AUSTRALIAN PROSPECTS 49 



of that invaluable plant lucerne. While Argentine 

 pastoralists arc able to keep up a steady stream 

 of supplies, the New Zealand farmer, especially 

 in the South Island, depends to a large degree on 

 turnips for fattening sheep, with the result that 

 during certain months of the year no shipments 

 are made. It has been suggested that this diffi- 

 culty might be overcome by increasing the storage 

 facilities in New Zealand, so that an interruption 

 in supplies would be avoided. 



A comparison of railway facilities and organisa- 

 tion brings out another point in which the Argen- 

 tine producer has the advantage. The Report 

 of the Royal Commission on food supplies in 

 New South Wales, recently published, clearly 

 shows the defects of transportation. 



The Commission recommends amongst other 

 improvements that sheep trucks should be pro- 

 vided opening at the ends, that the cattle trucks 

 should be better ventilated, and that stringent 

 measures be taken to detect and punish careless- 

 ness in driving of stock trains. As " trucks 

 opening at the end " may come somewhat as a 

 surprise to English readers, it may be mentioned 

 that the trucks on Argentine Railways are all 

 fitted in this way, the sheep trucks being " two- 

 deckers ' ' and thus capable of carrying large 

 numbers conveniently. 



Overleaf will be found a table giving various 



D 



