74 ^^^^y SOUTH WALES. 



tlie latter iu order to arrive at a fair comparison. In addition to tliis 

 some allowance must also be made for tlie difference iu tlie quality 

 and condition of the wool dealt with in London and in Sydney. 

 Large quantities of the more inferior portions of the clip, intended for 

 sale in the Home market, are scoured prior to shipment, and in this 

 way the London average value per bale is raised to a point relatively 

 higher than the Sydney average. 



Since 1891 there have been unmistakable indications in the slieeiD 

 returns of our colony that the expanding power of this great centre 

 of wool production is, at least, for the time-being, reaching its limits. 

 A reference to the export returns and the actual money-value of same 

 brings out no less clearly the unpalatable fact that the wool-growers 

 of the colony are novv' called upon to depasture increased numbers of 

 sheep in order to keep up the gross returns received for wool. Nor 

 can the decrease in the income arising from the sale of surplus sheep 

 of late years be ignored. It may be urged that a decrease in the 

 flocks does not necessarily imply a decrease in the quantity of wool 

 produced ; and that, as a matter of fact, up to the present time the 

 falling off 3'ear by year in the number of sheep has not been accom- 

 panied by a corresponding shortage in the wool export. That, on the 

 contrary, while the flocks have latterly steadily decreased, the output 

 of wool has gone on increasing so much so that the 1894-5 clip topped 

 all its predecessors, and reached the magnificent total of 1,020,500 

 bales. This is perfectly ti'ue ; but, at the same time, a shortage in the 

 output of wool for the current statistical year — 1st July, 1895, to 30th 

 June, 1896 — as compared with that of the two or three preceding 

 seasons, is imminent, and while this retrograde movement is mainly 

 attributable to the recently prevailing partial drought, it nevertheless 

 serves to disclose the real position of the pastoral situation in New 

 South "Wales at the present time. The late drought — 1895 — was not 

 only partial, but it in no degree equalled many of its forerunners 

 either in point of severity or duration. Its effects, however, have been 

 sufliciently disastrous to show that, due regard being paid to their 

 present capabilities, nearly all the more important sheep areas of the 

 colony are stocked up to an extent which is nothing short of perilous, and 

 to demonstrate with much force the impracticability of further progress 

 on those lines which have heretofore been most widely adopted. The 

 cost of production has of late years been reduced to some extent to 

 meet the shrinkage in wool and sheep values ; but the reductions pos- 

 sible have not been such as to afford anything like adequate relief and 

 place the profit and loss account of the pastoral industry on a perfectly 

 satisfactory and healthy basis. At the present stage in the history of 

 the pastoral and wool industry of New South Wales the question as to 

 what steps should be taken to ensure future advancement is indeed 

 a very pertinent one. A survey of the past warrants the belief that 

 no limit can be placed on the productive powers of the enormous area 

 of pasturage contained in this Colony, and yet it is clear that the 

 pastoral productiveness of the country is just now being barely main- 

 tained. Flock-masters themselves may be relied upon to do much to 

 remedy the existing condition of things, and prepare the way for future 

 prosperity. The skill and genius of breeders are, in an ever-increasing 

 number of cases, being brought most successfully to bear in improving 



