Sheef Breeding for Export. 331 



to make room for the young stock coming' on. Butchers were paying 

 such low prices for mutton that to boil down the carcasses gave 

 equally good returns. At that time the Avhole ])rofit of .sheep-raising 

 was derived from the wool, but this did not then average anything 

 near Is. per lb. Good prices were obtained only for superior Merino 

 and fine cross-bred wool, the best of which realized from Is. to Is. 2d. 

 per lb. for many years. 



The Rise of the Export Trade. 



After the export trade had been carried on for a few years, the 

 types of sheep bred had incidentally become much superior to what 

 they had been previously. The demand for a heavier carcass than 

 the Merino gave was soon met by the system of cross-breeding on the 

 Merino ewe, and the improvement thus obtained resulted in better 

 prices for the exported meat. Export not only got rid of surplus 

 stock, but also gave every opportunity and encouragement for breed- 

 ing better sheep, as year by year more grazing was available for the 

 young and improved increase. At the same time another most 

 important chang^e was an improved and a stable local market, which 

 is still in existence. 



Any country can rightly be proud of the colossal strides this 

 trade has made during the past twenty years, and South Africa could 

 do ec|ually well if her farmers would try to emulate th*e Australians 

 and organize their breeding to suit the world's markets. 



South Africa has, according to the latest statistics, more than one- 

 third the number of sheep of Australia and New Zealand combined, 

 over five millions of which are Persians, bastards, and nondescripts. 

 The 1919' census gives 34,101,303 as the total number of sheep i)j. 

 South Africa; in 1920 it is stated that nearly three and a half million 

 of them died during the drought of 1919-20 — thus leaving, with the 

 increase for 1920-21, approximately 35,000,000 sheep on hand. 



To work up the exjiort trade, the Persians, bastards, and non- 

 descripts should be principally dealt with, leaving the other breeds 

 of vsheep to supply the better classes of wool. 



In advocating the use of Merino ewes for cross-breeding in South 

 Africa, it is not intended to convey the meaning that cross-breds 

 should in any way supersede Merinos, but rather the reverse, as 

 Merino ewes that are cast for age and culls of an undesirable type 

 could be profitably made use of to jiroduce an early maturing carcass 

 of lamb or mutton. The Merino in South i\,frica is one of our most 

 valuable assets, and when possible profitably to grow them it would 

 be folly to replace them with cross-breds of any kind, as the world's 

 supply of Merino sheep has never been as low for many years as it is 

 at the present time, and in spite of the accumulation of wool, owing 

 to war conditions, the greater part comprising inferior grade Merino 

 and cross-bred wool, the outlook for Merino wool is decidedlj' bright 

 and likely to last for many years to come. 



The latest figures (March, 1921) as given by the Pastoral Review 

 of Sydney, New South Wales, show the enormous trade now done 

 in frozen mutton by Australia and New Zealand. The total number 

 of sheep in Australia in 1920 was 75,186,058, and their export to 

 the United Kingdom 3,571,534 sheep and 1,917,119 lambs. This is 

 considerably below the average, owing to a bad season and drought in 

 the early part of the year. New Zealand had in 1920 a total of 



