96 



NFW SOUTH WALES. 



in tlie westei'ii portions of the Colony, for wliich tliey are well adapted, 

 being of the strong merino combing type, with good sized carcase, 

 and carrying a fleece of very saleable wool. 



The Queensland Merino. — Some excellent stud merino sheep have 

 also been brought to our sales from Queensland, where several of the 

 breeders have for many years maintained pure bred stud flocks of high 

 merit. 



The Present Sources of Supply of Stud Sheep. 



The merino stud rams requii*ed by breeders in this Colony now come 

 principally from Tasmania, Mudgee, Merriwa, and Riverina ; but of late 

 years several other breeders of this class of sheep in New South Wales 

 have made steady progress in improving their position, and their sheep 

 have taken good places on the show-ground and at the sales. This, in 

 many instances, is largely due to the introduction of the American 

 merino which has taken place since 1883, and which still continues, and 

 there is no question as to the success of that blood at the show-yard 

 whatever the ultimate effect of its introduction on the stamina and 

 constitution oft the sheep and the quality and price of the wool may be. 



We are still also receiving some merino stud sheep of high quality 

 from Queensland at our annual sales ; and our sheep-owners in the 

 western and south-western portions of the Colony as a rule continue 

 to obtain their studs from South Australia. 



So far, again, as regards our flock rams, a good many of them also 

 come from Tasmania, but the majority of that class of sheep are bred 

 in the Colony. 



Progress and Future Prospects of the Wool-growing Industry. 



The number of sheep in the Colony at the dates here mentioned was 

 as follows : — 



* In 1S51 the seijuration of Victoria took place, and involved the loss of more than 6,000,000 sheep ; while 

 in 1S60 t^'ueeiisland beean^e a separate Colony, which led to another large reduction in the number of sheep 

 in this Colony, and these losses account for the heavy decrease in the number of the sheep returned for 18C1. 



It will be seen from the foregoing statement that from 1861 to 1891 

 there was a large, and, upon the whole, a steady increase in the number 

 of our sheep, principally because our stock-owners found that sheep 

 running at large in paddocks, instead of being shepherded, paid very 

 much better than cattle. This " turning out," as it is termed, of the 

 sheep led to a radical change in station management, which commenced 

 in this Colony about the end of the sixties. The runs were enclosed 

 and subdivided, and better provision was made for water by putting- 

 down additional wells and constructing more dams and tanks. In these 

 ways the carrying capacity of the runs was increased by at least one- 

 third; the expense of workiug the improved runs was reduced by one- 

 half; the sheep were healthier; the fleece was better, both as regards 

 quality and weight; and owners, instead of having the greater part of 



