SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 



English and Frercb writers above quoted, as offering instances of the yi^i- 

 fectly successful acclimation of Merinos, without deterioraticn of theit 

 wool, in warm climates, it may be well to inquire a little more particularly 

 what the climate of those countries is ; and what, if any, the other cir- 

 cumstances connected with them, having an influence on the quality of 

 the wools g^rown in them. 



Port Jackson, in Australia, in the vicinity of which the Merinos were 

 f.-^st introduced, and are now extensively bred, lies in 33^ 55' South lati- 

 tude, corresponding as nearly with the latitude of Georgetown, South 

 Carolina, as that of any othei important point in our country.* In de 

 scribing this region (New South Wales) Malte Brun says : 



" The coast itself is high but not mountainous ; and it is partly shaded by trees of gigant ic 

 size. Toward the south-east a great part is covered with coppice; much also is occupied 

 with marshes. About Botauy IBayt the soil is black, rich and exceedingly productive in 

 plants. The north-east part seems lower. The const is covered with mangroves. . . . 

 The heat of December rises to 112^ Fahrenheit. The forests and the grass have been known 

 spontaneously to take fire.t The North-west wind, like the Khamseen of Egypt, scorches 

 the soil and reduces it to a light dust. . . . Notwithstanding these dis tdvantages. the 

 climate is very healthy, and very favorable to populalion. . . . Those jiarts in which 

 different trials have been made have rather too wann a climate for common barley and oats, 

 though these grains have been found to succeed tolerably well on the poorer soils. . . 

 All the vegetables grown in England are produced in ihe English colony . . Peaches, 

 apricots, nectai-ines, oranges, lemons, guavas, loquets, cherries, walnuts, nlmonds, grapei 

 pears, pomegranates and'melons attain the highest maturity in the open air."|| 



The country, most of it, is remarkably deficient in water, ^ though many 

 portions are subject to destructive inundations.^ Its drouths are unequaled 

 for their duration and intensity iu, perhaps, any inhabited portion of the 

 Tlobe.** Its vast plains, occasionally highly fertile, but more usually, only 

 n detached spots, afford pasture throughout the year. 



The physical features of this country, its system of sheep husbaijdry, 

 etc. will be more particularly alluded to hereafter. 



The English first introduced into this remote possession the coarse liaiij 

 'theep of Bengal. In the short space of three years these were so fai 

 changed by the effect of the climate and other circumstances, that theit 

 hair was entirely gone, and was succeeded by a fleece of wool.tt The 

 South-DoWn and Leicesters were subsequently introduced, and theit 

 crosses with the Bengal sheep soon became as fine as the pure bloods of 

 the former. At length some Merinos were itn ported by the colonist?, 

 and, says Mr. Youatt, " The experiment was satisfactory beyond their ex- 

 pectation. The third or fourth cross with the then prevalent sheep of the 

 colony produced an animal with a fleece equal to that of the pure Merino 

 m Europe ; and the wool of the pure blood seemed to improve as rapidly 

 as the native breed had done."|| lit 1810, the export of wool from Aus- 

 ^.-alia and Van Dieman's Land was 167 lbs. ; in 1833, it had reached 

 3,516,869 Ibs.llll In 1843, it amounted to 16,226,400 lbs.§§ 



The following, from a table in McCulloch's Dictionary of Commerce, 

 will show the current prices (reduced to American currency) of some of 

 the imported and domestic wools, in London, March, 1834 : 



$ cts. ( cts. 



Spanish per lb. — 60 to — 77 



ortuguf.se — 44 '• — 62 



Oehhan. Saxon, &c — 48 " 1 l.'i 



AUStRALIAV — 50 " 1 00 



English : | eta. t tta\ 



North & South-Down, perlb. — 44 to — 48. 



Leicester — 33 " — 44- 



Lincoln, Cotswold, Romney ] 



Marsh — 40 " — 44 



• Georgetown is perhai>8 half ii deirree nearer the Equator. 

 t This place is twelve miles south of Port Jackson. 



I Malte Hrun cites Collins (an author frequently quoted in relation to New South Wales) for this 8t 

 Dd, perhaps, exa^serated asaenion. || Mklte Brun, vol. i. pp. 600— 605. 



5 Spooner, Touatt,etc. H Malte Brun. ** See McCulloch's Commercial Dictionary, 



t Youatt on Sheej), p )84. .Spooner, Diseases of Sheep, p. 62. 



Xi lb. V 18«. nil lb. et .-Spooner. }) Spooner. 



'.65»: D 



