SHEEP - PRODUCTION ON THE MOUNTAIN COUNTRY OF ASHBURTON COUNTY

Abstract

THE sheep-runs of the Ashburton County cover roughly 590,000 acres of river-flat, foothill, and high mountainous country bounded on the south by the Rangitata River (with the exception of the Mesopotamia run of Butler's " Erewhon " fame). On the northern .side the boundary is formed by the Rakaia River, and a straight line from the Rangitatathrough Mount Somers and Staveley Townships to the Rakaia roughly demarcates the plains land from the hills on the east, while westerly the runs extend back thirty and forty miles to the main ranges of the Alps.