The first sheep imported were from the Cape of Good Hope, and in 1823 and 1825 further lots of Spanish sheep were introduced. In some respects the climate of Australia changed and improved the character of the Spanish fleece. The wool became softer and more elastic and increased considerably in length. The average weight of a fleece has increased remarkably, and while in 1861 the average weight of a New South Wales fleece was only 3.28 pounds per sheep, the present average weight is 7.3 pounds.
In recent years there has been a tendency to divide the sheep into smaller flocks. In New South Wales for instance there are 17,361 sheep owners as compared with 14,033 10 years pre vious, while the average size of a flock is now 1,650 as against 4,050 at a former period. Of the total number of the sheep in Australia about 95 per cent are merinos. On the coastal dis tricts, however, where merino sheep do not do so well, the rearing of cross-bred and long wool sheep is increasing and these are specially valu able for the meat they produce. It is interesting to note that at the present time Australia carries one-fifth of the total sheep in the world.
The export of wool brings an immense amount of money to the Commonwealth and in 1913 returns for the Commonwealth were L26,277,000.
The production of wool for the fiscal year ending 30 June 1916 was large and the prices set new records for Australasia. The number, of bales exported from the different states of the Commonwealth was as follows : New South Wales, 840,515; Victoria, 342,476; Queens land, 258,122; South Australia, 92,654; Western Australia, 73,564; and Tasmania, 11,928. Ship ments from New Zealand amounted to 510,656 bales, making a total for Australasia of 2,129, 915 bales, against 2,137,702 bales for 1914-15. There was a decrease of more than 12,000,000 sheep in the Australasian flocks during the year. The gross proceeds from the sale of wool in Australia and New Zealand were $145,525,537, an average of $80.50 per bale, in 1915-16, com pared with $96,077,100, an average of $62.19 per bale, in 1914-15. The average is the highest yet realized in the colonial market. When the British government took over the remaining Australian wool clip in November 1916, there was doubt whether the high prices would be maintained, but the reports of the appraisers allayed this. The value of Australian wool
purchased by Great Britain will exceed $100. 000,000. Although the removal of the embargo oermitted shipments of burry wools to America, it is likely that the demands from Great Britain will require practically the entire clip.
Cattle.— Owing to the more profitable char acter of sheep farming, cattle breeding in the Australian states is, with the exception of Queensland, second to that of sheep. The f01 lowing table shows the number of cattle in the various states at the end of 1916: State New South Wales 2,405,00C Victoria 1,043,604 4, 780, 893 South Australia 226,565 West Australia 821,048 Tasmania 169,575 Northern Territory 483,961 Total 9, 930, 644 Horses.— Considerable attention has been paid to the breeding of horses and at an early period the stock of colonial-bred horses was improved by the importation of Arabian and other breeds. The following table shows the number of horses in the different states in 1916: State New South Wales 720,000 Victoria 493, 779 Queensland 686,871 South Australia 253,333 West Australia 163,00E Tasmania 41,422 Federal Territory 19,957 Total 2,378,368 There is a considerable demand in India for Australian horses and as a rule between 6,000 and 7,000 are exported annually to India, valued at from £80,000 to 185,000.
Angora Goats.— Considerable attention has been given during the last few years, especially in Queensland and New South Wales, to the production of mohair and considerable numbers of pure-bred angoras have been imported from the United States. The goat thrives admirably in the warm dry climate of Australia and it seems' likely that in the near future the export of mohair will show considerable increase. At the present time there are about 262,000 goats depastured in Australia.
Camels.— In some of the states camels are employed for the carriage of wool and other produce. In the Commonwealth as a whole the number of camels is more than 10,000.
Pastoral Returns.— The annual return from the pastoral pursuits in 1915 was £60,265, 000, of which total sheep contributed about 58 per cent. The greater part of the sheep in dustry is, of course, the return from wool and skins. The value of wool consumed locally is not more than £250,000.