STATION, FARM AND GARDEN. SHEEP AS PART OF AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURE.

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1574, 5 August 1882, Page 6

STATION, FARM AND GARDEN. SHEEP AS PART OF AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURE.

BY AX OLl> COLOXJVT. Tjie stupid theory that sheep wore in some way or other antagonistic to farming, or to settlement in the colonies, is passing away. It never had any solid ground in justification of the mischief it has done, or, although the cry eminating from it has been the means of hoisting numbers of blatant demagogues into place and power. But the days of that Borfc of thing are (hawing to an end, and men who think for themselves are coming to see that as an aid to prosperous agricultural settlement, thore is nothing more certain in their profitable and beneficial effects than sheep to the farmer. The country is especially adapted for them ; the climate is peculiarly favorable for their mo i t profitable and fullest development ; and it becomes matter of absolute surprise how it ever occurred that mere political clap -trap has ever been able to prevent those who settle upon the land taking advantage of this— one of the very first and most safe aids to colonial \ agricultural settlement. , , The term agriculture is used in the - fullest sense, and, as concerning farming ' as well, as^ stock and cheep raising. -In ' "' ,the colonies, indeed, success is most; i, likely to meet the man who brings various! 1 ' kinds of agriculture—one to meet and aids ' ~ the others, as soon as he- can do so profitk ~JMoL& <» n 4 /wiifchjrafc .crippling his .other operations. It is in this light, and when brought in. in, this way, that cheep hare

proved, and are proving mosb 1 cleoidedly benefiaial. But arrangements^ayejtb be made before 'sheep eai * be kepfc%ith>\advantage. 'Those arran gements 'are mdstly" based wpon fencing, and seeing that there aro sufficient feed and water available. It is THo very poorest kind of economy to bring any Bort of live stock upon the farm until they oan. be done by properly; and there are few more dangerous errors than to suppose, or to act as though sheep Avould do anywhere. No end of the losses and disappointments in connection with them have arisen in this way. Ab we are not writing for those whose flooks may be counted by tens of thousands, but rather on behalf of flocks of a few hundreds at most, it is well at the outset to start without having to shepherd them. Certainly the guide books issued from tho offices of the various colonial emigration departments tell us that this is a task the children can attend to. Well, children are set to shepherd a few scores of sheep, or it may be hundreds ; but it is a rule, with oniy very, very rare exceptions that the operation is bad for the children, and bad also for the sheep. Shepherding to be of any value, requires patience, and just that sort of slow-going caie which it is absurd to expect from children. _ The sheep, under their charge, are either harassed or neglected. They fare badly, and very, very seldom do well. And the children who aro set to tend them, do worse. It is no great matter of suprise that boys and even girls set to such employment, come in for more abuse than credit, and if they do not develope into absolute dolts or fools, both at the h'r&t opportunity, they ever after have that sort of aveision and contempt for all soits of country employment which is grow ing more and more evident amongst young colonials ; and it ai ises very largely from the causes stated. Let us have sheep on the farms, by all means. As we have -ecu, no branch of colonial farming is more certain, and there are but few more remunerative. But, fust, let us be prepared for them. I'ut the sheep in fenced paddocks at the start, or within sufficient fences, and they will do better, cause no trouble, and there will be few losses. Unlcsss the distiict is absolutely free from dogs— so called tame dogs that prowl out at night, as well as wild dogs, in quest of mutton— the sheep should be yaidod at night. The yard should not be far from the house ; and if possible, upon a hillside or top of a hillock, of naturally dry soil. It is not much trouble yarding sheep, and letting them out in the morning. Children can t,ee to that and attend school also ; and, under such circumstances, they come to like the sheep, and do not lo.se the love for home which drives many fanner's children away from their old folks. The yarding of sheep quietens them also, and, especially at lambing and .shearing time. Quietness in his flocks is of very gieat importance to the farmer. Next to fencing comes proper food and water. It is taken for granted, of course, th.it there is sufficient natural grass on tho place to 6tart with. This word "plenty " may seem loose ; and its meaning, in ko far as grass for sheep is concerned, has wido .significance, no doubt! But, as a rule, unless the land be extra {rood, and is part of a run noted for tho sheep raised upon it, it is not safe, iv the case of a farmer, to calculate upon cairying more than ouo sheep to each aoie within his fences. If the paddock be large, say, over one hundred acres, a few head of cows and hoiaos may do very well with the sheep. At times grass is so very abundant that there may bo feed enough for fully double tho numbers stated, or even more. The temptation to put them on, if they can be got, is very great. But it is a temptation, and they do best who resist it. For by-and-bye, tho time of scarcity comes— very few winters puss in the colonies without the effects of scarcity being felt, and then those who have oveisfcocked feel the pinch. Not only aio the extra stock lost, but, very often tho whole lot aro starved during weeks and months, and, if they are not lost at the time, take seasons to recover, if ever thoy do recover, tho effects of a season of starvation. It is at such times— times of soarcity fiom continued dry weather — that the skill and foresight of tho farmer are brought ; in for lu\s benefit. There are farmers m the colonies who do not lament those dry spells. Thoy aro harvest times for them, and tho cultivated paddocks of lucerne, rye-grass, prairie, and mixed grasses which have been reserved for winter support, enable tho farmer to keep up the quality of his mutton, as well as his milk, butter, chceso, pork, &c. ; and ho can sell in best market available, at prices that pay. The colonial cities, or rather the best butchers in those cities, aio now supplied with very considerable numbers of both fully developed sheep and lambs, raised by i'aimers in the manner stated. They pay much higher than the market price for sheep of the kind. And it is a source of supply for which there is plenty of room for extension, until our cities and towns are fully supplied with younjr, full-grown, and fully fed mutton and lambs, Peoplo will pay for such meat as that who growl, aud not without reason, at tho scrags sold for mutton— the somi-starved old scrags brought into our market, after journoys of hundreds of miles without more feed and water than are necessary to keep them alive and moving along. Water is another piimary consideration. Sheep do not require much ; but they must have clean water, and sufficient of it, or tho effects aro seen quickly upon both their carcasses and wool. This is the case especially witli breeding sheep. The losses, in their ca p c, from wmt of sufficient water during dry spells, is fearful. Instances could bo named, very many instances, where the M'hole of the lambs had been lost, and twenty, thirty, and even fifty per cent, of the mothers had met their fate. And this, too, where grass could not be considered very .scarce, and where flocks of wethers had done moderately well all through tho dry spell. The fact is, no animal that is breeding can do without sufficient water — and water of good quality. It is here, then, when one of the advantages of the farmer with his small flock should come in. Be his flocks ever so small, cultivated feed should form pait of his system. Sheep may be turned npon the better grazing land an hour or two each evening, or two or three times a week, oven while the indigenous feed is plentiful enough. The change does all grazing animals good. When cultivated paddocks, or hay made from them, are available, as other feed becomes scarce, the advantage is very decided, aiod the effects are most marked. So with water. It is well to liavo holes, lagoons, it may be a creok, or resorvoirs of dammed up water ; but wells are the true stand-by for the farmer during times of drought. If there is a possibility of getting water by boring- or sinking, the farmer should have it. With reasonably good native grass, even small paddocks of cultivated feed, and water as a stand-by, sheep may be put on the farm with confidence. t It they should miss being profitable for both carcass and wool, there must be something unusually wrong. So far, nothing has been said of the variety of sheep for the' 'farmer. : The •choice is gr6wing larger yearly ; get the f), and df 'the veryt'best tfype fore can" got; or, otherwise/ if *he -bei \ town', *a .first or,'' at' furthest,' a cross 'with Linoolns or, Leicesters' are the very beat all round' sheep for; the colonial farmer, |