THE DROUGHT IN AUSTRALIA.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue XXXVI, 13 December 1902, Page 1

THE DROUGHT IN AUSTRALIA.

Though a consider .bio area of South Australia ha- benefitted by the rainfall / reported tliis iveeW, it will not materially I affect the po-ition of the groat ! ! area of the drought-. mitten wost, - ' the wide plains of the interior tbat carry • { the ma-s of the - ock of the coutinent. . Southerly rains are local, and iu this » ease will probably extend along the coast 1 l ; ne ti Southern Quuensl. ud. They will - do an immensity of gcod in the c.a.-tal, i '■ which are agricultural, districts, and will replenish the water supply of ths towns, many of which were on the verge of water famine. Even Sydney, which was supposed to hare secured some years aj,o storage that would make scarcity impos- i sible tor half a c.utury, has of late been j in sore straits for want of water. Plunge bafcha have been forbidden for months past, and it was lately announced thit the authorities intended to seal up al) taps but ouo in a house, and only permit that oue to be in use fur three hours each day. _Vow Sydney ha3 a local deluge, and ihe other big towns alon^ the coast wili probably also obtaiu sufficient raiDfall to till reservoirs and tanks. As for the oondition of the interior, the " Pastoralista' Review," jusfc to haud, states of New South Wales .- — " Tbe harden aud anxiety of drought still rest heavily on tbo great majority of oar pastoralists. There is every reason to ba thankful for tha raius tba f , have falleu, but thc fact must be faced that unless they are shortly followed by heavier falls, the i ituation will become even more serious tbaa it has been bithfTto. The few points registered in the drought stricken west will probably be sufficient to cause the grass seed in the soil to germinate, only Lo be destroyed completely by a continuation of fine weather. The commencement of shearing brings the heavy losses sustained directly under our notice by comparison with the sheariui; tally of last year. One station in the Darling which last year sheared '3QQ,C JO sheep, this year expects to shear 40,000, and on another, out of tbe :.i),( 'OO shorn last year, only between ;{'J"ti and 4<-<>u survive. in the Oondobo'in district there were ;{,000.i-.x) -heep in li.y-1- ; and now there are not T.jO.i. L J. One statioa there has spent i: 100,0- mi thi- year on fodder alone. From Victo: ia it i- reported, in the same journal, tbat a " heavy geueral rainfall is necessary to savo the situation," but it is more than possible that the little colony on the soutii of the continent is parliripatins,' in thc southerly rain n-m repot, ed. oi i.ueeijsland tbe correeponde-jt of the " tie dew " writes : " As regards the present position, the mild winter has been in favour of the .lock owner, but tlie total a' Fence of rains during May, June, and July is rapidly preeipatatiug a eiisis, a,d uale-s the monsouual tains put in an ear! t ' >'2>; 'trance au awfnl smash ia inevitable. Of tbo condition of So -ith Australia, whore rain hna now fallen ia Lhe agricultural districts at anj rate — it is reported : " The weeks cooie and pass away without bringing the slightest relief to the drought-stricken areas of this State. In the outside pastoral countries lessees are at their wit-' end to know what tj do with thei! stock, aud in some instances arlilicial feed in j lms oeen resorted to in order to Oeablu tho fat .ck to be got aivay to me' re favourable localities. Tho mustering for shearing purpose- has told a sad lale in many cases and it will bn years before tt.e couuLry will get back to its normal condition, or the stocks bo replenished." Jlr t'lemenl Wragge, tho Queensland weather p-ophet. has given the name ot I •• _leih-i " to n meteorological visitor who* ' he say-, "ill shortly bring further valu- ; ablo rains lo South Australia and Mel- \ bourne.