Transcription

                                                             265
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES.

check & cure has been effected & that the general health of the whole of their flocks is improved, also that the occupation of even inferior sheep country the animals improve. Some Sheep should never be run more than five years on one station, Sheep decidedly improve by being removed from a Winter to a Summer run, & it seems strange to me that the flockmasters do not give more attention to this Matter by securing sheltered runs to the westward of the great Northern Cordillera, where they might run their flocks off the range during the warm Season -
Catarrhs among sheep, that is in the form of what is called common Catarrh, is not uncommon either in this Colony or in Europe - In Scotland, it does not prevail so much among native Sheep, as in those brought from England into the colder northern Climate.
The severer [more severe]  form of this disease Epidemic Catarrh or Influenza in which inflammatory symptoms are more increased than in the Common form of the disease is at present unknown in this Colony, the flocks are now Climatized in the mountain districts and the Stock from these districts are at present supplying the markets of New South Wales and Victoria -

GOOLAH [ GOOLA] GRASS ( PANICUM LAVINADE) [?] NATIVE GRASS SEED

E.P. Capper Esq. of West Maitland who contributed to the Exhibition a specimen thus describes this grass & Seed "As everything bearing on the pastoral interests of the Country must possess more or less interest I deem it expedient to submit the following particulars - The plant when young resembles very [indecipherable] the English barley. The spindles are from two to three feet high. The flower & seed stems, when they first show taper, but open out, eventually becoming so many small fibres, bearing blossoms & carrying seed. The seed is irregular on the fibres, similar to the other Australian grasses. It is  yearly becoming scarcer in the Barwon Districts from the grazing of the Cattle & sheep, In these districts it had always been found in abundance, but at the same time it is common in many other parts of the Colony - The Aborigines are fond of this seed, & make bread from it - they Collect it by carrying pieces of bark or aprons, which they pass under the seed stems of the plant against the wind & then gather the seed as it falls. When a sufficient quantity is collected, they bruise or grind it roughly between two stones, water being freely used to wet the meal & Carry it with the bark vessels placed to receive it as it runs from the stones. So very glatinous [gelatinous]  is the meal that it hangs in thess threads, like ropy water or pieces of jelly.  It is often eaten in this state without any cooking - The wet meal which runs from the stones is white & settles in the vessel having the water above. By pouring off the water, the meal & gluten are collected, & then formed into cakes the size of bakers rolls, - They are next put into the embers & baked - the taste is not unlike barley bread - birds fed on it are stronger & better feathered than on any other food.

 

Current Status: 
Ready for review