CHAPTER II 

 SHEEP AND LOCALITIES 



Merino and cross-bred sheep Countries they are best adapted for. 



FIRST let us take the Australian Merino, the sheep that has made 

 Australian wool famous and sought after, by almost every nation 

 in the world. There are several types of Merino sheep, such as 

 the wrinkly American Vermont, and the large-framed plain-bodied 

 type, which is the most fashionable Merino at the present time. 

 We also have the fine-woolled type from the Mudgee District of 

 New South Wales, and Victoria. Tasmania is also noted for its 

 fine-woolled sheep. In South Australia the type most used is the 

 strong, bold type of Merino, growing a wool of great length, the 

 quality being 58's to 6o's. Australia being such a large continent 

 naturally has several distinct types of country, varying from the 

 hot, dry, sandy plain country of western New South Wales and 

 northern South Australia to the luxuriant pastures of the Western 

 District of Victoria, the south-eastern portion of South Australia 

 and Tasmania. Now each of these localities requires a sheep 

 suitable for them, and the grasses or bushes which grow there. 

 The fine-wool Merino is largely used in the Mudgee District of 

 New South Wales, and the country there is suitable for sheep 

 growing that class of wool. The wool grown in the Mudgee 

 District is fairly heavy in condition. 



The Western District of Victoria is another district where this 

 fine wool grows to perfection ; i6o's have been spun from Merino 

 wool grown at Ercildoune in the Western District of Victoria, and 

 it would be hard to find any other country in the world that can 



