Page:Australia, from Port Macquarie to Moreton Bay.djvu/161

 scheme as sheep-boiling to make a profit on the capital they had invested in sheep. As to the great reduction in the aggregate stock of sheep, which this gentleman suspects must result from the plan now pursued, I will only observe that the intention of the flock-masters is not to reduce their flocks, but to keep them stationary, so as not to be under the necessity of frequently augmenting their stations and establishments, in consequence of the great yearly increase of their sheep, which increase, this writer has himself remarked, in the article alluded to, may be fairly taken at 75 per cent. From the millions of sheep in Australia, it will be evident, that when the yearly increase is so great, the butchers might be abundantly supplied, and many hundred tons of tallow exported, without the flocks suffering any diminution in number. This sheep-boiling speculation will also produce great good in stamping a minimum value on sheep, a value depending on the comparatively little fluctuating markets of the mother country; and should a new demand for sheep arise from the emigration of persons of capital to New South Wales, sheep may increase in price from that cause, but under no circumstances can they again fall below their minimum price, determined by the intrinsic worth of their skins, wool, and tallow. No one therefore can do wrong in purchasing sheep at their present prices; they can fall no lower, and will in all probability rise considerably higher, as the commercial affairs of Sydney