Distribution of Wheat, Sheep, and Cattle in Australia. 125 



close to the 75 deg. F. isotherm, is seen to be comparatively 

 dense, and it can be fairly assumed that such conditions of 

 rainfall and temperature are quite favorable to the sheep 

 industry. Between these lines of rainfall and approximating- to 

 the same temperature is a vast tract of country stretching across 

 the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Large areas of 

 this land are doubtless of a more or less barren nature, but it 

 seems likely that, with increased population and improved com- 

 munication and transport facilities, this area will contribute 

 appreciably to Australia's sheep products. 



Cattle. 



There was in 1918-19 a total of 12,576,842 cattle in Australia, 

 of which number Queensland possessed 5,786,744, New South 

 Wales 3,280,676, Victoria 1,601,544, Western Australia 943,847, 

 the Northern Territory 621,163, and South Australia 342,768. 

 These figures show an increase of approximately 46 per cent, on 

 the total of 8,640,225 for the year 1900, being a much more rapid 

 increase than that shown by sheep over the same period. 



Examining the map of cattle distribution (Plate III.), the most 

 noticeable feature is the very general nature of such distribution, 

 cattle being found under very diverse conditions of rainfall and 

 temperature, right from Darwin and Cape York Peninsula to 

 the southern coast. The rainfall range is from 5 inches in the 

 arid interior to over 60 inches on coastal Queensland and New 

 South Wales, and the temperature range from over 85 deg. F. in 

 the far north-west to below 55 deg. F. in the south-eastern 

 corner. The ability of cattle to withstand both cold and heat, 

 and their great travelling capacity, making them invaluable in 

 the pioneering stages of a country's development, are here 

 emphasised. Compared with the distribution of sheep, they not 

 only show this wider range, proving their greater adaptability 

 to varying conditions, but also the regions of maximum concen- 

 tration dififer markedly from those of sheep. The areas of maxi- 

 mum concentration are found along the coasts of New South 

 Wales and Queensland, commencing just outside the sheep 

 country, and in districts having a rainfall of 40 inches and over. 

 Under such conditions cattle-raising and dairying, as compared 

 with sheep, are evidently so much more profitable as to prac- 

 tically totally exclude the latter. The next greatest concen- 

 tration is found in Gippsland and the Western District: of 



