250 



WOOL SUPPLY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. [Dec. 1896. 



A closer analysis of the imports from the. several Australasian 

 colonies for the past five years has shown that the wool received 

 from Victoria, New Zealand, and New South Wales is apparently 

 of a higher market value than that produced in the other 



colonies. 



While it is true that the imported wool constitutes over 70 per 

 cent, of the total quantity consumed annually in the United 

 Kingdom, it is not easy to estimate what proportion of the 

 imported varieties comes into direct competition with the home 

 product. For instance, the bulk of the wool received from 

 Australasia is merino, a variety which, as has been already stated, 

 can only indirectly affect the value of British and Irish wools. 

 Apart, however, from the question as to whether there has been 

 any serious displacement of the home-grown staple by the 

 increasing volume of imports, the presence of so large a quantity 

 of foreign wool in our markets must be a factor of some impor- 

 tance in the determination of the value of the wool produced in 

 the United Kingdom. There is also another disturbing element 

 which should not be lost sight of in considering the course of 

 prices of an article like wool, and that is the influence of sudden 

 changes of fashion. Such changes are usually of a temporary or 

 seasonal character, but they frequently cause the market quota- 

 tion of one or more varieties to deviate considerably from the 

 general trend of prices. The effect of an influence of this 

 nature may be seen in the rise in the average price of Lincoln 

 wool, shown in the table above, from lOd. per lb. in 1894 to Is. 

 per~Tb. in 1895, which is said to have been caused by an 

 increased demand for bright goods, worked up from lustre or 

 long staple wools, which set in during the latter half of last 

 year. 



The actual effect of this sudden demand was much more 

 strongly marked than appears from the annual average price ; 

 and the abrupt rise is well illustrated by the monthly averages 

 of the price of Lincoln hoggs during 1895 given by the Bradford 

 Observer. The monthly average of these had remained, until 

 May, at the uniform price of 9f <i. per lb. ; but then the demand 

 for bright goods was suddenly felt in the wool trade, and Lincoln 

 hoggs rose to 12±d. per lb, in June, and to U\d. in July, while 

 a further rise took place in September, and the maximum was 

 reached in October 1895, when this class of wool was worth 

 16{d. per lb. After that date the price of lustre wools gradually 

 fell away again. 



