200 



Ni:W SOUTH WALES. 



Burj)lus Availahle for Export. 



The number of lambs auniTally weaned from 56_,000,000 slieep sliould 

 be, as near as possible, 12,000,000. The annual decrease from mortality, 

 &c., on 56,000,000 is estimated at about 3,000,000. We have, therefore, 

 an annual surplus of some 9,000,000 sheep to dispose of, if the flocks of 

 the Colony are to be kept at an even number. Of this 9,000,000, some 

 4,000,000 are consumed locally, including those sent to Tasmania and 

 Victoria, leaving, say 5,000,000, for export as frozen and canned meat, 

 extract, and tallow. To this we must add imports from Queensland, 

 which will vary from half a million to a million, according to the seasons. 

 If the seasons were regular, and there were no droughts, there would 

 therefore be about5,500,000sheep for export; but during the last twenty- 

 one years the losses from adverse seasons amount to over 33,000,000 

 head, or an average of over 1,500,000 sheep a year. We cannot, there- 

 fore, count on more than 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 sheep as being available 

 for export. Some years there may be as many as 6,000,000, some years 

 only 1,000,000. If sheep-breeders take up cross-breeding to any extent 

 there will be a large available surplus, as numbers of cross-breds go 

 away as lambs, while all mature from a year to eighteen months earlier 

 than do merinos. If there are 4,000,000 sheep available for export, not 

 more than half of that number can be expected to go away as frozen 

 mutton, the balance will leave the country canned, oras extractand tallow. 

 There ought not to be much difficulty in disposing of 2,000,000 frozen 

 sheep annually from New South Wales, and this is as much as we can 

 count on exporting in the present state of the development of the Colony. 



Cattle. 



The cattle and beef export trade of New South Wales is very small as 

 compared with that of sheep. As a matter of fact we have no surplus of 

 our own for export. Everything above our own wants comes from 

 Queensland, and until the present year the export of frozen beef has 

 been nominal. If beef recovers in value at home it is more than pro- 

 bable that there will be in future a considerable trade with England in 

 frozen beef, as sheep have done so badly in some parts of the Colony of 

 late years that a little encouragement would without doubt induce 

 graziers to substitute cattle for sheep in those parts. The number of 

 cattle in New South Wales on the 1st of January, 1895, was about 

 2,455,500. The yearly increase may be estimated at 400,000 and the 

 net imports from Queensland 100,000, while the average loss from adverse 

 seasons may be put at 80,000 a year. The relative position of the 

 principal beef-exporting countries can be seen from the following table 

 in which 700 lb. has been assumed as the average weight per beast : — ■ 



Frozen Beef Exports. 



