124 B. G. Thomas: 



carrying country, and no region where the distribution can claim 

 to be dense. The sheep belt is along the coast; here, however,, 

 except in the extreme south-western corner, a coastal region of 

 low rainfall. 



Considering the possible extension of the sheep-carrying areas. 

 This extension, it may be noted, has not been very rapid over the 

 last 20 years, the numbers of sheep in Australia in 1900 and 1918 

 being respectively: 70,602,995 and 85,194,503, or an increase 

 of 20 per cent, as compared with an increase of 33 per cent in 

 human population. There is no reason why the numbers should 

 not be considerably increased, both by the better management 

 of present pasture lands, and the opening up of new country. The 

 areas suggesting themselves as potential sheep country are: (i) 

 the Victorian and South Australian Mallee lands, where the 

 stocking of the country does not, as is usual, precede, but follows^ 

 on after, the clearing and cultivation of the land. At present few 

 of the Mallee settlers keep sheep, but with the passing of the 

 pioneering stages of settlement, the number of small flocks 

 kept is gradually increasing. Better transport facilities, more 

 than anything else, would greatly aid the development of this 

 section. (2) There is a considerable stretch of country along 

 the southern coast of Western Australia, bounded roughly by 

 Southern Cross, Albany and Eucla, which is practically devoid of 

 sheep population. This is all within the lo-inch line of rainfall, 

 and from climatic considerations above it should have a carryings 

 capacity at least equal to the South Australian west coast, and 

 other lo-i 5-inch rainfall areas. Indeed, compared with South 

 Australia, where there is the greatest development of the arid 

 country, we might look for an extension still further inland than 

 the area indicated. Even allowing for a considerable proportion 

 of inferior soil, there seems every reason to believe that this- 

 area is capable of supporting a population of sheep, certainly 

 sparse, but aggregating many thousands of head. (3) In Queens- 

 land, the limits of the present distribution show a fairly sharp^ 

 line, both along the northern and western boundaries. Allowing 

 that the high temperature and heavy rainfall combine to make a 

 northern extension of the sheep belt unlikely, there remains 

 between the Queensland western boundary of the present distri- 

 bution and the sheep-carrying areas of the north-west coast 

 an immense tract of country still to be exploited. The population) 

 in Queensland between the 10 and 20-inch lines of rainfall, and! 



