The value of the cattle in Australasia, on the basis of the average prices ruling in 1903, was £53,533,000, thus divided amongst the various Australasia is eminently fitted for the breeding of most descriptions of horses, and attention has long been directed to this industry. At an early period the stock of colonial-bred horses was enriched by the importation of some excellent thoroughbred Arabians from India, and to this cause the high name which was acquired by the horses of Australia was largely due. The abundance of good pasture everywhere obtainable also contributed to this result. The native kangaroo-grass, especially when in seed, is full of saccharine matter, and young stock thrive excellently upon it. This plenitude of natural provender permitted a large increase in the stock of the settlers, which would have been of great advantage had it not been that the general cheapness of the animals led to a neglect of the canons of breeding. In consequence of the discovery of gold, horses became very high priced. Under ordinary conditions this circumstance would have been favourable to breeding, and such was actually the case in Victoria. In New South Wales, however, it was far otherwise. The best of its stock, including a large proportion of the most valuable breeding mares, was taken by Victoria, with the result that for twenty years after the gold rush the horses of the mother state greatly deteriorated. One class of stock alone escaped - the thoroughbred racer, which was probably improved both by the importation of fresh stock from England, and by the judicious selection of mares. The states are specially adapted to the breeding of saddle and lightharness horses, and it is doubtful whether these particular breeds of Australasian horses are anywhere surpassed. The bush horse is hardy and swift, and capable of making very long and rapid journeys when fed only on the ordinary herbage of the country; and in times of drought, when the grass and water have become scanty, these animals often perform astonishing feats of endurance. Generally speaking, the breed is improving, owing to the introduction of superior stud horses and the breeding from good mares. Where there has been a deterioration in the stock, it has been due to breeding from weedy mares for racing purposes and to the effects of drought. The following table shows the number of horses in each state at tenyear intervals since 1861. In 1903, New South Wales possessed the largest number of horses, followed by Queensland and Victoria : New South Wales Victoria..... Queensland South Australia Western Australia 233,220 304,100 398,577 459,755 486,716| 458,014 84,057 181,643 278,195 440,696 392,237) *376,548 462,119 401,984 52,597 78,125 159,678 40,812 73,830 82,747 10,720 22,698 31,755 Commonwealth... 431,695 701,530 1,088,029 1,574,795 1,625,500 1,547,245 28,275 81,028 161,736 211,040 279,672 298,714 459,970 782,558 1,249,765 1,785,835 1,905,172 1,845,959 New Zealand....... * Estimated. There is at present a considerable demand in India for Australian horses, especially for those of a superior class, and although the speculation of shipping horses to that country is attended with some risk, owing to the dangers of the voyage, there is reason to believe that in the near future the trade will assume considerable dimensions, as Australia is the natural market from which supplies may be derived. The number and value of the horses exported to India during 1903 from each state and New Zealand was as follows: The export from Australasia to India in 1901 consisted of 5,672 horses, valued at £80,313, and in 1902 of 5,785, valued at £80,972. The war in South Africa created a demand for Australian horses as army remounts, and in 1901 no less than 24,995 horses, valued at £320,152, were exported from Australasia to South African ports. In 1902 there was naturally a considerable falling off, the horses exported only numbering 11,491, valued at £159,040, while in 1903 only 739 horses were sent, valued at £18,001, of which New South Wales furnished 145, valued at £7,775, and Victoria 572, valued at £9,165. The number exported to South Africa from each state during 1901 and 1902 was as follows: The following table shows the proportion of horses in each state to the total number in Australasia, at the end of 1903 : The value of horses in 1903, in the various states, is estimated as The breeding of the Angora goat, with a view to the production of mohair, has recently attracted attention in Queensland and New South Wales, and considerable numbers of pure-bred animals have been imported from the United States. It is found that the Angora thrives admirably in the warm dry climate existing in a great portion of the states mentioned, and, with the steady demand for mohair, it is confidently expected that the export of the product will in time form an important element in the trade of the Commonwealth. The number of goats depastured in 1903 in those states from which returns were received was as follows:-New South Wales, 27,062; South Australia, 11,650; and Western Australia, 14,120. CAMELS. Camels are employed in some of the states in the carriage of wool and other produce. The latest returns show that 835 are used in the Western Division of New South Wales. In Western Australia there are 2,031. STOCK-CARRYING CAPACITY OF AUSTRALASIA. None of the states is stocked to its full capacity; indeed, in the large territory of Western Australia and in the Northern Territory of South Australia the process has only begun. A clear idea of the com parative extent to which each state is stocked cannot be given unless the different kinds of animals are reduced to a common value. Assuming, therefore, that one head of large stock is equivalent to ten sheep, and expressing cattle and horses in terms of sheep, it will be found that the number of acres to a sheep in each state is as follows: The most closely stocked of the Commonwealth states is Victoria, with 2-3 acres per sheep, but this is by no means the limit to the carryingcapacity of that state; on the contrary, there is still a considerable tract to be brought under the sway of the pastoralist. New Zealand is stocked to a slightly heavier extent, but neither that colony nor New South Wales, which averages 3-8 acres per sheep, can be said to have reached its full carrying-capacity. If the 1901 average of New South Wales, viz., 3 acres to a sheep, be taken as the possible limit to which Australasia may be stocked, there is room in these states for nearly 450,000,000 sheep, or 45,000,000 cattle more than were then depastured. That Australasia could carry 1 sheep to 3 acres, however, is an improbable supposition; in almost every state the best land is under occupation, and the demands of the farmer must diminish the area at present at the disposal of the grazier. This will more especially prove true of Victoria, New Zealand, and Tasmania. On the other hand, by resisting the temptation to overstock inferior country, and by increasing the natural carrying-capacity by water conservation and irrigation and by the ar-it ficial cultivation of grasses, the states in which agriculture has made progress will be able to carry stock in even larger numbers than they have hitherto attempted. Taking all circumstances into consideration, it may be fairly estimated that under the present system the states are capable of maintaining, in ordinary seasons, stock equivalent to 390,000,000 sheep-that is, about 180,000,000 sheep, or their equivalent in cattle, more than depastured in 1901. most The evil effects of the adverse seasons experienced in the Commonwealth during recent years have caused renewed attention to be devoted to the questions of water conservation and irrigation. Movements are on foot at the present time in New South Wales for the utilisation of the natural reservoirs such as that at the head of the Murrumbidgee and other suitable places where, at a comparatively small cost, supplies of water could be conserved to feed the rivers in time of drought. It is not alone the actual loss of stock that makes a drought so disastrous, but the fact that, even with the return of good seasons, a considerable period elapses before the country regains its full carrying-capacity. That much can be done in the direction of providing fodder during the dry season was shown in isolated instances during 1902. At Forbes, in New South Wales, 22 acres of irrigated lucerne maintained nearly 1,600 sheep in good condition for a period of four months prior to the breaking up of the drought. At Rodney in Victoria, the farmers who utilised the waters of the Goulburn for irrigation purposes were able to send fat stock to the Melbourne and Bendigo markets, in addition to supplying the squatters of Riverina with lucerne and other fodder for their starving stock. With proper provision for water conservation, it may be safely said that the Commonwealth was not overstocked in 1896, when there were over 90,000,000 sheep and 11,000,000 head of cattle, whereas in 1903 there were but 55,371,000 sheep and 7,105,000 cattle. It is a difficult task satisfactorily to estimate the losses occasioned by adverse seasons, but a careful computation shows that during the last six years the Commonwealth has carried on an average about 24,000,000 sheep and 2,400,000 head of cattle less than in 1896. It is to be hoped that the lesson of 1902 has been taken to heart in those parts of the continent liable to drought conditions, and that no similar disaster will ever occur again. The wonderful recuperative powers of the states were amply evidenced in 1903 and 1904 by the bountiful harvest and prolific growth of herbage over the major portion of the districts which were most keenly affected by the adversity of the season in the year before. The lambing returns have been excellent, while the weight and quality of the fleece |