The Hastings Standard. SATURDAY, JAN 27, 1906 THE SHEEP BREEDING INDUSTRY.

Hastings Standard, Volume IX, Issue 5108, 27 January 1906, Page 2

The Hastings Standard. SATURDAY, JAN 27, 1906 THE SHEEP BREEDING INDUSTRY.

Nkw Zealand undoubtedly has attained its present wealth by its sheep industry, and a review of the figures will show the, importance of sheep breeding. The value of wool exported from the colony since 1855 was no less than £90,422,599. Frozen meat has added largely to this amount and in 24 years nearly 48,000,000 carcases representing mora than £30,000,000 have been seen sent away from this colony to foreign markets. During the past 50 years the value of the produce of the"New Zealand flocks, including the pelts, tallow, live animals, bones, and I offal, which are turned into manure, has amounted to nearly £125,000,000. The hulk of tbis has been gained in the last 15 years as the industry has made great strides in that time. Tb.9 influence which this trade has on the progress of the colouy is analysed by Mr Gilbert Anderson as follows:—-'The frozen meat industry at onco created the demand for steamships, and to this industry, and to it alone, <-o w 7 e owe the magnificent lines of steamers that are now trading between New Zealand and Great Britain, and but for this industry it is doubtful if ono-fcurth of those could continue to trade. Not only have we some 58 steamships, of an aggregate tonnage of 370,936 tons, at the disposal of the meat trade, but the fact of these- steamers being here, has reduced the freight on all other produce, as well as imports, besides facilitating the despatch of goods and giving the benefits of a quick 1 retfim and ready market. This I industry lias also been the means of producing employment for about :'.(HM) hands in our freezing works. It has also made the employment of farm labourers constant and profitable. It provides a revenue of £85,947 for our railways." The average value of sheep exports is estimated to be now -£9,000,000 yearly, which could lie easily increased upon, There are, as has been pointed out on several ocI casions lately, many millions of ' acres of J native and Crown lands now lying idle in the North Island. All these lands can be made to carry sheep ; and besides these lands •winch are at present unoccupied and unstocked, there can be little doubt but what the lauds at present occupied could be so improved that they would carry nearly double the number of sheep now running on them. Statistics show that when the frozen meat trade was inaugurated in 1881 in New Zealand there were only 12,190,21") sheep in the colour, while at the present time we have nearly 20.01 IO.OOfI sheep, in spite of the fact that \v» have consumed and exported since 1881, nearly 80,000,000 sheep ami lambs. One of the greatest authorities on this subject recently gave it as his opinion that New Zealand had only commenced the freezing industry, ami that we could go on largely increasing our exports of mutton and lamb and still further increase the number of sheet, hold in the colony.