Pastoral Matters in New South Wales

Southland Times, Issue 12008, 31 March 1892, Page 2

Pastoral Matters in New South Wales

A former resilient in Southland, now in the Wellington district of New .South i Wales, wri'ii:^ to a friend in this district, gives the following disheartening description of the position of pastoral affairs in his neighbourhood. His letter is dated 18th March, and as the writ, or is a gentleman of experience in the man era with which he deals, and one, moreover, not addicted to making rash statements, what he says ia well worthy of consideration by our mote favoured owners of sheep and other stock. After _ some references to other subjec ta he writes: — "I have been a good deal on the move myself l.iteiy, and have only just retarned from an inspecting tour in the W-Jst. lam sorry to say that pastoral affairs in this colony are at a very low ebb indeed. Nearly all the western stations aremncn overstocked, some carrying l\ sheep to the- acre; and on the Darling, matters are very serious. The tanks are mostly dry, or practically so, no rain of any consequence having fallen for six mouths, and 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 on its own resources a long time. The destruction cause! by rabbits in the far west is something deplorable, and must be seen to be believed, and the pest has not nearly reached a climax yet. As regards prices for stock the leasi, said the better, as all classes of stock are simply unsaleable. Sheep were selling at Oi ange, 60 miles from here, at 8d a head to start with, and finally at 35s per hundred. I was offered L 2 5s for fat bullocks recently, and this ia equivalent to the prices I would ol tain by sending them to the Sydney market, where 60,000 sheep ! per week are going in to supply the demand i for 30,000. There is n> doubt in my mind that New South Wales is entering upon ! very doubtful times. A drought would leave many people iD equally as good a position as they now ure in, as half their slock would then be worth what the whole is now ; but apart from that, squatters i generally are much embarrassed, and in 1 1895, when the leaser in the central division , fall in, there must be a crash. ! The Labour Party in the Assembly mean j to eradicate squatters, and the very name is I sufficient to arouse the ire of that party. ! The friction between employer and employe 1 is intense. Shearers are 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 I here, and in the near future Australia will ! be a large competitor in the frozen meat I trade. Longwoolled sheep are coming into ' favour on the river frontages, and with ! chilled cars to carry tie carcases to the seaboard from the interior the difficulty of transport will be overcome. I have used Lincoln rams myself this year, and with the aid of lucerne paddocks expect to do well ! with the lambs. Lucorne will be the basis j of the frozen meat trade, and the possibilities I in years to come, with increased cultivation, j an: very great. We have had no rain since Christmas, and yet I am to-day cutting a crop of lucerne of nearly two tonß to the acre, aud this is the iifth cut this season. A mob of cows fro-n Queensland passed thiough to-day and were sold at ten shillings a head, on lon^ terms, after much difficulty. C ittle holders iv the northern colony must be having a very trying lime ; their fats are not netting them ten shillings, and in many caoea ■ a cheque has to be sent 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 con* sider what they have done for graziers generally. The past summer has been a scorcher, the thermometer keeping close up to over 100 deg. for weeks at a stretch. Artificial water was never known to disappear so quickly, and the rivers decreased in volume with wonderful rapidity. The liogan river is dry for miles, and accounts of heavy smotheriugs of sheep in the mudholes through carelessness are becoming frequent. Two thousand six hundred were smothered ia about five minutes on tbe Bogaa station owing to some idiot taking 7000 sheep out of a dry paddock on to the river."