Show 5 w r. r f I j V Sh 1 Y YF F d mss mss' J f l ba Australian cowboys mustering cattle Stock e toe Ranches eS o of the Down owls Under er l lo Continent Measured in Square Miles Prepared by National Geographic Society Washington D D. D C. C C. Service UT in the more remote OUT regions of Queensland Northern Territory and Western Vestern Australia and in the arid center of Australia cattle cattle cattle cat cat- tle properties are still measured measured measured meas meas- in square miles not not acres i Picture a n single cn cattle We station lIon I larger than Massachusetts 1 and Con Con- ConI I Look at nt it also as a band five miles wide extending all the way from New York to San Francisco Francisco Fran Fran- cisco or fantastic thought a land path more than a mile wide all nIl the way from the farthest side of Australia Australia Aus Aus- to Maine For it is square miles One cattle man whose station lies lieson lieson lieson on the Queensland Northern Northern md-Northern Territory Terri Territory tory border tells you quite c casually that it is a mile horseback journey journey journey jour jour- ney from rom his b back porch to the back line of his property Like many of the older holdings none of his land is fenced so the theca ca cattle often stray far afield During the summer months they move southward Into the prevailing winds to rid themselves of the myri myriad myriad my my- ri riad flies flics that pester them Consequently Conse Conse- Consequently the station hands often h have the task of riding miles to I get their stock back to their own property The herds also may wander wander wander wan wan- der 40 or 50 miles in the direction of storms i if they lack water f 1 i Early one morning a Geographic staff writer flew out to a cattle station station station sta sta- sta- sta tion miles into the Queensland I interior landed in a field near the I house and taxied up to the gateway What One Station Is Like The station was not large as many of the inland stations run but it was wasa a goodly block of land land 1200 1200 square miles pasturing miles pasturing head of stock As he rode its ranges he S saw V 1 one herd of 1500 steers that had just arr arrived ved from a four months' months trek of f a thousand miles down from rom the I gulf country From the fattening paddock where they grazed to market mar mar- market ket was still stin another mile overland overland overland over over- land journey Upon food and water hinges success success suc suc- cess ess or failure How m many times tragedy has stalked beside dried dried- up w water holes anc and parched pas pas- pastures Lures tures Whole herds have perished in rigorous seasons and the strenuous strenuous I labor of or cattlemen h has come cometo cometo cometo to dramatic nought As shearing is the big event on sheep stations so mustering for branding and sorting is the chief activity on c cattle ranches Herds on this property are han ham handled dIed from 15 mustering camps and it usually takes four to six months to complete the work Here where life Ule is attuned to the ceaseless moan and bellow benow of cattle about water holes and in branding corrals the American Wild West is reflected in ten gallon Stetson hats that have come into fashion in the thelast thelast thelast last few years But the swaggering cowhand with a handy lariat and a pair of six shooters strapped on his thighs is unknown Australian cattlemen instead of roping their beasts for tor branding in most cases pen them and hold them in a s system stem of gates Why Dumn Duffing Is Rare Do you have any cattle rustling you ask We call can it duffing here replies the manager But its it's very rare Dist Distances are arc too great it doesn't pay One stor story that you hear stands out as an excellent example It seems that two men desired to to increase their stock so when rains had filled water holes along the way they rode miles to a 1 station and drove of oU oft about cat cat- I tle The ranch owners ov and police tracked the animals down an and d brought them back together with the culprits The men were then committed t to o stand trial in Darwin nearly a thousand thousand thousand thou thou- sand miles away Eventually on onman one e m man pleaded guilty and md was sentenced sentenced sen sen- tented to five years' years Imprisonment For lack of evidence the other ma man n was released But by the time h he e got home again he had traveled ed d nearly neally Far out in the interior remote e from rom railways and easy casy means o of r transport station homes have fewer fewer fewer few few- er amenities There are arc no electric a lights no refrigerators Water in canvas sacks is cooled by evaporation evaporation ra ration tion on the shady dy verandas Yet life is pleasant and afternoon tea is an established custom The Ther r radio dio magic destroyer of distances distances distances dis dis- brings the worlds world's news and music to the family living Jiving room Across the vast region popularly dubbed the back of beyond ether waves crackle in the evening with friendly chatter between neighbors perhaps 50 or miles apart for many stations are arc equipped with operated hand-operated radio sending sets Doctors from many times that tha t distance dis dis- distance tance prescribe remedies to patients when these radios relay to them the symptoms of a case Out here the airplane has likewise proved its worth for flying doctors now race hundreds of miles on their errands of mercy Now and then too a fl flying ing parson may drop in ona on ona ona a station to hold a service Stock Routes Well Maintained I r The government maintains a system system system tem of stock routes and tends them with religious care for they are the arteries of a reaching far-reaching enter enter- prise Across dry areas they winand wind win and twist to touch every available spring stream and billabong Australia's land map is sketched with a number of these long snaky p paths which r radiate out to railways and seaboard cities One begins up in the tablelands of Northern Territory Terri Tern tory and reaches out to the railheads of Longreach Winton and Charleville Charle Charle- ville to serve Townsville and Bris Bris- bane Another starts up in southwestern Queensland swerves through the northeastern corner corner of South Au Autralia Aus Au- Australia and follows down the western western western west west- ern boundary of New South Wales until it contacts the railway at Cockburn Cockburn Cockburn Cock Cock- burn to find eventual outlet at Ade Ade- laide A third trail connects the Kimberley KImberley Kimberley Kimber- Kimber ley region of Western Australia AustraHa with t Wyndham whose operate operate op op- erate during the winter months I In n Western Australia 1 too another seemingly endless meandering line ties the railheads thrust out into th the e interior with the expanses of Northern North ern Territory On these tenuous channels hundreds hundreds hun hue of miles in length you se see e streams of steers moving out toward toward toward to to- ward the ports eventually perhaps perhaps per per- haps to provide chilled beef for th the e London market or bully beef fo for lor er r British Tommies or jack Unlike Argentina where wi wild d herds once roamed and men needed only to round them up the Australian Australian Aus Aus- cattle industry has been built buil t up gradually from small beginnings beginning s of half a century ago Frozen Frozen- meat contracts have provided th the e impetus In recent years however Australia Australia Aus has seen new handwriting on her economic wall With improved improved im proved refrigeration facilities an and d fast last ships fresh chilled meat ha has s come to England from the Argen Argen- tine Against it frozen meat cannot canno t compete Learning to Chill the thc Meat So the commonwealth has turned d to its scientists to learn whether it too can deliver chilled beef bee to th the e London market a distance handi h handicap cap of miles In the Brisbane abattoirs experts expert s have tackled the problem With h test tubes and refrigeration c clam cham chambers clambers bers and with bacterial fungal an and d yeast growths under their microscopes microscopes microscopes micro micro- scopes they are arc learning the conditions conditions conditions condi condi- necessary for meat to main maintain tain taro its full freshness and color during during dur duro ing the month half that i it t must be on the high seas Romance is in their refrigerators tors which are arc controlled to fractions fraction s of a degree and their pipettes reflect reflect re re- fleet future profits because these dies e quiet luiet worl workers ers have been remarkably remarkably remark remark- ably successful in their ments meets Several trial shiploads of meat sent in 1934 arrived in London Londo n without deterioration To this heartening heart hear t ening assurance the operators o of f various quickly re react reacted ed cd plants are being altered to meet mee t the fife new requirements Less spectacular perhaps but bu t doubly more profitable than tile the herds that roam the interior is the dairy stock pastured in the in-the the fertile coastal belt mainly in New South Wales Victoria and Queensland Approximately Approximately Ap Ap- Ap- Ap proximately a sixth of ot the country's cattle are bred for their milk prod prod- nets r |