SOUTH AFRICAN WOOL

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 868, 11 January 1930, Page 25

SOUTH AFRICAN WOOL

INCREASED PRODUCTION BENEFITTING BY AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCE The Minister of Customs (Mr. Fenton), contenting upon the seriousness of South Africa's competition with Australia in the wool industry as a result of the continued export by Australia of stud sheep to that Dominion, said South Africa had increased her 'wool production from 300,000 baleo 30 years ago, to about 1,000,000 bales this year, and her competition was becoming very serious indeed. It was known and admitted by Australian graziers that South Africa’s wool had improved out of sight as a result of the purchase of Australian stud stock. There was an instance in the splendid flock of 26,000 merinoes accumulated by Sir Abe Bailey, the wealthy South African grazier. It was now claimed that South African wool was as fine as Australia s. Labour, of course, was very cheap in South Africa, particularly shearers, who received 15s to £1 a month, and did all classes of work about the wool sheds. Kafirs were used almost exclusively for shearing, and while they did this job their women did odd jobs. . , Last year South Africa purchased from Australia 4,000 stud sheep for £40,000, and would take all she could get. but she would not reciprocate by permitting Australia to import ostriches with which to commence ostrich farming here. In addition to this, there were at present about 60 young South Africans here studying the wool industry in all its phases, and they would return to South Africa to disseminate the information, which it had taken Australia 100 years to obtain. FARMING IN BRITAIN CHANGE IN LAST CENTURY To gain an idea of the improvement which has taken place in British agriculture during the last hundred vears or so, one has only to be reminded that it was not until the reign of King George 111. (called the Farmer K J ng) that agriculture began to make much headway in Britain, states an exchange. Up to that time there were no farms or holdings as we know them today. The country was divided into narrow strips of perhaps a chain wide, and these were allotted so that every farmer would get good and bad land equally. A man might have 15 acres made up of 15 or 20 strips, some of which might be miles apart. Under such conditions, improved methods by individual action were almost impossible. The average yield of grain was 21 to 3 times the amount of seeds sown; a fat cow weighed 3701 b., sheep 281 b, and a fleece 31b or 41b. About this period a man named Young put forward the idea of fenced fields and compact holdings; but for a long time his suggestion met with the bitterest criticism, for no other reason than that he had failed financially under the conditions then existing During the next hundred years that and many other improvements were made, until today the average weight of a fat cow is 8001 b, a sheep SOlb and a fleece 121 b, while yields of 40 to 60 bushels of cereals are common.