Eureka Reporter | 1905-01-20 | Page 7 | Loss in World's Sheep

bloss in world s sheep australia Is the foremost pastoral country in the world in normal sea sona it grows one third as much wool as all the rest of the world taken together and it is practically the sole producer of the fine merino quality and now that the long drought has reduced by half the flocks of ten or twelve years ago australians are about to experiment with cotton grow ing so that they may clothe south era china to morrow as to day they clotee northern europe and america during the seven years drought which broke up year the sheep died by millions tor the want of food and water yet the hesi tate about building irrigation works until they try first to make the gov build them instead and this is trifling with the greatest na dional industry of the grand total of not less than sheep in the world australasian alasia owned ten years ago practically As these ere nearly all merinos this country has a practical monopoly in the production of the finer qualities of wool for tv or three years past you have been wearing the fashionable coarse weaves of sui tings and dress fabrics but perhaps ou have not asked your selves why they were fashionable the explanation is found not in the fickle fancy of parisian dandies and dress makers but in the terrible reality of the great australian drought that drought by lessening the supply of merino wool would have multiplied the price of all fine fabrics had the fashion remained steadfast but in self protection the woollen mills promptly switched the fashion to rougher cloths it will be some years vet before the sheep stations here are fully restocked and the supply ot merino wools restored at present there are in australia proper only a little over 50 sheep in corn with over a decade ago magazine