SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 
In the manufacture of these goods the wool, for various reasons, has to be 
scoured in the factory where it is to be manufactured, whether or not it has 
previously been so treated. Therefore, any saving in freight which might accrue 
in normal times is more than counterbalanced by this duplication of treatment. 
But there is another and far more serious objection. The natural grease or 
yolk in the wool is an excellent preservative of the qualities so essential for 
these goods, i.e., softness to the touch and elasticity. Wool scoured here, 
packed and transported to the other side of the world, loses these qualities 
to a very considerable extent. 
If the trade were compelled by legislative enactments to accept scoured wool 
when it prefers greasy it would have no option, but the growers of Australia 
would soon discover if it did not pay. 
a et 
LOCALLY 
USED, 
9,622,491 Lbs 
TWEED 
AND 
CLOTH, 
4,161,069 Yds. 
BLANKETS 
AND 
RUGS, 
810,217. 
FLANNEL 
LOCALLY 
MADE, 
6,077,103 Yds. 
m The first thing to be done with regard to the scouring of wool should be to 
discover what Wools can with advantage be scoured, and then to see that the 
scouring is scientifically performed. Considerable damage to the wool, and 
consequent loss to the grower may and does result from the fact that this 
is not done. It is quite possible, by bad scouring, to so injure the wool that 
it will have to be used for inferior goods, and will therefore demand a lower 
price and reduce the return to the grower. 
Other factors may at times have to be considered. For instance, at one time 
the duty on wool imported into Russia was the same per pound whether the 
wool was greasy or scoured. The result was that Russian buyers took only 
scoured wools, as it is obvious that a duty of, say, 3d. per Ib. on greasy wool 
yielding only 40 to 50 per cent. of scoured wool was not nearly so good a paying 
proposition as 3d. per Ib. on wool which would yield from 90 to 100 per cent. 
of clean wool. Under such circumstances it may conceivably be advantageous 
310 
