630 



inches below the top of 'the post in the centre. The barbed wire 

 is placed in position and strained, then small wires are passed 

 through the holes made in the posts and twisted round the barbed 

 wire, thus retaining it firmly in position. This plan is much to be 

 preferred to the old practice of stapling the wire to the top of the 

 post. 



All descriptions ot log, chock and log, and brush fences are 

 merely makeshifts. They serve to keep merino sheep within bounds, 

 but are next to useless to retain longwools, and they do not last 

 long. Whatever fence be used the sheep should never be left with- 

 out supervision. They should be accustomed to the sight of men on 

 horseback and on foot. It is when going through a mob of sheep in 

 a large paddock that a good dog is found useful. Sheep left too 

 much to themselves are apt to become wild, and if disturbed by the 

 sudden appearance of a horseman or footman will run for miles. 

 With a dog they can be rounded up, gone among quietly, and left 

 standing in a mob. Good fences, though costing more than bad or 

 indifferent ones, are the cheapest in the end. The sheep do better 

 in well fenced paddocks than in badly fenced ones, as there is less 

 draughting to do. 



BUSH FIRES. 



When all vegetation is dried up to the condition of so 

 much shavings, as is but too frequently the condition of the 

 country towards the end of an Australian summer, bush tires often 

 do an immense amount of harm. In thinly grassed country there 

 is not only the loss of the fodder and the seed of the grasses, but 

 the plants' are greatly weakened, if not killed outright. In thickly 

 grassed countries a fire often does a deal of good by destroying the 

 germs of disease ; but where the grass is scanty a bush lire is the 

 very worst thing that can happen. If it is deemed advisable to 

 burn a paddock, the best plan is to do it after the lirst rains have 

 fallen in autumn, as there is less danger then of the roots being 

 killed than if the lire takes place in summer. 



If the country will permit it, lire breaks should be made round 

 the run, taking in all wire fences. These breaks should be made as 

 soon as the grass will burn in summer. On the open count iy in 

 Victoria I found the night the best time to burn, as the progress 

 made, though slower than in the day time, was much more effectual. 

 Whether or no the burning of lirebreaks is possible, patches on dry 

 bunks should be burned early in the season. Should a great lire 

 occur these patches can be utilised as safe harbors of refuge for the 

 sheep. In settled country it is the custom to run ploughed furrows 

 round the fences and burn between, but this plan is not practicable 

 in back country. These furrows render the work of burning the 

 firebreaks more easily accomplished, and with fewer men than 

 where no furrows are used. A boundary firebreak should be at 

 least 80 yards wide, and with a strong gale of wind even that is not 

 a certain protection. 



