15

mortality. The province may soon acquire

a character for the unsoundness of its wool

—a character which, if once established in
the home market, may take years to efface,
and in the meantime will operate most
prejudicially against our interests. Many
entertain the idea that they cannot afford
to sacrifice 20 or 30 per cent of their flocks
—
that they will have so much less wool
next shearing. This, I maintain, is a mis-
taken theory, as it must be borne in mind
that the 30 per cent thus culled are all the
unprofitable sheep in the flock, whose
average clip, if kept until next shearing,
would probably not average in price or
weight one half of that from the really pro-
fitable sheep; and it is, I believe, owing in
a great measure to the admixture of the
wool from such sheep in a station’s clip,
that it brings such low prices in the market.

Let us imagine the comparative yearly re-
ceipts from a station of, say 10,000 sheep,
the average of the present unculled flocks,
and the same number that had been sub-
jected to a rigorous system of judicious an-
nual cullings for, say 4 or 5 years, with not
a sheep in the flock over 5 or 6 years old—
having a uniformity of character which
could not have been arrived at without
culling, netting for wool at least 3s 6d per
annum, and having 2,000 prime fat sheep,
wethers and cast ewes, every year, to dis-
pose of or boil down. With warm water
washing, &c., the clip would probably
average more than I have quoted. This is
what might be, and what it will have to be
on most of the stations in the province. I
leave it for the sheep-owners themselves to
compare it with what is. To make sheep-
farming profitable, it must be reduced to a
rigid science. It is so in England and Scot-
land, it has become or is fast becoming so
in the Australian colonies, and it will have
to become so here. I have already
stated that there are about 900,000 sheep
in the province. According to my calcula-
tions, 200,000 of this number ought to be
cleared off before the winter sets in, or at
least before it is far advanced. It is true
the Boiling-down Establishment could not
boil down a tithe of this number in the
time, even if kept constantly employed;
but why could not nearly every station boil
down its own culls. I think it would be
more profitable and convenient to most of
the stations to do so. A ship’s water-tank,
with a little alteration, would serve as a
melting pot, which could be built in along-
side the woolshed with brick, stone, or
clay; the shed would serve for all the
necessary requirements of slaughtering,
hanging, cutting up, and for stowing away
tallow casks, and so forth. Very little ad-
ditional help would be required beyond the
usual station hands; the only additional
expense to be incurred would, I think, be
the cost of boilers, tri-pots, or indeed what-
ever could be procured in this way—house water-
tanks, if nothing better offered,—a supply
of tallow casks, and may be an extra hand
or two for a few months. Even on small
stations, if a pot large enough for the pur-
pose could be procured, this thinning pro-
cess could be going on, even without the
convenience of paddocks or other facilities
inseparable from larger stations, as small
mobs of sheep could be brought in as re-
quired from the run, passed through the
drafting yards, mouthed, and all objection-
able sheep carefully culled out, especially
those of a certain age, say everything over
six years old, fat and lean—spare none
above that age; their skins would be worth
about a shilling, taking the winter all
through, and the pigs that could be kept on
the offal would be a source of profit. On
stations where there were no paddocks or
separate runs, it would be both necessary
and desirable to put a distinctive paint or
other mark on the two classes, to prevent
any future draftings that might take place
while the boiling-down was going on the
unnecessary handling or mouthing of sheep
which had previously passed through the
yards for this purpose: this, of course, is
simply a matter of detail which must be
regulated and determined by the facilities
of the various stations. Advantage ought,
I think, to be taken of this favorable season,
as many of the sheep are now in fair con-
dition, and are likely to keep so for the next
two months. Even if only from twenty to
fifty sheep a day could be boiled down on
the most of the stations, the thinning pro-
cess would be gradually but surely going
on, leaving day by day more grass for the
good sheep that are meant to be kept.
The proceeds from those culls would not be
so insignificant as one might at first ima-
gine; the account would probably stand
thus—

Dr. d. Cr. d.
To cost of ca~ks per sheep ... 2 By 7lbs tallow per
sheep, at 4d., ... 2 4
Carriage tallow ... 2 Skin per sheep 1 0
Labor ... 4 Profit on pigs... 0 1
Firewood and sun-
dries ... 3

    11      3 5

Net result 2s. 6d. I do not think that I
have over-estimated the yield of tallow—
but I should suppose that I am probably
under the mark; the other items I should
think tolerably correct. The boiler or pot
would always be of service scouring the
locks from the station, &c. The pigs, as
the boiling-down season was drawing to a
close, could be made into bacon, which is
always saleable either here or in the other
provinces. The facts I have here ad-
duced prove that boiling-down must be
resorted to, and the sooner it is commenced
the better. Store sheep are a drug in this
and the Auckland market, and of meat-
preserving should ever be introduced or
successfully established in this province, as
I have no doubt but that it will be in all
the colonies, it will only be fat sheep that
will be eligible for this purpose.

In conclusion, I trust that some of the
suggestions I have here offered will be
thought worthy of adoption, and will tend
to improve the flocks and make them more
remunerative to their owners.

I have the honor to be, Sir,

Your most obdt. servant,

G. PEACOCK,
Inspector of Sheep, &c.

His Honor the Superintendent,
Napier.

Inspector of Sheep Office,
Napier, Feb. 26, 1869.