296 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 



- Our two time-hnnoied competitors in the pi otluctinii of fine wool, Sjiain a;id (jcnnsnT 

 dave been lairl y beaten out of the field. T)ie climate and ()a8turage of these colonies, and of tb« 

 coM'zenial settlement at the Cape of Good Hope, backed by the energies of their Anglo-Saxon 

 race of flock-masters, have more than compensated for our gieater distance from British mar 

 kets. We have been enabled to supply a good article — in vast and ever-increasing quanti< 

 liev— and at prices wlrich, notwithstanding the cost of carriage, have, thiough onr facilities oi 

 proiliiction, left us a remunerating profit, but which our ancient rivals have found to be i»- 

 sufficient tc replace prime cost. 



" But although Spain and Germany have ceased to vie with us as sellers of the raw mate 

 ri-iil in England, they have done so only to renew the contest in another form. They have 

 enlarged their manufacturing oj)erations. Since they can no longer sell theii- fleece at a profit, 

 they have resolved on woiking it np in their own looms. To that extent, therefore, they will 

 cease to import wrought woolen fabrics ; and in so far as their imports were from Great 

 Britiiiii. there will be a corresponding decrease in the British consumption of our wools. Tho 

 woolen cloths imi)orted into those two countries from Great Britain, in the year 1841, amounted, 

 in declared value, to £1,026.431 sterling: and if we add the quantities imported in the sam<! 

 year into Holland and Belgium, the anKjunt would have been about a million and a half. We 

 n»ust therefore be cautious, as prudent men, not to allow our spirits to be too much exhilarated 

 by the apparent victory we have gained over • our liereditary enemies,' seeing that, though 

 seemingly vanquished, they have but shifted their position and varied their tactics. 



" A.indicious writer says', in 1844 : ' Of late years cottons have, from their cheapness, in a 

 great degree superseded tlie lower qualities of cloths — a circumstance which, joined to the 

 increasing rivalry of France, Gennauy and Belgium, renders it improbable, unless new mar 

 kels shall be opened in China or elsewhere, that much exlensiun will in future be given t< 

 .lur manufacture of woolen cloths.^* 



" While, however, the Spanish and the Gei-man wool-growers have thus ceased (or are 

 expected veiy shortly to cease) to compete with us as exporters to England, another com 

 petitor has sprung up in a new and quite unexpected quarter. In addition to corn, bread 

 stuffs, rice, tobacco, cotton, sugar, and an endless catalogue of ' notions,' in which Brotlier 

 .Jonathan has hitherto prided himself as a mighty producer, he has now taken it into hi« 

 head that he can breed sheep and export wool on a large scale. And it would seem that in 

 England his whim has by no means been thought whimsical. For, say certain Liverpool 

 brokers to him. under date of 3d September, 1846: ' The arrivals of wool from the United 

 States last year, for the first time to any extent, made quite a sensation in this country, as it 

 was <,'eneraily considered that you required to import these qualities, and there was do 

 kuovvledge that your growth of wool was of such importance. We have seen it e»tinuited 

 at tixty-five million pounds •f'i and from your vast (and to us almost incredible) means of 

 I)roductiou, we believe it will cause a kind of revolution in the wool trade.'' 



"Jonathan's own opinion of the matter is thus expressed through the medium of the New- 

 Orlean, Commercial Times : ' Wool can be grown as cheaply, and to as great advantage, in 

 the cotton-growing States as in any part of the worid. There is nothing in the climate to 

 prevent it. If it may be found desirable to grow that of the finest grades, it can be done 

 without fear of the animals becoming covered with hair in a few years.' He has evidently 

 some misgivings, however, as to the policy of his attempting the finest grades, lor he imme- 

 diately subjoins, ' However, we are inclined to think that wool of a coarser quality will be 

 found most, profitable, mutton being also an object with us.' 



■' If the United Stales already produce four times the quantity of wool that we do, and if 

 there is a reasonable chance of their producing it of a quality equal to ours, and at no greater 

 cost, then have we indeed much to fear from their formidable rivalry. The vast extent of 

 their territory, the almost illimitable resources of their soil and climate, the indomitable spirit 

 of their citizens, combined with their proximity to the British market, will render their com 

 petition, if successful at all, successful in no ordinary deg7-ee. 



" ' Wool,' says another Liverpool correspondent, addressing an American, ' requires in ita 

 YiTnAnclion great ottentlon in crosnng the breed, otherwise the quality degenerates venr 

 quickly. The maintenance of its fineness depends also very much on the nature of the pak. 

 tiirage on vvhich the sheep graze. And we may remark that your oun samples are of a par 

 Ucnlarli/ good kind.' " 



Here is a word of encouragement for the Americans, with a word of caution for the Aqb 

 Iralians. Of the two requisites for the production and preservation of a superior staple, one 

 fuitable pantnrage, 3 bountifully supphed to the Australian grower by Nature, while the 

 other depends upon his own industry and skill. In this, it is to be feared, he has scarcely 

 been just to himself. He has possiljly piesumed too much upon the natwral advaningos of 

 tlie fine sheep-sustaining country in which his capital is staked. It will be well if this note 

 of warning from the land of Stars and Striiies shall rouse him to a more vigilant attention. 



[Simmonds's Colonial Magazine 



* WRterton'8 Cyclopajdia of Commerce, p. 672. 



t The quantity of wool exported from New South Wales, including the district of Port rbi1ip,iii iIm yvm 

 IR43. was 17,564.734 lbs. 



