14 Australia : The Dairy Country. 



Subsidiary Industries. 



Pig-Raising. Not least among the rural industries awaiting a 

 far wider development in Australia is that of pig raising. For very 

 many years the number of these animals raised in the different 

 States showed no appreciable increase, though of more recent years 

 improvements in this direction have been noticeable. Yet the rate 

 of progress is quite unequal to the requirements of local demand and 

 of the export business. 



Pig raising for years has been a kind of subsidiary industry to 

 dairying, and as such has seldom received the attention warranted 

 by the returns yielded. To some extent it has been the ease with 

 which these profits have been obtained that has brought about the 

 condition of affairs existent to within a few years ago. Pig raising 

 now, instead of being regarded merely as an adjunct to dairying, is 

 being looked upon much in the same light as is a main line whether 

 connected with dairying or general farming. This is indicated by 

 the fact that where previously any description of boar or sow was 

 good enough to produce a litter, now both farmers and dairymen 

 are using chiefly the pedigree stock, and are giving attention to the 

 different crosses most likely to give the largest litters suitable for 

 bacon production, which can be brought into condition for market 

 in the quickest time. The introduction of these businesslike methods 

 has naturally resulted in greater gains, and has further given a 

 stimulus to the pig-raising industry. 



The policy of closer settlement which is entering freely into the 

 rural development of the various States is furthermore causing 

 farmers and settlers to give more careful attention to any side 

 industry which can be made to return a good margin of profit on 

 the labour expended. In other words, the modern farmer is becom- 

 ing more alive to the business possibilities of what may be termed 

 specialised production. It is in this fact that the future development 

 of the pig-raising industry depends. A dairyman, general farmer, 

 irrigationist, and even the fruitgrower finds the pig of inestimable 

 value in using up the waste produce, and turning it into a commodity 

 which will return high interest in a remarkably short space of time. 



This turn of events is making itself felt in other directions. 

 Bacon-curing establishments and co-operative factories are coming 

 into existence where formerly supplies would never have justified 

 their presence, and the result is that those who have suitable classes 

 of pigs to dispose of find no difficulty in turning them over at 

 lucrative prices. 



This, however, can only be regarded as a commencement in the 

 turn of affairs, for with the increased demand and added facilities 

 of marketing, the sound establishment of the industry is each year 

 becoming more assured. 



