The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1894-08-10
AusrnAbtAN WOOL

auckland, Of Eev York. prints ~ illuS.
trated aTtiele on wool growing IN AuS-
.ralfa tina. esrnes fail 10 Interest tho
American farmer:
Tho chief characteristic Of sheep.
raising In that country IL It's cheapnees.
Tho shepherd Is cheap man. the
Bhoarcr Is q cheap man. They travel
from station 10 station on foot, looking
for q Job. They havo no railroad fares
10 pay; take their little stock Of pro-
Visions with them; camp out Of doors
and sleep uuder 4 tree, Their require
rnents are very small thoy have no roht
or taxes 10 pay. They need q strong
pair Of boots. blankets, pants, ahiTt,
hat, and tin "billy," 10 which 10 warm
their tea. Thoy do their own washing.
and can exist on few shllilngs week.
their only luxury or extravaganza being
plug tobacco.
Ono such man would care for as many
as 1000 or 10000 sheep In single field:
lie will have dog and horse supplied
him by tho oHner; no will live In slab
or bark hut, doing his cooking ont oil
doors. His pay Is S pcr week and FRA.
TONS" which consist Of small guam
tity OF flour, sugar, tea and meat
enough to keep body and soul together.
u is true, but he has TO pay for his 70.
bacco and for soup, il ho INDUCES In
auch luxury. llO gets o present Of
pound oftobacco Tor every wild dog, or
'dingo," that he may Kill. His duties,
though tedious, perhaps, are not oner.:
Gus. Ono day hG will ride all around
tho Geld OF which he has charge to SEQ
that the wire fcnces arc not broken
down; next day he will pump water
from q we'll that is eight hundred or o
thousand teot deep, his old horsctramp-
ing around in circle aud drawing up
huge buckettul AZ time, the water DO.
ing emptied into a small lagoon, around
which tho sheep cluster at all hours oil
tho day and night, Onco In while
this man will 20 into the hoad station
miles away, at other times no may re.
ceive visit from m oversecr or boss,
but these arp his only chances for LOOK
ing upon human tacc.
Even ali OF this expense lie now being
reduced by tho Australian sheep
owners. who for years and years have
been striving to tap tho underground
rivcrs In tropical Australia. Tho great
curse Of tho country hns been drought,
which Inns caused tho loss Of tens OF
thousands OF sheop and cattle 10
u single season. No food has to DO pro.
ylded for Australian sheep. They food
themselves on tho native grasses, and
il tho sensou IL a worry dry one and they
cannot find grass. why they die, and at
such times q whole she0p is worth only
Is cents in city market, 10 that 1t has
very little Cash value hundreds OF miles
away in the interior.
The natural supply Of water has been
stored heretofore by building dams,
but since 1886 efforts have boon made
to pierce tho water bearing strata I'M
derucath, the FIRST arteslan well being
eunk TO depth Of 1850 foot, with the
result OF getting only 5000 gallons OF
water every twenty.lour hours. Other
efforts were made, but in no case was
more than 5000 gallons daily secured.
In 1890 further experiments weTe made
with view to deeper sinking. On ono
sheep station alone, Thuralgoona, as
much aa $3.50, 600 was epent in sinking
three wells to q depth Of no. 1.7S5 aud
l,035 feet, This experiment was sue
coss. Ono OF the wells Yields 100000
gallons OF water every twenty.tour
hours: smother ono yields $500, 900 gal
Ions, and ut tho same timo the supply
from those which wero sunka few years
earlier, at lesser depth, has increased
up TO l75,000 to $4,000 gallons daily.
| /. is not tho deepest we'll that gives the
most water. showing that there Is an-
other stratum beneath those river beds
which 1t Is not desirable to penetrate
This ono station rcferrod TO covers au
area Of 200 square miles. II hos q
daily water supply OF about 1900 900
gallons from tho tow VOLS only that GRO
sunk. Let any person pause and think
what this means. II means on abund-
ance OF water that can BIO turned from
these and from other wells upon the
land, rendering tho grass more nutrit-
ious and moro abundant. Il means that
| where land has b0ou carrying one sheep
10 cverv TWO ncreS there is possibility
OF It's carrying two sheep 10 every ono
nero. and OF increasing tho wool pro-
duct foustold. This is only ono instance
on ono place. Other similar expert.
| ,nonta arc being mado on that vast Goa
tinent, which ia larger than the whole
Of tho United States and whore its pas
toral possibilities nro enormous.
| Can tho American wooi.grower COM
poto with such wool raised at such lit
| tlo coat? See how It Ia hauled to mar-
kat once livod at Gordon Downe, in
the northern part Of Queensland, two
hundred miles inland from tho AoapOrt
Of Rockhnlnpton. Tho wool whom baled
was hauled down to tho chipping
mort BY teams Of bullocks. A couple OF
man travel with the loud. tho men liv.
inn in the manner described. Tho cat
ia feed themselves on tho natural
grasses. Such freight is chGapnr than
! hanlinr wool 10 market from Montana,
tho Dakosas or Texas by railroad to
Now York, even after the ocean treiRh.
from Australia to our ports mas becn
added. ..--.
st9ts In tho land ltsolf, which Is valued
AT only So per aero il IL will not carry
one sheep; Mt $40 II carrying ono sheep,
aud $50 per aero II tho land carries Two
or more sheep. In ono OF the largo
| Australian colonies there arc 6,30O,00O
ocros OF land, held by over ll0 persons,
mr. 1890 acres 10 0ach person. This
cLcnn lind ia not taxed at all until its
vaino reaches $4,000, when it is subject
10 a tax OF II per cent above that
amount, its value up to that limit not
being taxah.o. let tho farmers in our
CTnat western sheop.ruisiuS statoS COM
norc these low values with their own
md thoy will appreciate another olc-
ment Of choapness In their competition.
| NJ A.. n,,J IA moi Vok There Ia