■y-i2 JOURISAL OF TlIK DkPARTMKM' OF AGRICULTURE. OcT., 1922. 



23,914,500 sheep and exported to the United Kingdom 4,676,575 

 sheep and 2,031,47o lam])s, and in addition to other countries, princi- 

 pally to the United States of America, 882,862 sheep and 2,422,778 

 lambs, making a g-rand total from iVustralia and uN'ew Zealand of 

 15,002,336 sheep and lambs exported during 1920, which represents 

 loughly at least 15 per cent, of their total sheep. There is no wonder 

 that these countries are forging ahead. 



The class of sheep that finds most favour and coinmands top 

 prices are those weighing from 56 to 64 lb. fat; heavier w^eights do 

 not bring the same price per povmd, as they are not so suitable for 

 family trade. In lambs, the best weights are from 36 to 42 lb. ; 

 over the latter weight they sell at quite a penny a pound less. The 

 same applies to sheep; a 64-lb. hamel will sell for as much as one 

 weighing 74 lb., and it is easier to produce the lighter weights and 

 sell at an earlier age. 



Lost QproRTUNrriKS . 



The start that South Africa made during the war to export 

 mutton has apparently proved unsuccessful. According to our trade 

 returns for 1919 we exported beef to the value of £1,073,436 and 

 mutton £1706, while in 1920 beef had fallen off to £304,073 and 

 mutton to £7. These figures speak for themselves and give food for 

 reflection when compared with those of other countries, which are 

 forging ahead and finding a market for all the stock they can raise. 



South Africa has many advantages not possessed by Australia ; 

 it is three weeks nearer the world's markets, freights are lower, and 

 we can supplement the supply of lambs for the market when theirs 

 are not fit, or their export has finished for the season. Our sheep 

 farmers will soon have a large surplus of stock and a rapidly falling 

 market, with no outlet beyond home consumption. They will have 

 to improve their breeds of sheep in order to claim a place in the 

 world's markets. This can only be brought about by the introduc- 

 tion of cross-breeding on the right lines, and by a better system of 

 management and marketing. 



The past few years should have seen all this accomplished if 

 farmers had been alive to their own inteiests, but so far they have 

 not even made an attempt to breed the right sort of sheep for the 

 export trade. And during the past ten years there has been a steady 

 increase in the number of sheep in South Africa, totalling about 

 seven inillions or more, and if this continues it is obviously going to 

 force the position very soon. 



The few sheep of the desired type thai were exported during the 

 war were most favourably commented on by the best men in the meat 

 trade in England, who said : " We can do with any number of 

 similar sheep and lambs." Now, when sheep have fallen in value 

 locallj' from fifty to sixty per cent., we have none to export, which 

 shows how little alive the farmers have been to their own interests. 



The liEMEDY Suggested. 



It may be said that it is easy to find fault, but not so easy to find 

 a remedy that everybody can carry out ; so a few suggestions as to 

 what to do may be acceptable. 



It will be admitted that there is a great deal of country in the 

 Union that is not fit to grow good, heavy-woolled sheep. It will 



