2 BULLETIN" 313, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



American sheep raisers have not remained wholly unacquainted 

 with the ideas and practices of Australian flock masters. During the 

 past year lectures delivered in western States have done much to 

 familiarize sheep raisers with the very efficient Australasian system 

 of getting wool from the sheep to the mill. For some years persons 

 connected with the wool trade have made it clear that in many phases 

 of sheep raising, especially that of preparing wool for market, Ameri- 

 can methods compare very poorly with those followed in Australasia. 



With conditions as they are at present, when sheep raising contains 

 so much of promise and also of uncertainty, it is well to have at 

 hand as much information as possible regarding the fundamental 

 principles that have so firmly established the sheep industry in Aus- 

 tralasia and made these far-off countries so prominent for both quan- 

 tity and quality in the world's wool trade. Because of these consider- 

 ations, the impressions gained from a comparatively rapid view of 

 sheep and wool matters in New Zealand and Australia by one having 

 the American viewpoint have been prepared for publication. 



GENERAL CONDITIONS IN NEW ZEALAND'S SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 



Sheep raising in New Zealand is conducted on lines midway be- 

 tween those followed in our farming States and in the range States. 

 In comparison with American farm flocks, those of the smaller hold- 

 ings in New Zealand have an advantage in that they rarely number 

 less than 400 head and are a very important, if not the chief, source 

 of revenue from the holdings. 



The total area of occupied land in New Zealand is under 45,000,000 

 acres. Of this, 5,000,000 acres have been plowed and sown to arti- 

 ficial grasses for grazing, while over 9,000,000 acres have been sur- 

 face-sown to artificial grasses without plowing. The first-mentioned 

 lands support from 1 to 8 sheep per acre for the year, while the 

 latter average from one-half to 2 sheep per acre. Grass is the 

 principal crop. With a growing season of 10 months and a well- 

 distributed rainfall, it is found profitable to keep in grass for stock 

 alone lands valued as high as $150 per acre. Nearly one-half the 

 occupied land is in holdings of over 5,000 acres, mainly used for 

 sheep, there being 90 holdings of over 50,000 acres each against 

 18,694 holdings of from 50 to 200 acres. 



The number of sheep kept has advanced from about 19,000,000 in 

 1896 to 24,595,405 in April, 1914. This enumeration for April cor- 

 responds to November in the United States, coming after a large 

 proportion of lambs have been marketed, and corresponding quite 

 closely to the numbers of the shearing season to follow. Wethers, 

 rams, and ewes under breeding age comprise about one-half the sheep 



