- 505 



A. E. INGRAM. Trouble caused by Vegetable Fibres in Wool. 



- Monthly Consular & Trade Reports, 1910, n. 353. Washington 

 Gvt Print. Office, p. 257. 



Referring to his previous report on the accidental presence of 

 vegetale fibers in wool, U. S. Consul Augustus E. Ingram writes from 

 Bradford : 



The source of considerable trouble to British manufacturers 

 and merchants of woollen and worsted goods is due to the fact 

 that as the vegetable fibers will not take the dye their presence is 

 not detected until the wool has been dyed. The following extracts 

 from a recent discussion of this subject by the Yorkshire section 

 of the Association of Managers of Textile Works may be of in- 

 terest : 



The vegetable fibers causing the trouble are the loose fibers of 

 jute from the bagging or string, and the tax on the industry in- 

 volved by burling, to remove these fibers, has increased enormously 

 during the last 15 or 20 years, owing to the great deterioration of 

 the packs. The better class packs made in Dundee, which were 

 formerly used, have been superseded by a cheap, loosely woven 

 article made by native labor in India. 



The ideal remedy would be to pack wool in wool. At any 

 rate a material valued at anything from 12 (303 frs.) to L. 18 

 (454 frs. 50 c.) should be worth packing in something better than a 

 cheap ravelling cover costing 36 to 49 cents (i frs. 80 c. to 2 frs. 45 c.). 

 If the quality of the pack were raised to, say, 35. gd. (4 frs. 70 c.), 

 a cover could be obtained so closely woven as to mitigate the evil. 



The practicability of paper-lined packs was discussed, as their 

 use seemed to have promise of good results. 



REGENT. The World's Wool Clip. - - Textile World Record, Vo- 

 lume XXXIX, No. 2, 3-313-316. June 1910. 



Sheep statistics are, and perhaps always will be, eyed with some 

 suspicion. They are taken loosely in most countries, are the re- 

 sult of guesses in others and have to be collated from widely diffe- 

 rent sources at varying periods of time. There is no real check 

 on them and sets of figures purporting to tell how many sheep 

 there are in the world must be accepted with the reserve that is 

 due to their mixed and obscure origin. It will illustrate the diffe- 

 rence of opinions on the subject to point out that one of the 



