ESTIMATED LOSS OF £3,000,000. SOUTH AMERICA.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 175, 23 October 1886, Page 3

ESTIMATED LOSS OF £3,000,000. SOUTH AMERICA.

v'.i'TAiN Wm. Baldwin kindly informs u. Witness) »hat he learns ii ■ n private advices from Buenos Ayres t . f -1 illy 27 that :i fearful loss of sheep lit ,i taken place in that country, the 1 -< being placed as high even as 20,- » ■ ',300 sheep and lambs. His private .ulwesare borne out by the .Standard of L.vnos Ayres of July 11, which he has l.iu'.ty shown us. and from which we \. iko the following extiact. : — "Every (i >v hiing3 fresh confirmation of the '. i<-pre«id losses of sheep, the ystiniate j ••„" 20,000,000, including lambs. 1 >.iA a small number peiishod in the :i ..ds, the mortality being chiefly caused i v : h epidosnie, which some ascribe to a c .ange in the grass s uf lie d -tricts I• . 'torero overstocked. There has been i.', loss in the outside thinly settled c.i ''.is. Notwithstanding the disastious .-•_•: -jii that has befallen the sheep r.f :-r-. there is no intimation of any r- iu^ti'.in of the exnort duties ou vrool. ' An t.^tanciero of 25 years' experience, b '--n Pinl bred in the coun'ry, the <.\i,"i of two estincias, "writing: to the -i* . > i laid about this matter, isthussum-n..u.-;d by the editor :—": — " He estimates : i • I'.ss of big sheep from 5,000,000 to 1 '.u 'O.UdO, and says the increase will be '/. >\L..jh thus brings up the los 3 to \ci "2 ) 000,000, a value little short of -'.;." tu.OuO sterling. Farmers who !,_ l.<?t least have sent in 2000 or • ••/ sia^epskins. This is irrespective .yj ?, and the result of aa epidemic > :jature or origin of which is unexlie same paper of July 27 again .:cf^ to the Matter thus :—": — " There has jt been such mortality amongst the .:io since the great drought of 1859, i i:it?rval of 27 years ; and it is feared it the sufferings of the humbler t=s of sheep farmers will be ..use The latest ■ -rictus from the camp report a lot of >. in the north and south, and the ->::t thing to a drought in the west and -jorth-west. The losses in sheep are aw- - jl. Some flocks of 2000 are reduced c 15 ( ). . . . The present losses of • ,"k5 are caused by over-stocking and > the or-- ither. The latter is the prin- •• il lv.us«\ as tht rain thi3 season came - late. . . Sheepfarmers are going DiiLjli a crisis; Fince 1883 they have :t had a satisfactory increase in their ■ :kc. aim the small men are nearly all lined by the losses of the last two sea-

Captain Baldwin tells us that in conrpco dftinsloss the estimated deficiency ihf ". c« I supply in Buenos Ayres for c> j ,nr. months ending 20th June 188G, . - compaii'il ttith the same period of -3, w.i^ 50,000 bales; and as each 1c weUr'is, say, 8001b, the deficit :!J thus amount to 40,000,0001b, or - <y lu»)£ the entire clip of New Zeai. I'oasibly this may explain to c extent the recent rapid rise in wool fome. The rise began in Antwerp, * h, as we know, is the great mart of eh American wool. Jotnmenting on the above the Wits remarks :—": — " Even the results of 1 droughts in torrid Australia pale "o insignificance in comparison with r s fearful mortality in what must have •n tin exceedingly limited space of •ie. It is, however, perhaps scarcely , . r to make a comparison in such a . ect manner, as while in a great :. .sure the Australian mortality was z to causes which it was impossible • mortal man to forsee or check, this ipoara to have been by no means the

caso to such n,n extent with that of Buenos Ayres. Of course with the meagre information at comman I it is impossible to .arrive at ft definite conclusion as to the chief cause of the mortality, but there is sufficient evidence to indicate that it was fittributnblc to overstocking and its resultant consequences, disease and staivation, assisted by the delay in the arrival of the rainy season, drought, and subsequent floods. The sharp lesson learnt as to the folly of overstocking will certainly be of value to the unfortunate sufferers who manage to pull through, and will result in greater caution in this respect in future; but in the meantime what is Buenos Ayres' loss will be Kew Zealand's gain, and we may certainly look for a continuance for some time at least of the favourable state of the wool market, in | addition to a hardening in the ruling price for frozen meat."