04 THE WORLD'S MEAT FUTURE 



bat no one is troubling aboul breeding. Sheep pay better, 

 and the cattle question is left to look after itself. No doubt, 

 as export develops and the whole country advances, the cattle 

 numbers will increase, and increase considerably. 



On the Murchison and the Eastern Goldfields there are some 

 73,349 cattle, over 20,660 of which are held round Kalgoorlie, 

 which is, for the first time in its brief history, able to eat its 

 own roasts for a considerable portion of the year. There is 

 still much unoccupied country in these divisions, but, served 

 as the country is with railways, it is more likely to increase 

 its sheep numbers than its cattle. The country along the 

 Great Western Railway, too, may probably run some cattle, 

 but the chances are that here as elsewhere sheep will be the 

 objective. 



Lastly, we have the agricultural areas of the South-western 

 Division, which ran 120,582 cattle ten years ago, and only 

 counts up 99,358 to-day. The South-west is not a cattle coun- 

 try, and the most that can be hoped for is the development of 

 dairying in the improved country, and a gradual but slow 

 increase, perhaps principally of dairy breeds, and to a lesser 

 degree of beef breeds. But that increase is not likely to be 

 sudden or considerable. 



From this sketch it will be seen that Western Australian 

 increase will be in the tropics and very largely in proportion 

 to the development of cold storage. Southwards, as the popu- 

 lation grows, there is little probability of any noticeable in- 

 crease in the day of this generation. And even if the present 

 figures were doubled they would still be inconsiderable. 



