PASTORAL MATTERS IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 9390, 1 April 1892, Page 3

PASTORAL MATTERS IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

i A former resident in Southland (says tlie ; Southland Times), now in tho AVellington dis- | trict of Now South AVales, ; vriting to a friend ' in this district, gives the following -dishcartcu- , ing description of tho position of pastoral affairs in his neighbourhood. His letter is dated March 18, ami as tho writer is a gentleman of experience in the matters with which he deals, and one, moreover, nt addicted to making rash statements, what he says is well worthy of consideration by our more favoured owners of sheep and other stock. After some references to otlier subjects, ho writes: —" I have been a good deal on tho move myself lately, and have only just returned from an inspecting tour of the west. lam sorry to say that pastoral affairs in this colony aro at a very low ebb indeed. Nearly all the western stations arc much overstocked, somo carrying 1-L sheep to the acre ; and on tho Darling, matters are serious. Tho tanks arc mostly dry, or practically so, no rain of any consequence having fallen for six months, aud rabbits and sheep are dying off. If no rain falls before spring the losses will be counted by millions. Even now heavy losses are occurring on somo stations, and directly winter sets in mortality will very much increase, as just now in this climate a sheep can live ou its own resources a long time. Tho destruction caused by rabbits in tho far west is something deplorable, and must be seen to bo believed, and the pest has not nearly reached a climax yet. As regards prices for stock tho least said the better, as all classes of stock' aro simply unsaleable. Shoop were selling at Orange, 60 miles from hero, at 8d a head to start with, and finally at 35s per 100. I was offered L2 5s for my fat bullocks recently, and this is equivalent to the prices I would obtain by sending them to the Sydney market, where 60,000 sheep per week are going in to supply thr. demand for 30,000. There is no doubt in my mind that New South AVales is entering upon very doubtful times. A drought would leave many people in equally as good a position as they now aro in, as half their stock would then be worth what the whole is now ; but apart from that, squatters generally are much embarrassed, and in 1895, when the leases in the central division fall in, there must be a crash. The Labour party in the Assembly mean to eradicate squatters, and the very name is sufficient to arouse the ire of that party. The friction between employer, and employe is intense. Shearers ar€ going to fight again this season, and in the end, it seems to me, both sides will come to grief. In spite of present circumstances there are plenty of opportunities for men of moderate capital here, and iv tho near future Australia will be a large competitor in the frozen meat trade. Long-woolled sheep are coming into favour on the river frontages, aud with chilled cars to carry the carcases to the seaboard from the interior the difficulty of transport will be overcome. I have used Lincoln myself this year, and with the aid of lucerne paddocks expect to do well with the lambs. Lucerne will be the basis of the frozen meat trade, and the possibilities in years to come, with increased cultivation, are very great. AYe have had do rain since Christmas, and yet I am to-day cutting a crop of lucerne of nearly two tons to the acre, and this is the fifth cut this season.

A mob of cows from Queensland passed through to-day and were sold at 10s a head, on long terms, after much difficulty. Cattle holders in the northern colony must be haviug a very trying time; their fats are not netting them 10s, and in many cases a cheque has to be sont to cover expenses. Southland appears to have entered on prosperous times, and I am glad to congratulate you accordingly. The guarantors to the Frozen Meat Company are, I hope, reaping the reward of their unselfish action, though it is very probable that outsiders do not consider what they have done for graziers generally. The past summer has been a scorcher, the thermometer keeping close up to over lOOdeg for weeks at a stretch. Artificial water was never known to disappear so quickly, and the rivers decreased in volume with wonderful rapidity. The Bogan river is dry for miles, and accounts of heavy smothering of sheep in the mudholes through carelessness are becoming frequent. Two thousand six hundred were smothered in about five minutes on the Bogan station owing to some idiot taking 7000 sheep out of a dry paddock on to the river.