✨ Sheep Industry Report
THE
Hawke's Bay Government Gazette.
(PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY.)
All public Notifications which appear in this Gazette, with any Official Signature thereto
attached, are to be considered as Official Communications made to those persons to whom
they relate, and are to be obeyed accordingly.
J. D. ORMOND, Superintendent.
Vol. XV. TUESDAY, AUGUST 11, 1874. No. 18
Sheep Inspector's Office,
Napier, May 24, 1874.
Sir,— I have the honor to submit my annual report for the current year, with
accompanying statement of Sheep Returns of 1st May, 1873, which show an
increase over those of the former year of 145,234, or a little more than double
of the previous year. The enclosed returns comprise 584,871 ewes,
428,568 wethers, and 12,817 rams, or a total of 1,024,256 sheep over 6
months old in the Province in May, 1873, as against 507,472 ewes, 362,032
wethers, and 10,518 rams in May, 1872. It is the more gratifying to record
this increase, as it proves the yearly increasing carrying capacity of the sheep
stations, no new country having been taken up in the Province during that
period. No diminution has taken place in our exports, while our provincial
consumption has materially increased. I find by computation that our exports
to Auckland Province, coastwise and overland, during the year 1872-73,
comprised about 85,000 Sheep, and our provincial consumption about 75,000,
or a total of 110,000. After allowing for mortality and the proportion of
ewe hoggets returned, the average lambing would be about 65 per cent. on
the breeding ewes in the Province, and I expect the Returns of this month to
foot up to nearly 1,200,000 Sheep. The increase thus shown may be taken
as marking the progressive improvement of our pastoral lands by fencing and
sowing of grass seeds; the hills even, in remote parts of the Province, are
being rapidly denuded of fern, and prepared by the fertilizing influence of the
whilom much abused thistle...
for the reception of nutritive grasses. On
comparing the Sheep Returns of each succeeding year it is deserving of special
remark that the increase on the smaller stations is much more satisfactory
than those of the larger ones, and it might readily be assumed that the
larger stations consist of inferior or less improvable land. Such, however,
with a few rare exceptions, is not the case; the difference lies more in the
fact of the smaller holder, either from inclination or sheer necessity, having
improved his land, whilst the larger proprietor holds more land than he has
means, or, it may be inclination, to improve, and I cannot but consider it as a
matter of congratulation to the Province that some of our large proprietors
are cutting up and disposing of portions of their properties, the satisfactory
prices obtained being an evidence of the estimation they are held in, and the
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Hawke's Bay Provincial Gazette 1874, No 18
✨ LLM interpretation of page content
🌾 Annual Sheep Industry Report
🌾 Primary Industries & Resources24 May 1874
Sheep, Agriculture, Livestock, Pastoral, Statistics, Hawke's Bay
- J. D. Ormond, Superintendent