1906.] Preparation of Wool for Market. 



295 



table, every fleece, without exception, is taken and skirted — that 

 is, the heavy bellies and britch are removed, the remaining 

 fleece then being taken and rolled up separately. The 

 great thing to remember is that anything of an objection- 

 able nature is seldom rolled into the fleece, the bellies, 

 stained pieces or britch, and the locks being baled separately, 

 and then each lot is sold on its merits. By this method 

 of marketing wool, buyers approach Colonial clips with con- 

 fidence, men being satisfied that the middle of the bale will 

 be as free of foreign matter as are the fleeces on the outside 

 edge. A vast improvement has of late years been noted in con- 

 nection with the wools from the River Plate, though even here 

 there is hardly that uniformity in classing and preparation for 

 market which one observes, say, in New Zealand fleeces of a 

 corresponding quality. I now leave out Australian wools, be- 

 cause the great bulk is merino — English, New Zealand, and 

 River Plate wools all coming under the category of crossbreds. 

 During the past ten years — thanks to the introduction of the 

 best English blood, and the adoption more or less of Colonial 

 methods — River Plate wools have vastly improved, both in 

 quality, character, and general get up. Still there is room for 

 improvement, and particularly the system of selling all the 

 quahties together, which so frequently is the case. When fine 

 and coarse qualities of crossbreds are sold together, the buyer, 

 as a rule, tries to secure the parcel at the value of the coarser 

 quality, consequently the grower makes a sacrifice which he 

 need not do if he will, before baling, separate the fleeces into 

 their respective qualities, say, fine, medium, and coarse. A New 

 Zealand clip, as a rule, is done m this fashion, hence we see the 

 big prices being paid to-day for New Zealand grown wQols. It 

 does indeed show to what perfection crossbred wools are being 

 grown in New Zealand, when greasy half-bred is selling from 

 I5d. to i/d. per lb., this being the reward for general excellence 

 on the lines just named. It is hardly to be expected that 

 English sheep farmers will go to the trouble of classing like we 

 see in New Zealand, but as regards keeping out extraneous 

 matter^ it must be done, otherwise that clip will inevitably suffer 

 in regard to price per pound." 

 Mr. Rollings then goes on to refer to the evils of false packing, 



