Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-07-14

, Station, a ranch Of 100000 acres 800 mile
| west from the seacoast OF New Soutl
| Wales and eighty miles south OF th'
! border Of the state of Queensland, was
| to learn that on an average rainfall o.
| eleven inches year this land is ideal fol
! sheep. that there is food value In almos
| all of the herbs and trees and that ever
/ In the years when water is scarce nature
| provides needed moisture for the sheer
/ in several Of the many nutritious weed,
with which she has endowed the bush
] Only in those years when no rain fall;
| at all does the sheepman worry and shiI
/ his fOcks away to places where there /!
! feed and water. At other times he he's
| no cares. for his sheep will wax fat and
/ grow heavy fleece and multiply with
I little effort on his part
salt bush is one Of the mainstays OF
the sheepman. 1t grows in profusion in
sandy and red soil alike, a bushy weed
whose branches are thick with heavy.
dark green leaves one to two Inches long
and three feet wide. 1t averages one to
| three feet high but has varieties. called
old man salt bush" which grows TO the
height Of man. The taste is not un-
pleasant but bellies its name, for II is
not decidedly salty. Given a field in
the winter time Of salt bush in which
pig weed also grows. sheep require no
other food nor water. Crushed between
the fingers, the leaf Of the pig weed be-
comes a moist pulp which contains both
food and drink. The weed grows to a
height Of about two feet and thickIy.
In times Of hunger, the aboriginal ma
lives have found the pig weed-crushed
and cooked in a pot--food enough to sus-
tain life.
Next to pig weed a creeper called tar
vine has more moisture than other Of
the rank growths Of the Australian bush.
II covers the ground with a mating Of
vines whose tendrils are tender and
Juicy. II gets Its name from a slightly
tarry taste, not at all unpleasant.
Crowsfoot. another feed which some
what resembles the tomato plant. has a
root ike a long. thin radish. with a
blush white meat which In time viii
turn the teeth black.
PREPARING FOR
DRY SEASON.
TimothV. a species Of native clover, and
a hardy, low growing weed called the
never fail" which thrives In even the
uAlFHL o. years are OAQrE HneEp lbUuH
The Ieepman who looks ahead runs a
move over the fields which are not
needed for grazing purposes, cuts sll OF
tn herbiage unfortunately and rakes
1t up for ensiloge The manner Of pre-
serving 1t against time Of need is pc
culiarIy Australian. It Is packed away IN
pits dug out Of the earth and salt mixed
ln-about forty pounds OF coarse rock
salt 70 a ton Of ensila ge-to keep 1t from
fermenting, and the whole covered with
earth TO make 1t alr-tlght. Ensilage
preserved IN this manner will keep for
years.
At Milroy Station we were shown a
mound OF earth 80 yards long and u
feet wide where in a pit - feet deep.
ninety tons OF ensilage had been stored
away. These ninety tons, Manager X.
Ault told me, would IN an emergency
feed 10000 sheep for six weeks.
It is not upon the heritage alone, how
ever. that the sheepman depends. Many
of the stunted trees also make excellent
food for the 'wooiies" Nota BILE among
them are the lignum bush the suppleJack.
the wildwood, the wilga, the rosewood
and the dogwOod The sheep eagerly
eat those leaves and branches which are
blown down by the wind, but quite often.
particularly III gtdA5 VI uAVubhAs bhS
sheepman prunes the trees and turns
the sheep in on the branches. SO long
as one live branch Is left. the tree will
not die and its branches will be replaced
inside a twelvemonth.
There are varieties OF thistles, too,
which the sheep will eat when driven
to it by scarcity of other vegetation,
but not until they have cropped off the
herbiage above ground and even pulled
out the roots OF other and more sue
culent growths and eaten them, too.
The sheepman figures that 1t requires
six acres OF average bush land to feed
a sheep, but at Mllroy. in the years of
average rainfall. as many as 5000 sheep
have fed well on the rate OF four acres
to a sheep.
Water is, Of course, the problem for
which provision must be made. This is
done by picking a low place between
ridges. banking up It's sides and digging
out the middle and dlverting to it, by
means Of shallow bitches. all the water
which would not naturally drain itself
into the pond. or tank" as the Aus
trallan calls 1t. Great galvanized iron
tanks, connected to wlndmills, are
used to store water drawn from these
ponds where long dry spells lower the
pond levels.
HOW SHEEPMAN
COMBATS ENEMIES.
Flies, crows, hawks and foxes-and
of course the rabbit which destroys the
vegetation-are the enemies of the sheep
man. The flies he combats by dipping
his sheep, the meat, eating animals by
poisoning with strychnine the bodies of
sheep that die. while poison carts cover
the range with poisoned bats for rab.
bits, but so protected that the sheep and
other livestock cannot get to 1t.
/ AIilroy Station, like other big ranches
has its own kind of sheep, bred to the
! greatest wool producing pitch by cross
ing meripo ewes with rams of hardy
breed. Each eve is bred twice a year