Live Stock in New South Wales. 



363 



severe drought whicli prevailed over nearly the whole colony, 

 to less breeding, consequent on low prices, and to the use of 

 bicycles. 



Of cattle there were 1,967,729 head, a decrease of 76,978 

 animals during the year. Shorthorns are by far the most 

 numerous breed of cattle in New South Wales, numbering 

 690,000 head, compared with 210,000 Herefords, 70,000 

 Devons, and 35,000 Ayrshires. The remainder are cross- 

 breds, and of these nearly 300,000 are of Shorthorn and 

 Hereford blood. 



The number of sheep enumerated was 43,952,897, showing 

 a decrease of 4,365,893 compared with the previous year, and 

 of nearly eighteen million compared with 1891, when there 

 were nearly 62,000,000 sheep — the highest figure on record in 

 the colony. The following table indicates the different 

 breeds of sheep of which the flocks were composed : — 



Breed. 



Pure and Stud. 



Ordinary. 





No. 



No. 



Merino — 







Combing - - - - 



5,744,282 



23,267,523 



Clothing - - - - 



1,775,566 



9,278,565 



Lincoln - . - - - 



200, 3 1 7 



496,229 



Border Leicester 



127,766 



184,534 



English Leicester - 



38,390 



92,333 



Southdowns - - - - 



5,650 



5,240 



Shropshire _ - . - 



12,459 



12,109 



Hampshire . - . . 



21 





Romney Marsh 



21,604 



26,881 



Crossbreds . - - . 





2,663,381 



The total number of merino sheep exceeded forty million 

 animals. The long- woolled sheep numbered nearly i J million, 

 and included forty-six Cotswold, one Cheviot, and one Dorset 

 pure-bred rams, which are not shown in the above table. 

 The cross-bred sheep were principally Lincoln and Merino 

 crosses. During the year 136 stud rams and ewes were 

 imported from America and Germany, and passed through 

 the prescribed quarantine of sixty days in Sydney before 

 being allowed to be removed inland. These animals, which 

 were all Merinos, consisted of sixty-four rams and seventy- 

 two ewes, of which forty-eight and forty-nine respectively 

 were American and the remainder German sheep. 



