5 8 



shorn is a good deal less valuable than one giving the quantities 

 that find their way to civilization and the centers of manufacture. 

 The wool that tribesmen of the primitive races grow, industrially 

 speaking, does not matter. It matters a good deal to know with 

 reasonable certainty how much wool passes the ports and here we 

 can get satisfactory assurances from the Customs. 



The following shows the increase now in progress in shipments 

 of wool from Australia and New Zealand, the principal source of 

 import supplies. 



Shipments from Australia and New Zealand in bales: 



Net pounds, 710168448 686818010 and 756590163. 



Increase in seven years, 847382 bales (279636000 pounds). 



The River Plate, the second great source of foreign wool, has 

 no such increase in progress. Its wool exports are growing but 

 the general character of the supply is stationary or worse. The 

 exports are quoted from Wenz & Go's tables : 



Shipments from River Plate in tons (2000 pounds): 



Increase in three years, 30 030 tons (60 060 ooo pounds). 



Reports show an improvement in River Plate shipments in the 

 last wool year. Up to September 16 1909, a fortnight before the 

 close of the season, 554 276 bales had been shipped as against 

 472 631 in the same part of the season previous. For the season 

 1908-09 shipments of Plate wool are hence over 513 ooo ooo pounds 

 and this with the Australian supply gives approximately i 270000000 

 pounds; half, or nearly half, of what is generally supposed to be 

 the world's clip. No distinction is here drawn between clean wool 

 and greasy, so that a liberal allowance for guesswork must be made 

 in arriving at the yield after washing. 



For estimates of the amount of clean wool that is available for 



