The Black Swans 



sort, grown primarily for his meat, 

 the wool being a by-product only, and 

 as a rule a longer and coarser staple 

 than the Merinos of Australasia. Not- 

 withstanding the fact that the long 

 and so-called middle-wools find a good 

 market in the woolen trade, and not- 

 withstanding the high prices of lamb 

 and mutton produced by these dual- 

 purpose British and American sheep, 

 still our farmers do not now, and for 

 a long time to come probably will not 

 as a rule, engage in their production. 

 Why? 



A knit club can ask more questions 

 in a minute than can be answered in a 

 day. There are several reasons given 

 by our farmers in reply to such queries. 

 For one, the curse of cur dogs. Any 

 worthless canine vagabond, of which 

 there are tens of thousands in the rural 

 districts, can and may slit the throats 

 and worry to their death in one night 

 what it has taken some hard-working 

 farmer-shepherd months or years to 



[ 14] 



