 2,500,000 Ibs. yearly. Tli> 

 has fluctuated considerably, from 8rf. to 8. 9i/. per lb. 



Mr. Ledger, for many years a resident in Pern, conceived tl 

 of transferring alpacas t > , as a commercial speculation. In 



1853 he went to Melbourne and. Sydney, to ascertain whether the 

 climate and soil of Austuli: were suitable for his purpose ; and ho 

 found spots which possessed in an admirable degree all ti 

 qualities. He returned to Peru and made arrongcni< 

 buying and rearing a large stock of alpacas : undergoing gn 

 while travelling repeatedly over the Andes. It was not until 1S58 

 that he could get his flock into the Argentine SHtes; for the j; 

 mcnt of Pom placed all kinds of obstacles in the w:;y of their 

 exportation. At length, in November 1858,, a flock of 

 llamas, and vicuflas arrived safely at Sidney. In May. !- 

 a tour of inspection, at the instance of the New South Wales L 

 mcnt, to select the best place for a breeding and pasture ground. He 

 fixed on the Maneroo district, about 2<!0 miles from Sidney. The first 

 shearing, in November of that year, was too early, and the \\. 



:i.-id in Yorkshire to be too short-stapled for the best goods. 

 The flock was transferred to Maneroo ; and the numbers are gradually 

 increasing. Mr. Ledger has made a calculation that, allowing for 

 accidents, deaths, bad years, &c., he very earnestly looks forward to 



