Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1880-10-08
4 PROSPEROUS COLONY.
The Healthy Climatc and Great sheep
ERrms OF the Falkland islands,
lorplnu FINES

The Falkland islands have nm acre.
aye 0f five million aercs, mostly devot-
cd "a sheep farming, which has proved
very profitable 10 the present settlers,
wool being exported from islands that,
u trW wears ago, produced nothing but
prngulnS and sea lions, 1t is only thir-
teen wears (lS61( since the first settlers
under Gov Robinson, landed ON West
Falkland and already there are many
tlnur,Shing stations" of sheep and cat
tie thereon Some Of the smaller il.
lands have since been taken up Ivy men
with u few hundred pounds of capital
and aS tho climate is the hcalthieSt ia
the world, the only wonder is that
more EnS)shmou de not cast their for.
tunes III adCpendcuey of Britain where
there is no income tax and where sheep
and land may he obtained ON easy
terms.
Suhmnary happiness. however, is
seldom without some drawback. and il
must he confessed TINT the climate il
hy me- MEANS rs genial Ms that Of the
Canary islands vt Madeira II blows SO
hard during eleven months of the Year
that admiral H. used to require two
sailors to keep his hat ON, and when.
ever the governors term uf office OK
pres hc invariably sohcits the colonial
secretary 10 remove him To some other
settlement less windy, though less sa-
mhrious Another drawback is the
want Of society or of Immediate con.
tnct with Europe There Is NJ line Of
steamers that touches at Stanley, the
only regular communication with the
outer world being through the sohoun.
or Foam, which carries the mails
and passengers monthly 20 and
from Montevidee, thousand
miles distant There are no roads OF
eoaChes tnr internal traffic. most ui the
country around Stanley being II morass
which compels the principal farmers
"a keep their own yachts or schnoncrs
for repairing to the capital or sending
their wool thlthcr The city Of Stanley
consists ofthe government house, the
bishops residences, the oustom.housc,
fort, aud n few houses, with some five
hundred inhabitants
forsomc Years after Great Britain
annexed these islands IN 1883, they
served merely ~ il refuge for Mhnlers
and an IRhrpoi for the seal iishcry,under
the auspices nf Samuel l.ntonc of Mon
| toyidco, founder Of tho Falkland Island
company, This company subsequent.
| ~ embarked in strengthening, import
my some Hooks from Patagonia, and
refining the breed by cross with the
! thcvlots, They now possess ono hun.
dred thousand sheep, which produce
f3O0OU worth of wool annually, the
fleece averaging six pounds and selling
NJ ld pCr pound nj Bradford, where il
is used for comhing purposes The
eompanyS headquarters are AT Fort
Darwin, seventy miles from Stanley
thcir farms extending along the sen.
board by Mount Pleasant and Port
! fit2ray, Ia within fifteen miles of the
capital So well suited il the pasture
to sheep That they yield from seventy
pound to ono hundred pounds OF
meat and the fleece isdouhlc the avor-
ago of what il obtained in the adjacent
country of liuCnos AyroH, but Of coar.
ser quality owing to the climate. Tho
company hnyr also twcntv.nuc thou
sand horned cattle (which are, however.
of little use unless for their hides, rs
there II nopupulation to consume the
| liNfl iIli NlN lilNHlle WI IA InlLlIlE I've
There Is, meantime, no other colony
in the British empire that hns reIntvc-
| Is mnde such progress ag this in tho
Inst ten years IT. population had
doubled, iis products have qundrupled,
Ms shown by the returns in the colonial
abstract, recently published.
East Falkland may bc snid 10 consist
of eight large farms, the company nj
rcady mentioned holding n million
acres. ana the rest belonging To Capt.
| Packe, Messrs. Bonner, Pittnllgn,
Sharp, tireonshiolds, Robson md Eel.
ton, whose farms range from 1900 10
100000 acres. West Falkland com
priscs eight estates, averaging 10000
owned by Mcsprs. Waldron. Dem,
Packe. Bertrand, Stickney, lIolmestod,
William, Bnney, Baillon, and Nicely
mont OF mo smaller islands, tho
Specdwcll belongs to Mr.. Williams, the
Lively ~ hr. Cobb, the Pebble to
Mr. Dean, the kcppel u Bishop
Strings mission, and New island to
Mr.. Llttlejohn, besides ninety others
not yet occupied, some, perhaps, ofno
value
The urge island Of Georgia, which ia
forty times the size Of Jersey, il unin.
habitea, probably ON account of It's re-
mote situation, being eight hundred
miles east OF the principal group. All
these Islands lie between 80 to So de-
grecs Of south latitude, and resemble
the Orkncys III climate, soil, and yege-
tation. The Thermometers ranges from
% % - degrees ia winter, and 30 to rs
III summer. Snow sometimes remains
on the mountains for weeks together,
but ice never exceeds nj inch in thick
ness. Mount Adam i the Hottest peak.
2,3l5 feet, all the northern part of Fast
and West Falkland being mountainous.
and the sloping away in plains from
five 70 fifteen miles IN width. There
arc no trees, perhaps on account Of the
strong winds, but shrubs and fruit trees
thrive in sheltered spots. Fuel il
abundant IN the form ofpiat, and tile
soil, Nhere bog does not prevail, con.
sists 81 q vegetable mold six inches
thick which produces excellent pota.
toes, eabbages three feet high. and all
Il b l. g.f. a.