1G8 
Wool and its Us:^. 
speculator being allowed to " pitch " wool in them. They should 
be held at a central point, and where there is a covered market. 
They should not be held only on one day of the season, but 
should extend over a series of, say, one day a week for four or 
five weeks, according to the area of the district. The wool 
should be sold without reserve, my experience as an auctioneer 
teaching me that nothing promotes competition so much as the 
knowledge that the wool is really meant for sale. 
Then there is the question of fairs, to which I giv^e the 
second place. In this case I would apply the same rules, but 
the dealings would of course be between the user and the grower 
by private contract, the bargains, however, to be registered by 
the authority holding the fair. Probably the best illustration 
of the kind of fair I mean is the one held annually under the 
auspices of the Leicestershire Agricultural Society. I will, 
however, point out that the whole of the wool usually shown in 
this fair might be sold by auction in less than an hour, whereas 
by the present system of bargaining the actual business gene- 
rally begins about 4 P.M., the interval between 9 A.M., at which 
time the fair is supposed to commence, and that hour being 
spent in vain talk. 
Another style of fair is the one which is held weekly at 
Doncaster during June, July, and August. This is a very large 
and important fair. There are from 400 to 1,000 sheets a week 
pitched, chiefly Lincolnshire wool. The railway companies and 
the corporation of Doncaster provide every facility. But how 
is the fair regarded by the Lincolnshire farmer ? There is pro- 
bably not 10 per cent, of the total wool shown, belonging to the 
grower. The bulk of the wool sold there is the property of 
jobbers and dealers who have gone round the county during the 
preceding week and bought it up. 
The wool-stapler, whether in Bradford or iu many country 
districts, fulfils a useful function for which the trade can afford 
to pay. He understands wool, and classes it to suit the 
requirements of the manufacturer. Consequently I may re- 
mark that, in accordance with sound economic principles, the 
wool-stapler must always exist. But the man whom I call a 
jobber knows no more about wool than the farmer. He sells 
the article in the same condition as he got it. He takes 
his profit out of it for doing something which the farmers 
might do for themselves. Doncaster market is under the 
noses of the Lincolnshire farmers. Many men go there to 
buy wool who are never seen among the farmers, and who 
would prefer to deal with the grower for many reasons. They 
can afford to spend a day at Doncaster, but could not afford to 
spend a week at the farms over the same or a less quantity of 
