179 
1879] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Australian Merino Sheep. 
The pastoral industry of Australia was well es¬ 
tablished, and had attained to great importance half 
a century ago. Before the discovery of gold, about 
-30 years ago, the commerce of that immense island 
consisted mainly in exporting the wool furnished 
by the enormous flocks of sheep. Next in import¬ 
ance as an article of export, was the tallow, ob¬ 
tained from the carcasses of the sheep, which being 
useless for any other purpose, were boiled down 
to supply tallow for European consumption. In 
this rude pastoral life, the settlers upon the dry 
and grassy plains of that country slowly but surely 
gained a competence, and after a term of what they 
considered voluntary banishment, they returned to 
their homes in England. The discovery of gold 
changed the whole order of Australian life. Where 
the hoof of the sheep had trod, the soil aetualty 
turned to gold, realizing literally the fancy of the 
poet. For it was on a “ sheep run” that the first 
nugget, a monstrous one valued at over §20,000, 
was found quietly reposing* on the bare ground 
Previous to the golden-age, when a “ run ” or pas¬ 
ture tract, or rather the right to use it, was sold to 
a new arrival, and the old owner returned home 
with his savings, the flocks upon the land were 
usually “ thrown in,” as at that time a sheep W'as 
valued at only 25 cents. After the discovery of gold 
sheep become worth §2 or §3 each, and the ground 
over which the flocks had roamed, was leased to 
miners; these turned over, washed, gullied and 
burrowed into it, and spoiled it for pastoral pur¬ 
poses. The sheep interest, however, rapidly de- 
Teloped in new fields, and this development in part 
-consisted in the improvement of the races of sheep- 
The climate being hot and dry, with a winter con¬ 
sisting only of a season of rains, and much similar 
to that of California, the Merino became the popu¬ 
lar breed, and more especially as fine clothing wool 
was the most salable in the English market, to 
which the fleeces were sent. By importing the 
finest rams from Europe, chiefly from France, the 
Australian Merino was greatly improved, but it was 
only when some American rams were brought to 
that country that it was discovered that Australian 
Merinos were excelled by the American. This 
superiority was no mean credit to our breeders, who 
had long abandoned the importation of foreign 
blood, and for many years had steadily improved 
their flocks from within, with no aid from without, 
while the Australian shepherds had secured the 
best rams from the most noted French, German, 
and Spanish flocks. The character of the Australian 
Merino is much the same as that of the American, 
-except that, the latter is now running to longer 
wool fit for combing purposes. The samples of 
Australian wool shown at the Centennial Exhibi¬ 
tion at Philadelphia, in 1876, were remarkable for 
their fineness of staple, and evenness and regularity 
of curl, and much of it was 3 inches in length. But 
in weight of fleece the Australian wool is surpassed 
by that of our American Merinos, while the Ameri¬ 
can sheep itself is heavier bodied and more robust 
than the Australian. The product of wool in 
Australia is very large; the export to England is 
over 250,000,000 pounds annually, while the home 
manufacture of woollen goods is both extensive and 
excellent. The superiority of the Australian 
Merinos to those of Europe,makes it the second best 
variety of this breed in the world, being surpassed 
only by the American race, and is a curious ex¬ 
ample of the improvement of breeds by a favorable 
change of climate, soil, and pasture, aided by the 
practical skill of the shepherd. As a specimen of 
the Australian sheep we give the accompanying il¬ 
lustrations taken from photographs which recently 
appeared in the “London Agricultural Gazette.” 
These are interesting, as showing how a well known 
breed may be modified. Climatic influences and 
breeding for a particular purpose, when both of 
these are combined, as in the case of the Aus¬ 
tralian Merino, result in an almost distinct breed. 
Among the Farmers—No. 40. 
BY ONE OV THEM. 
No topic more interests farmers than the discus¬ 
sion of prices of farm produce and the prospects, 
not of crops, but of prices. High prices are always 
satisfactory ; big crops aie satisfactory too, but our 
rejoicing is often marred by low values when w r e 
have bounteous harvests. Here in the State of 
New York, Eastern Pennsylvania, and New Eng¬ 
land and New Jersey,we have all along felt so sure of 
Our Milk Crop, 
sure that we could get good prices for butter, for 
cheese, or for milk, whether sold to go direct to 
the cities, or to the condensed-milk factories, to be 
marketed in that form, that we laughed at the 
thought of competition and planned and figured 
only to get the best possible prices—to prevent 
combinations of dealers and carriers against the 
producers, and sought to come in direct connec¬ 
tion with the city consumers so far as was possible. 
That was particularly as regarded milk. As to but¬ 
ter and cheese, with our cheese factories and 
creameries we were beating the world ; our butter 
made in June was sweet as a nut in March and 
May, and every year added to its perfection and 
keeping quality. All on a sudden we find ourselves 
Beaten by the West! 
The western dairymen stand forward as equals 
in cheese-making, aud our superiors in butter-mak¬ 
ing—beating us several cents a pound in our own 
market, and for all that appears, they are quite as 
likely to keep the position as to take one second to 
New York or Pennsylvania, or other Eastern State. 
I stopped in at a large butter dealer’s store a few 
days ago, and learned of two sales which had just 
taken place. One was of a lot of State (N. Y.) 
Dairy butter of excellent quality at 20 cents per 
pound. The other of a smaller lot of Iowa Dairy 
butter at 30 cents, while the best New York State 
creamery butter was quoted at 25 to 27. There is 
something tangible about this 10 cents a pound, due 
to superb quality, and to the fact that one lot of 
butter represented the whole season’s make from 
May to October, and the other was recently made. 
And while this is going on, that is, while the West 
meets the demands of the market and we do not, 
Our Homs Market is Getting: Fastidious. 
Consumers are discussing how milk is drawn—how 
it is cooled—whether the animal odors “ are inher¬ 
ent” in the milk as it comes from the cow, or arise 
from uncleanliness of handling, the foul air of the 
stable or other contamination. The papers publish 
all sorts of impolitic things about the French 
method of shipping milk in little quart and two 
