164 
Wool and its Uses. 
Improvements in Machinery. 
Wools which were formerly considered too short to be 
combed can now be combed with ease, owing to the improve- 
ments in combing-machinery, and are consequently rendered 
fit for worsted purposes. This has introduced a vast quantity of 
wool into the dress trade which did not go there formerly, and 
which has thus become a serious competitor with longer wools. 
As far as regards improvements in machinery, this utilisation 
of short wools has been the only factor worth mentioning in the 
altered condition of the wool market. Wool-working machinery 
has been brought to great perfection, but it cannot be said that 
there have been any revolutionary improvements in it, except 
the one just mentioned, during the last twenty years. 
Influence of Imported Wools. 
The influence of colonial and foreign wools on the price of 
English wool is enormous. Twenty-five years ago the total 
import of wool was only about equal to our ovsn clip. This 
year we shall probably import five times as much as we grow. 
Twenty-five years ago the value of the English clip was, roughly, 
13,000,000?. This year its value is probably 6,000,000?. A 
comparatively small proportion of this serious loss to the farming 
interest is due to falling ofi" in quantitj". The table on the 
opposite page will show the comparative position of the supply 
of English and foreign wool. 
It is interesting to note, in connection with these figures, 
that while in 1866 the value of a bale of colonial wool was 
about 24Z., the total value of colonial wool imported was 
11,735,000/. Whereas, in 1887, with a value per bale of about 
14?., the total value was 20,216,000?. After allowing for the fact 
that a larger proportion of the wool is now imported in the grease 
than was the case twenty years ago, the figures are sufficiently 
startling. The colonial wool imported in 1887, if taken at the 
prices of 1866, would show a value of 34,656,000?. The price 
of alpaca in 1866 was 3s. 4f?. per lb. ; in 1886 it was about 
1."?. per lb. The value of mohair in 1866 was 3s. 8c?. per lb. ; 
in 1886 it was about l.s. 2c?. 
It will be seen from this that the fall in values is not confined 
to English wool, so that the immense increase of imported wool 
and the groat fall in the value of English do not stand precisely 
in the relation of cause and effect. There can be no doubt, 
however, that foreign and colonial wool is a great and increasing 
factor in dclerminiug Ihe value of our own growth. Its influence 
is felt in every direction. 
