Livestock. Industries in Australia
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Author:C. L. SUNDARARAJAN
p-ISSN:0024-9602, e-ISSN:2582-5321, Vol:43, Issue:oct-oct
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29321/MAJ.10.A04243
Abstract
Australia is the leading wool producing country in the
world. With less than one-sixth of the world's sheep population, she
produces more than one quarter of the world's wool. It is often
said that Australia is riding on the sheeps' back and that the
nation is built on grass. Export figures (£ 42 millions or 50% of the
total exports) vouchsafe for the accuracy of the former statement.
How literally true the latter statement is, one can only understand
from a visit to many of the sheep stations scattered right through
the continent. Whether in the rich Camperdown district in Victoria
or in the poorer Urriara and Tharwa of New South Wales, one
cannot but be struck by the wonders that the clovers are doing for
the farmer. in particular and the nation in general. Apart from its
intrinsic value as a good feed, the clover plants are so many
miniature fertiliser factories fixing atmospheric Nitrogen in the soil
and adding fertility to the paddock in the same way as and at a
lesser cost than, the factories. By a series of trials and experiments
over a period of many many decades, various strains of clovers have
been selected and adapted for the development of the pastoral
industry. And in recent years a new strain of sub-clover which
thrives in sub-tropical conditions, has been evolved by workers in
Sydney University. Attempts are still being made to find suitable
legumes for growth in the tropical areas.
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