424 .Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [10 July, 1917. 



which justifies it being held up as an example of the greatest degree of 

 dirt that' man can compare anything to, with the words " as dirty as a 

 pig sty." It should be as dirty as man can make it, for the pig is not 

 responsible; he must wallow in it in winter without a dry spot, to lie on, 

 and be tortured by I he sun and flies in summer. His trough is seldom 

 cleaned out ; it becomes sour and stinking. Suddenly there are numerous 

 deaths, particularly with the young ones, or they won't thrive, and be- 

 come fit subjects for disease, and the verdict goes forth " There's nothing 

 in pigs." Ti^y and estimate what the loss to the industry is through bad 

 management and this policy of " That'll do." Look on the other side 

 of the picture. What animal of the farm is there that will breed, fatten, 

 and return profits so quickly when managed correctly ? Would j'ou not 

 all like to get 9s. per bushel for your wheat? That is what it is worth 

 as food for pigs when pork is 9d. per lb., but it is necessary that an effort 

 should be made to obtain tliis return, in the direction of widening your 

 sphere of operations and working for it. There is a mistaken idea in 

 the minds of many that pig-raisins; can only be carried on in conjunction 

 with dairying, but the sooner this idea is exploded the better it will be 

 for the community, and the sooner will our flocks and herds be restored 

 to their normal, or, as they should in a growing country, show an in- 

 crease. 



It does not say much for our progress that 23 years ago (in 1894) 

 there were more cattle in Auslralia than anv other period of our history, 

 and 26 years ago the greatest number of sheep, were held, the figures 

 being as follows: — 



Maximum Number of Cattle, Sheep, and Pigs in Australia. 



Cattle in 1894 .. .. .. .. 12,311.617 



Sheep in 1891 .. .. .. .. 106,421,063 



Pigs in 1911 .. .. 1,110,721 



The maximum number and present number of cattle, sheep, aud pigs 

 in Victoria: — 



Maximum. 

 Cattle .. (1894) 1,833,900 



Sheep .. (1907) 14,146,734 



Pig,s .. (1900) 350,370 



Will any one question the truth of the following: — Seeding is on, 

 and in the evening return is made to the homestead with the dray, in 

 which is a bag of wheat. The question is asked: " What shall we do 

 with this wheat?" How often is the reply on the following 

 Hue?: — " Oh, we are going out again to-morrow. Leave it in the dray. 

 That'll do." The horses are put away for the night, but the bolt is off 

 the stable door. You meant to put those screws in every day for the past 

 couple of years. Or the rails are broken ; you meant to bring a new one 

 in every time you went out to the timber. Well, it. can't be helped to- 

 night, so " prop it up with that bit of sapling. Thati'll do." In the 

 morning the wheat is missing, and half-a-dczen valuable horses are roll- 

 ing in pain; before many hours are past two or three are dead, others 

 foundered, and some hundreds of pounds has been lost for ever. 



Sheep farmers, does "That'll do" cost' you anything? Shearing is 

 over. Probably there was an odd tick found on the sheep, so " That'll 

 do "; you are too busy to dip, or, maybe, there is hardly enough dip 

 left. "Put some more water in; that'll do," or, "I am going to sell 

 the lambs, so dip the ewes only; that'll do." But some of the lambs 



