PREFACE 



WHAT a history of fascinating romance surrounds the sheep and 

 wool industry ! It is woven into every department of our national 

 and social life. It is Australia's and was once the main source of 

 England's national wealth, for woollen goods at the beginning of 

 the eighteenth century formed two-thirds of England's exports. 



The trade in wool has caused great wars and, what is more, has 

 paid for them, which cannot be affirmed by many persons and 

 things that have brought about international bloodshed. For 

 centuries it was the pivot on which much diplomatic and 

 political intrigue revolved, and kings and statesmen thought and 

 dwelt in sheep and wool. 



Australia is at the present time the leading sheep and wool- 

 growing country in the world ; it owes this position to the early 

 pioneers who, with indomitable grit and courage, faced the Blacks, 

 the droughts, the loneliness, and other dangers of the Australian 

 bush, that only the stoutest hearts could survive. 



At the present time there are numbers of sheep farmers carving 

 out homes in the more unsettled parts of Australia's great continent, 

 and undergoing a good many of the minor disadvantages of their 

 brave pioneer forefathers. 



I have often thought how valuable to them would be a well- 

 illustrated and practical handbook, explaining in simple language 

 the most suitable sheep for the various types of country in 

 Australia, and the best methods of marketing wool. 



In the following chapters I have endeavoured to provide in- 

 formation useful to both the large station owner and the man 

 grazing a few hundred sheep. Each class of wool-grower will 



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