Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-11-09

edge OF the actual market value OF his
product from a consumers standpoint
as the wool grower, said G. J.. Faw.
sett, assistant general manager of ths
National Warehouse and Storage com
pany of Chicago, in a statement SEM
out by KDYS, The Tribune's broad.
casting station, Wednesday night. Thu
statement was used through the cour,
tesy Of the Montana Farmer, published
in Great Falls.
Fawsett is in the state speaking Il
the Montana wool growers at the Sc.
ries Of IS wool wrading demonstrations
arranged through the cooperation Of
the extension service of Montana
State college and the Montana Woo
Growers association. Continuing
Fawsett said:
1T might also be stated that the
usual method Of distributing wool from
the grower to the consumer is more
| unscientific than methods used in the
distribution of other agricultural pro.
ducts. This is due to the peculiar ma
ture of the commodity and the pur-
poses for which it Is used.
No Public Market
t.There is no public wool market, as
is the case with other agricultural
| commodities. On the contrary, the
market that the wool grower observes
is someone's version of q series of pri-
vate treaties, transferring wool from
one owner to the other or from owner
to the mill, and due to the form in
which the market quotations are print
ed it is exceedingly difficult for the
grower to ascertain the market value
Of his commodity. This difficulty ex-
perienced by the grower is increased
through lack of knowledge of the fac
tors that ultimately determine the
value of his commodity from a mill or
consumers viewpoint. It matters not
whether wool is sold to a Spectator
or what other manner of disposition
may be employed, there are three fac
tors that ultimately determine the
value to the mill.
'"These may be summarized as fol-
lows: The diameter of fiber; the
length of staple and shrinkage. There
fore, the Jaw commodity must be sub
iected to certain operations between
the producer and the consumer, such
as grading. sorting, securing, and in
order for the grower to properly ar
rive at the fair market value Of his
commodity he must know first, the
diameter of fiber which indicates the
grade of his wool; second, he must
know the percentage of staple or long
fiber and the percentage of clothing
or short fiber contained IN his clip;
third. he must know the percentage Of
shrinkage in the process of securing,
for the manufacturer is not interested
in the number Of grease pounds pur-
chased. but rather in the clean yield
from the securing process In the
case of Montana woods, q ~shrinkage of
approximately 80 per cent takes place
in the process of securing. Thus, It
will be seen that the manufacturer al
ways buys his raw product on a clean
cost basis.
Estimates Value
"He estimates that a given grade of
wool is worth. for the sake of illus
tration, one dollar a pound clean. lie
then ascertains the approximate
shrinkage. and by multiplying the clean
yield by the price per secured pound,
he arrives at the grease pound equiv
alent he is willing to pay. 1t is obvl-
Gus that the wool grower should have
a more thorough knowledge OF these
three factors which ultimately govern
the value and also a more thorough
knowledge of the operations to which
the commodity must be subjected in
process of preparation for consump-
ton. And it is for the purpose Of
bringing this knowledge to the zoe
grower that the series of wool grad
ing demonstrations referred to have
been planned.
"Wool must be concentrated in
graded lines, for wooden mills usually
prefer to buy where they may secure
woods Of q particular grade of fiber
in sufficient quantity to meet their
immediate requirements. For this rea-
son they are seldom interested in wool
as it comes from the ranch or range.
In order to secure this concentration,
wool must be graded into the ommer
cial grades as fine, half blood, three
eighths blood, quarter blood, low quar-
ter and braid, as well as a multitude
of off sorts. Originally, these grades
had reference 10 blood lines, but the
present meaning signifies a certain
diameter of fiber that is standard in
the wool trade distinguished only by
a trained eye. Each of these grades
staple. as the half blood staple and
are divided into the short and long
half blood combing.
This division of length of the vari-
Gus grades is necessary as from the
or staple grades is manufac-
ture, the long fibers are combed and
all laid parallel, and the product of
the combs is known as tops" From
a pound of these tops made from a
Montana wool may be spun "a
hanks of yarn, each hank $50 yards in
From the lower grades of
Montana wool, only 46 hanks of yarn
may be spun from the same weight.
Thus, it will be seen that the manu- !
is greatly interested in the
finest of fiber.
Short Grades
From the short or clothing grades
s made wooden goods, blankets. wooden
etc, and the system of
manufacturing or spinning is entirely
different. The short woods cannot be |
but are carded, and the fibers
ire criss cross and mangled. The
arm made from the carding process
S of very much less value. This will
the difference per creased
pound on the present market of five
between the combing and cloth
ng grades of same diameter fiber. +,
Therefore. it behooves the grower of
wool to produce as high a percentage
# the long staple combing as possible.
Breeding and feeding are the two prime
in the production of staple
WOOL. One without the other is in
sufficient.
Grading is the operation that takes
place i'll the warehouse in the course of
for mill consumption. If