Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Saturday 16 August 1919, page 17


THE DROUGHT.

ENORMOUS . LOSSES IN FAR

WEST.

DE PREDATIONS BY FOXES AND

DINGOES.

Mr. Anthony S. Kidman, nephew of Mr. S Kidman, Hie cattle king, has Just rendit» Sydney after an inspection of the cattle ,sta tlons north of the Darling and in the fai west of New South Wales. He describe; tho drought in those parts as tho worst 01 record. There has not, in tho past i: months, been more than five Inches of rain ii some places, and in the Tibooburra and Mil parinka districts fully SO per cent, of tu< stock has perished-principally sheep.

"On one station. last year," said Mr. Kid man, "we marked 17,000 lambs, and the whoh lot, valued nt £1 per head, died. . The loca-tion of that station is about 200 milos ot tho other side of . Broken Hill. There wit be absolutely no lambiug this year so far at that great division ls concerned. Thc posl

Hon is practically tho samo In thc Cobar and Bourke districts. If rain does not fall there within the uoxt six weeks or two months ut least BO per cent, of tho stock will be wiped out. The effect of this, combined with tho fact that tboro Is likely to bo no lambing will bo to make the price ot meat dearer than it has ever been. In fact, there is a drought all over New South Walos at pre-

sent."

"Wo sent a line of cattle down from tho I Paroo district to Broken Hill recently, and

thoy had to travel for Ave days without water.- So far as sheep ara concerned, they aro too weak to travel, and there ls no escape for them-it ls impossible to got them down to tho moro favourod districts. Light rail-ways into tho interior would he tho only solu-

tion of the problem."

Mr. Kidman directed attention to the seri-ous depredations of foxes, dingoes, and hawks in tho back country in-Now South Wales and Queensland. "In six months," he explained, "no tower than I-ft2 foxes were killed on Yancannia station, and wc paid a bonus of 2/0 each for their scalps. Tho skins were retained and sold by those who captured the foxes. For dingoes' scalps we have paid up to £5 n-piece.'' Mr. Kidman produced a station return show-ing that for a brief period the pests tally was;

-254 dingoes, bonus £3 a bead; 16!) foxes, 5/ a| head: OG hawks, 1/ a head. Tho foxes, he Bald, kill tho lambs and weak, sheep, and tho dogs both sheep and calves. In 18 months on another 1 station tho total number of foxes captured was 1141, dingoes 329, hawks 309, and the payment hy way of bonuses aggregated £1002. ' Most of these peats were taken in the western division of New South T/alcs. Other reports were equally interesting, not. to say alarming, .on the subject of the pests which worry the pas-

toralists.

Mr. Kidman pointed out that about 18 months ngo tho wild dog pest had been prac-tically overcome, but owing to the neglect of the QuccnBlnnd Government to keep tho border fence in repair/ft hod ceased to bo dog proof, much less rabbit proof, as it. was Intended to be. There were holes in the fence In various Places, and fully 80 por cent, of tho dingoes had entered New South Wales from Queens-land through tho openings.