THE PASTORAL INDUSTRY.

Mataura Ensign, Volume 17, Issue 17, 12 October 1894, Page 6

THE PASTORAL INDUSTRY.

(By " Ora "inthe « N. Z. Country Journal.') Everything seems to show that sheep farming and dairying are to be the two leading industries of the country for the future. The output from both these branches of farming continue to steadily increase, while grain , and especially whaat growing is falling to the rear. Those industries for which the resources, circumstances and poai- ' tion of the country render it most suitable are bound to assert themselves in the long run. "With regard to the products of the flock and the dairy, we stand at an advantage in comparison with othor countries, while with wheat growing, notwithstanding our comparatively high average yielda, we are at a disadvantage in more weys than one. We occupy an isolated geographical position, which necessarily involves heavy cost of carriage ; our harvest seasons are most uncertain as to weather, and consequently we can never dep9od on the quality of the wheat. The quantity grown is comparatively small, and the cost of production in mest of the large producing countries is considerably lower thao we can afford to grow in New Zealand. Among email, or comparatively small sheep owner?, those who are least able i to help themsblves by their own exertions are the tenants of small blocks of pastoral lands. In their anxiety to prevent the land from falling into the hands of large holders, the Government , have made it almost impossible for the ! small occupier to live. The last possible , farthing is extracted in the shape of rent, the rent generally being assessed on the basis of high pric9B for sheep, and in addition to this, the conditions i relative to improvement are so stringent , that the tenant is in many cases com- , pelled to put practically useless im- , provements on the land in order to i comply with the termß under whicii ! he holds it. It is undoubtedly a wise i thing lo put people on the land, but it i is not a wise thing to exact suoh conditions from them tbat they cannot ! possibly make a living. A fair rent bill to enable past mistakes to be rectified will be the outcome, but in tbe meantime many settlers will bave lost what little capital they had. The past two years have been very hard ones for many of the small pastoral tenants. It is a prevalent idea that any land obtained from the Government under the new aud " Liberal " order of things cannot be otherwise than a bargain, and many settlers have in. consequence i gone in without counting the cost. i Kadic*l politicians advocate driving I the sheep off the land and putting - people on instead, but mau not beiog a i grass-eating animal requires some inter- ■ mediate agency by means of whioh the f produce of the soil may b?come availi able to bis own proper use. In respect ; to the (.reater part of the country, the i most effective intermediate agent between man and the soil is found to be i sheep, and what is wanted is not to i drive away the sheep, but to increase ■ their numbers, and also to augment , tbeir productive capacity, Ifc is a sort ; of traditional idea, an idea still lingering in the mind*, of too many sheep ; farmers themselven, as weli as of those l who have no opportunity of knowing ; any better, that sheep farming involves no labor, or none worth speaking i about ; that the man who gets his living by sheep neither toils nor spins, bufc shears the fleece and ea's of the fat of the fl ck, and leaves tbe productive part who'-ly and solely to the opprations , of kind and beoeficient Nature. It has been eaid tbat tbis idea still finds a resting place iv the minds of not a few sheep owner?, and no other conclusion can be arrived afc, judging by the way in which they trust to the ponslble geniality of the season, and the general chapter of accidents for pulling tliem through the winter. Few men, however, have ever made money at sheep farming who have not put work both of head and hand into the business. Sheep, according to the proverb, have golden feet, but only to the diligent flockowner. The sheep stock of the colony has increased by millions during the past few years, but what is more gratifying is that the sheep are divided amongst a larger numher of owners. The numher of small flockowners is being added to 1 yearly, but it cannot be said that tbe improvement in the general oharacter of ' sheep management is keeping pace with ■ the development of the industry in ' other directions. For shepp farming 1 on a small scale to be successful it must - be carried on in an intensified form. It 1 ip ust not be mere surface farming. i Eor a man to make a living out of a • few hundred sheep, he must work his ■ flock up into a high degree of efficiency ' This, unfortunately, is where ao mauy > small sheep farmers fail. In a vast • number of oases small flocks are of ■ inferior charaoter, owing to the owners - being short of capital or defioient in • knowledge. The small sbeep farmer i pewlty frag no idea of systematic