SHEEP RANCH COUNTRY

[Music] the continent of australia is a huge island lying entirely south of the equator it is almost as large as the united states us there are less than seven and a half million people on the alternate not as many as live in new york city the greater part of our country is dry but near the coast rain falls throughout the year most of the people live in the hilly region of southeastern australia back in land behind the coastal hills broad rolling plains stretch for hundreds of miles our great planes have less rainfall than the hilly coastal areas but they have more than the interior of the country which is very dry the plains are covered with grass and spotted with eucalyptus trees more sheep are pastured on our great plains than anywhere else in the world usually there's enough rain here for grass to grow well but sometimes there are dry years when great numbers of sheep die of hunger and thirst on the borders of the sheep country are the pastures for dairy cattle these hilly lands are nearer the coast and the rainfall is heavier because our winters are mild the cows can graze all year round in these same areas are the creameries where our dairy products are prepared for market almost all the machinery like the big mechanical churns is imported from england or the united states these factories are owned cooperatively by the dairy farmers the freshly made butter is taken out of the churns and molded much of it is sent to england butter is one of the chief exports of our country near the dairying regions are some of our biggest wheat farms besides wheat we cultivate a variety of other field crops which grow well in the mild humid climate of this part of southeastern australia farther inland on the plains are our great sheep farms we call them sheep stations one such station on the great plains is the home of the robertson family mr robertson owns the station his ancestors came to australia from england nearly 100 years ago jane is his older daughter she and her sister rosslyn have been brought up to do many things as they are done in great britain the robertsons like many other australians have furnished their home in much the same way as homes in england our country is a member of the british commonwealth of nations early in the morning before jane and ruslan go to school mr robertson and his foreman start for their day's work far out on the range as they ride they inspect the rabbit fences without these fences millions of rabbits would overrun the grazing land and eat the grass needed for sheep the sheep farmers can cover the great distances on their station only on horseback for there are no roads as the sheep wander over the grasslands they divide into small flocks the men who round up the stray flocks from the range and drive them into a herd are called drovers the drovers use trained dogs which they call kelpies to help them do their work the problem of getting enough water for the sheep is a serious one for our farmers in dry seasons bushfires often destroy the grass and the eucalyptus trees over a large area [Music] it may take several days to round up the thousands of sheep on a single station mr robertson and his drovers often spend their night out on the plains around a campfire [Music] [Music] the big sheep drive of the year takes place at shearing time on mr robertson station this usually comes in late august or early september because we live south of the equator september is the end of winter and the beginning of our spring at this time of year the sheep's wool is longest and best for shearing group by group thousands of sheep are driven into what we call holding pens before being shown the rams and views are separated and all the sheep are counted when the sheep crowd together the herdsmen call their dogs the kelpies know how to get them moving [Music] mr robertson himself owns about 100 000 merino sheep the wool of merino sheep is considered the best in the world it is curly and hangs in thick folds from the necks of the animals the shearing is done in long clean sheds crews of shearers who go from station to station carry their own electrical equipment an expert shearer using an electric clipper can shear the wool from almost 250 sheep in one day after the sheep have been clipped they're driven into pens to be marked or branded the station is so busy at shearing time that mr robertson himself sometimes helps mark the sheep the brand that mr robertson stamps on the back of each animal identifies it as belonging to his station the shawn wool is graded into several different classes according to its length and quality each separate grade of wool is pressed into bales then the bales are loaded onto trucks the bales are stamped with the name of the sheep station from which the wall comes and the quality of wool in each bale is clearly indicated after being taken by truck to the railroad the bales are loaded into freight cars to go to our seaport cities such as melbourne and sydney from which the wall will finally be shipped to england and other countries the railroad nearest mr robertson station stops at the town of gundagai the robertsons and other sheep farmers in the vicinity do their trading here in gundagai the farmers who drive long distances can stay overnight at the hotel the main street is lined with stores where the farmers can buy practically everything they need in gundagai a livestock auction is held once a year sheep from nearby stations are driven into town for the sale besides sheep beef cattle are also bought and sold at the auction many of the sheep farmers trade in cattle too they buy young steers which they will fatten and afterwards shipped to the coastal cities for slaughtering how much how am i for 25 anywhere like the other farmers at the auction mr robertson is an expert and watches the bidding carefully all right down five after 25 that's 15 at 25 pound 15 hold down at 25 38 all right i'm going to sell them at 25.50 all done hold on when the auction is over those who have come to see the horse show in the livestock exhibit head for the grandstand the robertson girls hope that one of their father's fine steers will win a blue ribbon their neighbors are excited too for almost every farm family in the region has an exhibit at the gundagai cattle fair the splendid animals are examples of the fine beef cattle our farmers are developing in southeastern australia many of the farmers who come to gundagai at auction time are especially interested in the exhibits of automobiles and farm machinery a great deal of mechanical equipment is used on their farms because the land in this region is so flat [Music] everyone who attends the auction enjoys the traveling carnival families from the far away sheep stations look forward all year to the fun they will have along the noisy crowded the robertson girls make the most of their holiday the end of the carnival will mean returning home and going back to school many sheep farms like the robertsons are so large and so isolated that each has its own small schoolhouse for the children who live on the station we australians know that a good education is very important children like jane robertson may someday become leaders in our young country whose full development has just begun it is difficult for one teacher to cover the many subjects taught to all the pupils of different ages the class listens regularly to special programs broadcast for the benefit of rural schools this is station 2 fc city the geography lesson this morning is about our two largest cities melbourne and sydney let us locate these two important keyports on the map you made last week most of our cities are situated in the southeastern part of the continent along the coast where the climate is down the capital of the state of victoria and the second largest city of australia is melbourne in some ways melbourne resembles an english city its parks are as carefully attended as those in london some of the buildings were built when queen victoria was still on the throne of england our mother country melbourne with over a million people is not only a manufacturing city and the commercial center for the state of victoria melbourne is important to our whole country as one of our great wool markets the wall brought by train from the sheep stations of the great plains is stored in the city's warehouses there it is examined by textile experts from factories in england and other countries the australian brokers who buy and sell for companies all over the world also examine samples of different grades of wool or they too must be sure of the exact quality australia's most important product for export is sold at options in melbourne's wool exchange building brokers represent customers in almost every big city of the world through the auction here they bid against each other hoping to get a favorable price the prosperity of australia depends to a great extent on the prosperity of other countries the harbour of melbourne is formed by the yarrow river from melbourne cargo vessels carry away not only australian wool but the wheat butter meat and many raw materials produced on our sparsely settled land sydney our largest city is about 450 miles north east of melbourne a bridge fetches for nearly a mile across sydney's fine harbour to the docks of sydney as to the docks of melbourne come ships from all over the world these steamers bring manufactured goods from industrial countries in europe and america to us and in turn take our raw materials overseas sydney is even more important than melbourne as a tipping point for wolf bail upon bail goes to the netherlands which ships us power bulbs return from the united states we get automobiles and machinery but we do the largest part of our trading with england the peoples of these and many other nations need our australian wolf the wall that comes from the station on the great plains behind the coastal hills in southeastern australia makes up over one third of the value of all our exports we are the world's greatest wool producing country [Music] in sydney there are also huge grain elevators which provide storage for the wheat grown in our farming regions not part of the sheep country the amount of wheat we send to foreign land makes australia one of the world's largest rain exporters our own ships carry cargos along the coast to and from the various states of our country for example the iron ore that comes to sydney which is in the state of new south wales was mined in the neighboring state of south australia at newcastle near sydney are our steel plants these modern mills are helping australia to overcome the need for buying iron and steel products from other countries the coal brought from mines near sydney is made into coke for the blast furnaces australia is not yet a great industrial country for our steel industry is still young but the mills in newcastle now produce over a million tons of iron and steel each year thus helping to supply our own needs many of the people who work in the factories or carry on business in sydney own their own homes almost every house has its own garden the warm climate makes it pleasant outdoors all year round overlooking the bay at sydney are some of the parks and playgrounds enjoyed by the million people who live in the city australian boys practice rugby football which is one of our national sports and just as popular here as in england there are many public and private tennis courts in sydney australians are among the world's best tennis players and there are courts in every city in town with older men a favorite sport is the game of bowls this game like tennis and rugby also originated in england playing bowls requires patience and skill the object of the game is to come as close as one can to a ball called the jack the player who comes closest wins a point along the seacoast just north and south of sydney are long sandy beaches on holidays and weekends they are usually crowded nearly all australians are fond of swimming and sailing because of our mild climate we can spend more time outdoors than people in most other countries the people of sydney have taken advantage of their fine harbour to make the city our country's leading commercial centre from sydney and other southeastern cities wool from sheep stations on the great plains and agricultural products grown on farmlands nearer the coast are shipped all over the earth although many thousands of miles from europe and america the island continent of australia which lies entirely south of the equator is no longer isolated from the great industrial centers of the world you