The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-07-12
BIG AUSTRALIAN FARMS.
OAE sQUATTER WHO OCCUPIES
THREE MILLION ACRES.
a Recent Drought Killed 3Go.OOo Of
His sheep. and lie had only About
I.0D0.U00 Lcfi-Life ON the Great
saarnarrra

4 His sheep. and lie Had only About
+ I.0Do.00o Lefi-Life on the Great
"statIou~.~
From rho Morning OreE1n.al.
Sydney. y s. vs.. Mav AIN The east.
middle and southern states % America
sheep are raised on the farm" ia the
+ west they are raised on the ranch"
while % Australia they are raised on the
'---arlla." As the ranch" Of our great
west IS but tae extended pasture of the
eastern. middle state. or southern farm.
so -l- "-.ar-1u" owner OF Australia IS
neither shared nor even dreamed OF by the
active. intelligent. and Industrious sheep
raiser 0t ans portion Of the United States.
~ course. Rae Whole estate" or land de-
voted ta pastoral use by the head or
uaras-mert. comprises THE station"
ana ret tae idea conveyed in the word
"-t4r'ou" j. thc central poiut or what
may boz regarded as the capital.
Tae stations .n Australia are as large
as the pr.nc.paIties OF the middle ages. or
as many modern dukedoms. ] incline TO
think that ten Of the largest Australians
stations. IL united. would equal the whole
OF Belgium.
one James Tyson has about 10000
acres. or territory nearly as large as
three states Ike Rhode Island. one and
one-haf Dclawarcs. or even one-thlrd the
size of Vormon,h. or one-seventeenth the
size OF Iowa. He has nearly 1.000 600 sheep
or the equivalent iu cattle. one Mr.. Nc
Caughey has one station Of 1.Zi4ST acres.
with some 10000 sheep James Wilson has
tW.up1 acres, or just 100 square miles, IN
one ststion. and over 400 90 sheep. ] have
friend in the Interior. whom I visited
recently, VINO has 10000 acres and 100000
sneep. one can drive JOB miles on
straight line on his estate. or this JJ0,-
0lo acres. 1000 are freehold. and the rest
is leased from tine government Of New
south Wales on long time. for a definite
annual rental. j have another friend.
member Of the New South Wales par
ldmcut. who holds 90 600 acres I'm Queens
land, on long lease. at an annual rental
OF one farthing, or on--half cent, per acre.
Recently the government sunk an arte-
sian well on tails land that flows 300 900
gallons per day, according TO newspaper
reports. Most OF this station ] am in
formed, Is good land.
All these stations. Ike the petty duke
doms OF Europe, are named, and the
names when pronounceable, are not
easily forgotten. But their names serve
a. better purpose than mere ornament.
As there Is 4 considerable difference in al
titude, latitude, soil. vegetation. breed or
care OF sheep, there is a very noticeable
difference In the wool. and the reputation
OF The station has no little influence on
the price of the respective clips. In the
e.
the names Of the stations OF Australia
become so familiar to a large business
class as are the names of the nations of
the globe TO the average educated man.
We see such quotations form the Eng
llsh papers as "Wannaminta, K. Y. $50
at lId.'- 81 cents per pound for $50 bales
tof course, IL Is secured WOOD. We see
Mumbledool, 81 at 3D., 81 pcs at 3D.;
at 3D.; 3 pcs. at ga; Canyawerri, 1855 at
I'D; pes. at ID. Then we see such
aristocraic and euphoniOus names as
NOOuQOO WarrambOOl. GnOOlOOma, Cal
warra, Albilbah, Yarrabee and the like
These names seem musical nothings to
tho initiated, but when the first clip
from the 100000 sheep on CannObar reach
es London, or the splendid .merino wool,
taken from the Vermont sheep imported
from Mr. McCaughey's Small stud
farm OF 500 acres in the famous
Riverina, called Tooralie the trade re-
CARDS the names of some Importance.
The minister Of lands is now-April Pc
making tour through the interior. In
his party there are several reliab BILE news
paper men, and the following Is an ex-
tract from the Daily Telegraph, a very
able journal. Of Thursday. April is. The
communication was sent from the head
quarters of one Of Mr.. McCaughey's sta
lions and follows:
Mr.. McCaughey is a leviathan among
squatters, the king of sheep owners, the
largest shearer of sheep in the world.
Including freehold and leasehold he has
in the Riverina he calls a mere stud
farm. 1t is only trife of 10000 acres
of freehold and 5000 of leashold. The
rest Of his land Is on the Darling, where
he has two stations Tooraie and Dun
lOp. A million of the acres are near
Hughenden, in Queensland. In the last
drought of eighteen months in the west
his losses In sheep and lambs totalled no
fewer than 10000. All the same he can
sin boast thar he shears his million
year. This IS the record and not only
for Australia, but for the world. Mr.
McCaughey can claim to be the greatest
single sheep owner on earth Out of his
wealth he has beautihed his home, cult
waited the breeding stock and expert
mented in irrigation on his station. He
has spent 10000 in testing what water
will do in the western country. The
visitors were taken round the station
and were shown the splendid Vermont
some years ago at a cost of thousands of
pounds sterling, for breeding purposes.
The party were also shown the irrigation
plant that pumps the water from Coo
nong creek, which has been damned for
the purpose.
The area of McCaughey's estates, as de-
| scrbed almost equals the area of Connec-
! ucut, or nearly one-hah the entire area
! of Belgium, the latter of which supports
a population of over 100000 of highly civ
ilized and well-provided-for people But
the report says-and truthfully-that Mr..
McCaughey 'sheared 100000 sheep
though the same season he lost $50 900
head" AS the drought came early, most
of these sheep must have persisted be-
fore shearing, so the normal number of
sheep kept by this modest grazier' must
be fully 100000. Thus, about as many
sheep are kept by this one Australian as
are kept IN either of the great wool
raising" states of Pennsylvania, New
York, Kentucky, or Colorado and the
number of this McCaugheys sheep is ex-
| ceeded by but seven states in the union
The whole of Vermont, whence came Mr..
McCaughey's fine merinoes. has not more
than oue-third as many sheep as this
sheep king of Australia.
In Australia, as has been observed in
previous letters, the stations are sheen
runs, or the land OF which they are COM
prised, are called "squattages," and the
owner or master is called a "squatter"
There are many interesting features and
ever varying charms connected with
these squatters' lives. OF course, with
such enormous holdings, the Cottages +"
or managerial residences, are far apart
usually from ten to fifty miles. These cot
tages are almost always large, low build
ings. of but one story, with several good
sized rooms, with broad verandas on two
or three sides, and they are rooted with
t1Orrugatas1 or g. lVaDiya6 iron Saw, q,,r