GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS OF BREEDING 



AND 



REPORT ON THE SHEEP SHOW, 



ADDRESSED TO 



MR. LE CAPITAINE DE VAISSEAU MATHIEU, 



General Commissioner for France to the Sydney Internationa 

 Exhibition, 1879. 



Sydney, 10th December, 1879. 



SIR 



You have done me the honour to request me to report 

 on the Sheep Show which has just taken place ; and to 

 prove that I duly appreciate this mark of your esteem, I 

 think I cannot do better than place before you all the obser- 

 vations I have made on the animals exhibited, together with 

 the various reflections which have suggested themselves to 

 my mind. 



New South Wales a country specially adapted for 

 breeding purposes owes its riches, in great measure, to its 

 cattle and sheep, which form the elements of a very active 

 trade with Europe. But the benefits which that fruitful 

 branch of Agriculture Stock-breeding bestows upon the 

 inhabitants of this country are not spontaneous results; they 

 are the justly deserved rewards granted by Nature to the 

 persevering efforts of a people whose energy daily enlarges 

 the boundary line of reclamation substituting civilization for 

 barbarism, and converting barrenness into fruitful plenty. 



These results could only have been obtained by a 

 people of progress a class which has never been wanting in 

 this country; but it may be well to remark that, although a 

 spirit of enterprise and perseverence is a condition of success 

 for those who embark in Agricultural pursuits, there must 

 also be certain special knowledge, which may be acquired in two 

 ways, viz. : By study put into actual practice, and thereby 

 confirmed ; or by practice alone, that is to say, by custom. 

 In the latter case the knowledge is incomplete, as it has only 

 one basis in place of two. In both the foregoing classes 

 many breeders are to be found in New South Wales ; keen 

 observers, knowing admirably well how to prepare their 

 animals for competition, and thorough masters of their 

 business. 



