Taking your Lordship's Letter No. 18 as a data, respecting the Land to be located to Mr. MacArthur, wherein you do me the honour to signify His Majesty's Commands that "I will have a proper grant of Lands, fit for the pasture of sheep, conveyed to the said John MacArthur Esquire, in perpetuity, with the usual reserve of Quit-Rents to the Crown, containing not less than Five Thousand Acres," and Your Lordship having noticed that "It will be impossible for Mr. MacArthur to pursue this plan unless he shall be indulged with a reasonable number of Convicts (which he states to be not less than thirty) for the purpose of attending his sheep, and that as Mr. MacArthur will take upon himself the Charges of maintaining these Convicts, a saving will accrue to Government; and that you doubt not I will provide him with such as shall appear as most suitable to his Objects."
In order to expedite Mr. MacArthur's Object of exporting fine Wool to England, I have directed One hundred of the finest woolled Ewes from Government Stock to be chosen for this gentleman to add to his own, for which he is to pay Grain into the Stores at the rate of Two Pounds sterling for each Ewe. As I do not consider it an Object for Government to interfere in this pursuit, Seeing that the greatest exertions will be made by Mr. MacArthur, And notwithstanding every attention has been paid to improve the Fleeces of Government Sheep, Yet that Stock will always be a reserve for supplying present and future Settlers with proportions thereof, which will at once save the Necessity of purchasing to Supply New Settlers who have Claims, and preserve a residue for those deserving characters who may be allowed the advantage of exchanging Grain for Ewes, agreeable to my Lord Hobart's Acquiescence with my proposal on that Subject.
The number of Male Convicts assigned to Mr. MacArthur for the Care of his Stock, etc., previous to his return, was Sixteen; Since then they have been increased to Thirty, exclusive of those hired and retained in his service who have served their terms. Should Mr. MacArthur wish for an increase, they shall be assigned him when more arrive from England; but your Lordship will observe by the number and employment Return that the Public Labour absolutely necessary to be carried on, and in which Agriculture on the part of the Crown is nearly given up, will not allow of more Men being assigned at present until more arrive.
I have, etc.,
PHILLIP GIDLEY KING.
MACARTHUR'S OBSERVATIONS ON SHEEP-FARMING
A Report of the State of Mr. MacArthur's Flocks of Sheep, with some observations on the Advantages which may be expected from the Growth of fine Wool in New South Wales.
Paramatta, N.S.W., 2nd Oct., 1805.
The fine Woolled Sheep imported here from the Cape of Good Hope in the Year 1797 were said to be of the Spanish Breed. The excellence of the fleece of these Sheep combined with the consideration of their peculiar form, bears strong evidence in favour of the Correctness of this Report, tho' it is impossible to say whether they originally sprung from the best kind of Sheep that is bred in Spain. Be this as it may nothing is better established than that the Wool of this Breed of Sheep has considerably improved in this Climate, and as Mr. MacArthur has had the good fortune to bring out from England Four Rams and one Ewe, purchased from His Majesty's Flock of Spanish Sheep, It is to be hoped that these valuable animals will be the cause of a still further Melioration in the Quality of our Wool. Indeed there appears no reason to fear but that the Wool of this Country may by care and judicious Management be placed on an equality with the very best that is grown in Spain. It has been Mr. MacArthur's invariable practice to keep the Spanish Breed apart from all others, and as fast as Spanish Rams have been reared they have been put among the coarse-woolled Ewes. The result of this system has proved extremely satisfactory, his Flocks now consist of more than Five Thousand, of these Sixty are of the pure Spanish kind, and the whole are much improved in the quality of the Wool; he is of Opinion the best judge will be unable to discover any material difference between the perfect and the mixed Breed in Seven years.
With respect to Constitution, Size, and Aptitude to fatten, he has tried all the Breeds he could obtain in the Colony, and he has found the Spanish surpass them all in every one of these qualities. In the representations that Mr. MacArthur had the honour to make in England to His Majesty's Ministers, he stated that he thought a Flock of Sheep would double itself in Two Years and a half, longer experience induces him to think it may be done in rather less time; but in the Estimate he now proposes to make, he will govern himself by the same data on which his original Calculations were made, for he is desirous rather to repress too sanguine Expectations than to encourage such as may prove fallacious.