Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-06-15
Enormous Holdings,

All these sheep are owned by Samuel
McCaughey, an Irishman, who came to
Australia IN 1896 with practically nothing.
He failed at first and started again with
small flock. and from year to year has
added to his holdings until he has now
more sheep than any other man In the
world He has more acres Of land than
sheep, and his possessions are in the best
parts of Australia I am told that one
of his farms on the Darling Downs is
thirty-Six miles long and forty miles wide
He mas other stations in New South Wales
and altogether he owns more than a mil
lion acres and leases about a million or so
more. His estates are fenced off with wire
into great paddocks, in which the sheep
are kept. He has sunk artesan wells to
supply them with water, and he imports
the finest of Vermont rams to improve his
stock.
At one shearing he sold a million
and a quarter pounds of wool. and at an
other the product amounted to l.. 900 bales
some of his ordinary sheep have cut as
much as twenty-five pounds of wool and
at recent shearing twenty-five averaged
over sixteen pounds each. One OF his rams
which took a premium at the recent sheen
snow, had fleece upon II which he told
me. would cut forty-five pounds and al
though he was offered 5000 for the sheen
he refused It.
Big Prices for Sheep
II will surprise our farmers to know that
II is not an uncommon thing in Australia
for blooded ram to sell for 5000 and up
ward There are sheep sales here every
year at which the best stock is sold at al,c-
ti'n. and a number Of instances have oc-
CURED In which rams have sold for =
thousand gItneas. or more than 5000 each
l have before me the highest prices of
the sheep sales during the past ten wears
In ~" eight sheep Were sold from 81 500
To S5.oD each. In 1881 the highest price
ISaiG was bllt in tS!E he
fdent." owned by James Gibson, sold for
$500 while one of Mr.. McCaughey's sheen
brought $500. In 1891 W. II. Gibson sold
tho ram 'RoyalisI' for 81 900 and In 1899
Thomas Gibson sold Admiral for 800
gtineas. OF 81 500. At these sales hundreds,
OF sheep sold from S1Op to s. 900 and many
sold for between $1,000 and $1,000. In 1896
Mr.. Gibson got on the average $3.50 for the
sheep he brought to the sale and in 1880
his average was 81 $50. while in 1899 he re-
ctlFed on the average 81 800 This will
snow You that 1t pays to breed fine sheep
N australia, and will give you some idea
OK the enormous value of Mr.. McCaughey's
holdings, many of the sheep being very
tlre.
Mr.. McCaughey believes that the best
rams Tor Australian sheep are those from
Vermont. There is a large importation of
such sheep every year. and there are Amer
leans who make a business of taking sheen
across the Pacific to Australia for sale.
They choose the finest and best bred Yer
mont NerinOs, ship them to Puget Sound
and thence by steamer to sydney Several
shipments have been made around the Cane
or Good Hope, but a rule the latter
route Is too long and the sheep sometimes
die on the way
Imported From Vermont.
In my chat with Mr. McCaughey he told
me that ne had been importing Vermont
rams for almost twenty years. Said he:
/ went to Vermont first in 1886 and
picked out 100 ewes and forty rams l
sent them to Australia and used them for
breeding. The following spring l went
back and brought 1O2 more sheep. and since
then l have bought quite lot Of Vermont
STOCK My pure Vermont sheep now num-
Der about two thousand and | have sold
many during the last ten years"
But is II not expensive to get the sheen
mere from Vermont ! asked
Yes. My first importation, not fnclud-
ing the cost Of the sheep. footed up $40 600
nut think that the results have fully tus-
tiled the expenditures. / value NV Yer
mont Hook at 30 guineas a head / have
sold some of them at 800 guineas or 81 500
sold a ram today for 81 UOo and / have
sold ewes as high $50
Il suppose that the chief profit comes
said 1. N'
Yes. That's where the money is," replied