Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-12-01
1t Has Almost Ruined the
Sheep Industry In That
Country
MILLIONS OF SHEEP HAVE DIED
And the Big Sheep Owners and Raisers
Are Selling Their FIocks as Fast as
They Can Get Rid of Them-TerribIe
lnroads Made in the Industry-For-
eisn News.
eign News.


We have tried for years past to keep
the trade informed about the effects OF
the drouth which has for such a long
time afflicted the pastoral industry in
Australia. In doing this, it has been
our painful business to tell of enor-
nous losses of stock in many districts
and on particular properties.
In some of these districts, and nota-
bly, on the Darling, millions of sheer
have died, and on some properties
where only a few years ago sheep could
be counted by the hundred thousand
there is not now a single hoof remain
ing.
But the Darling. like all the western
division of New South Wales has al
ways been subject to drouths, and it is
only the recurrence of so many success
sive dry seasons that has created such
an abnormal state of things.
Last week we received a letter from
one of the largest squatters in New
South Wales which convinced us that
the situation is even more serious than
we had imagined. Before quoting his
remarks, we may premise that the
property where these precautions have
tc be taken is one of the very finest and
best equipped in Australia.
There is no lack of water, for a rive.
meanders thru the estate for forty
three miles, and away back from this
permanent supply there are wells from
which, with the aid of powerful steam
pumps, water is drawn whenever nee
essary to fill the tanks and water holes
The estate is surrounded with YER
min proof fences and sub-divided into
convenient-si sized paddocks, and there Il
not a rabbit to be seen. We have knoW1
the wool it produces for more than for
ty wears, and it has always been SOUND
in staple and much sought after fol
combing purposes. We may add that
only two months ago our correspond
emf thought he would be able to elbow
his way thru the summer without loss
The property has been lightly stocked
for wears, and all the relief possible has
been given by sending 10000 to 5o,oo.
sheep away to specially rented mount
ain pastures for several summers past
The following is what this correspond
ent says:
81 have been selling sheep as hard as
can. and have now disposed of 34,ooo
sor,,a in the wool, in order to get then
eff as quickly as possible, and others
shorn. I have $4,000 more in the mar
hot for which I will take any reasona-
hla offers I can get This will make
"a 600 disposed of when they are gone
and so they must, unless a big fall OF
rain comes Immediately. l have lo,oo'
wethers In hired paddocks which eA-
meet will also. have to be solo, out
will take the wool off them hrsI pc
cause the place they are on Is iaitls
we'll off for feed, and can carry tnen
all right to the end of OCTOBER.
81 anticipate, according to preseh
,rosneets. that I shall require the
whole of the hill country to save the
braading ewes; therefore, If the season
e &c had as I now anticipate, can
not expect to save mucn liioie eii
breeding sheep and the lambs.
"Of course, rain may come anu ai'e'
the position, but there seems no pros
meet of it at present. Day AFTER day Tue
glass lowers, and a downfall is Unreal
ened: but it all passes away Wlthout q
drop. and this, of course, is the worst
Sign of a drouth. Several times curing
the last fortnight rain seemed Ger
ta;ntv. but I have ceased to expect It,
and therefore have not been disap-
pointed"
So far as we know, not drop OF ram
has fallen since the above was penneu.
The merino sheep is a wonderful am
NAL. and with plenty of water can get
along with very little feed. But 1t must
have little and it is now evident that
this modicum can not be found on even
the hest properties in the best portion
of the Riverina.
We now give an extract from letter
received from Riverina, dated the lStn
Of September: tThe drouth is still going
on. and no relief has. been experienced
sinca the rains about a fortnight ago,
which did not extend over more than a
comparatively small area in the eastern
and northeastern portions of New
South Wales. The vast area of Austria
liza remains as dry as desert. The Sit
nation in Riverina is causing great ap-
prehension on all sides. The country is
looking as bare as it would do In March
at the end of a dry season; and how IN
the world the stock are to live during
the summer is a problem which most
people are studying. Sheep are for sale
round about Deniliquin, Hay and far
Their west, at any prices buyers care to
give. But, of course the difficulty is
first, their low condition; and, then,
how to travel them, with little or no
water on the stock routes. Even the
finest properties are suffering"
We could give similar extracts from
other letters which we have received by
the same mail,bu the above are enough
and fully prove the increasing gravity
of the situation.
The railway department in New
South Wales is doing all it can to IA
cilitate the removal of stock from the
drouth- stricken areas by charging only
half the normal rates. But the difficult
ty is that owners, hoping for rain, have
delayed too long, and large numbers OF
sheep and cattle die in the trucks.
AS we write cablegram comes from
a reliable source, announcing useful
rains in Victoria, and thunderstorms in
some parts of the Riverina. 1t is add
ed. however. that the situation in the
Riverina is deplorable. 1t is now GER
tain that 1t will become worse every
week until next February or March.
1t is not necessary to add anything as
to the values of wool. either in the col
onial markets or at the consuming CEN
tiers. They are firm, with hardening
tendency, and, in our opinion, VIII re-
main so for very long time to come.
The drouth is the dominant FACTOR.
Prices are expected to advance IN Lon
don on the 25th inst. up to 10 per cent
for crossbreds and merino wool.