19073 Sheep Breeding in New South Wales 



flame tree, with great bunches of crimson, wax-Uke 

 blossoms. 



A tour by steamer around the port of Sydney re- Sydney 

 vealed the picturesque and comphcated ins and outs ^'"■*'"' 

 of one of the most remarkable of all great harbors. 

 And going about the adjacent country I became inter- 

 ested in the art of breeding merino sheep; at one 

 wool-grading station I was asked to give a lecture on 

 the industry in other lands. There are now no better Fine 

 merinos or other fine wool strains than those of New '"'"""^ 

 South Wales. The chief drawback to the business lies 

 in the occasional prolonged lack of rain, when for 

 months not a cloud crosses the steel-blue sky. In the 

 great drought a few years ago large numbers of sheep 

 died but the owners took special pains to preserve the 

 heaviest of fleece. As a result, I was told, the average 

 clip for each animal afterward increased about one 

 third, a piece of convincing evidence of the value of 

 selection. 



During the drought, when the beasts were moan- in time of 

 ing, people began to pray for rain, and a certain cat- '''•°«?^' 

 tleman was asked to add his petition. " If God hears 

 those cattle and isn't moved," he said, " do you sup- 

 pose he would listen to a cuss like me ?" 



At the state agricultural school I was told that the 

 Babcock Milk Tester, invented by Dr. Stephen M. 

 Babcock of the University of Wisconsin, had alone 

 made dairying possible in Australia. 



4 

 Lectures and other engagements in and about 

 Sydney having come to an end, I accepted an invita- 

 tion to help dedicate the newly established univer- 

 sity at Brisbane. This attractive city lies in the 



C 215 3 



