SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. i9 



" LHlterly they (Aiisti-aliaii iind \m Dieiiiairs Laud wools) have b'^i'ii of varied (lualitiea, 

 but all possessing an extiaoitliiian- softness, wliicli ihe iniiuiifiictiirers here so mucl' admira 

 that th';y aie sought for nioie than any other th.'soription of wools, from llial peculiar quality, 

 which is supposed to arise from the climate aloue. They are known to require less >t' the 

 milling or fulhng power than any other descriptions of wools. . . Thoy are better adapted 

 than the (ierman wools to mix with British wools, because the sui)erior softness which J 

 have stilted gives a character, when mixed wth English wool, that the other does not, from 

 the hiirdness of ths fibre."* 



Mr. Stewart Donaldson, merchant, London, says : 



*' I have no hesit«tiou in i>ronoiuiciiig that the wools of New Soutli Wales a-id Van Die- 

 BOau's Land are decidedly prefened to the apparently similar descriptions of Gormiui wool 

 . . . They have a softness and sllkiaess about them which, when woiked up into cloth, 

 gfcows itself more distinctly than in the raw material. I conceive tbit it is dependent on the 

 chmate alone. 1 am of opinion that wool of that quahty could not be produced in any pait 

 of Europe."! 



Mr. Thomas Legg, wool-stapler, Bermondsey, says: 



'• There are some o/" these wools of very beautiful quality, as good as any of the German 

 wools."* 



Mr. Thomas Ebswoith, wool-broker, London, says: 



'• The peculiarity of the climate of New South Wales a[)pears to have a very great efl'ect 

 on wool, so as to reduce it from a harsiiness to a veiy hue texture. "|| 



This was the substance of a/l the testimony on this particular point; 

 and when it is understood that the investigation was an issue between rival 

 interests, where all the facts were thoroughly sifted, the fact that the above 

 assertions were undisputed shows that they were considered of an indis- 

 putable character. 



Allusior. has alieady been made to the loose and careless system of 

 sheep-breeding, etc. in Australia, compared with that in Germany. Tak- 

 ing this into consideration ; taking also into consideration that the flock 

 furnishing the best wool in Australia (Capt. McArthur's) is composed of 

 ]^ade ?heep (Bengal and English, graded up with Merino and Saxon rams), 

 the trifling effect f)f climate is made more strikingly to appear. 



The statements of Mr. Cocktill in relation to the softness of the wools 

 grown in Tennessee and Mississippi, sustain and are sustained by those 

 above given ; and they go to show that it is the result of a general law 

 and not of any peculiar local inBuences peculiar to Australia 



on Wool, *c. ToL U. pp. 10-3. t IMd. UO-i. t 'Ml 184. ii IbuL IM. 



