Healing the Herds: Disease, Livestock Economies, and the Globalization of Veterinary Medicine

Chapter 10 Nineteenth-Century Australian Pastoralists and the Origins of State Veterinary Services

Chapter 10 Nineteenth-Century Australian Pastoralists and the Origins of State Veterinary Services John฀Fisher IN฀1993,฀Sylvie฀Lepage฀spoke฀to฀a฀French฀couple฀who฀had฀bought฀a฀tenthousand -acre฀property฀at฀Cargo฀in฀central฀New฀South฀Wales฀in฀1983.฀Asked฀ why฀two฀Parisians฀became฀sheep฀farmers฀in฀Australia,฀Frederic฀explained: Space฀and฀climate.฀You฀don’t฀have฀to฀grow฀fodder฀here฀unless฀ there฀is฀a฀drought.฀The฀animals฀stay฀outdoors฀all฀year฀round.฀ The฀ only฀ building฀ you฀ need฀ is฀ a฀ shearing฀ shed.฀ We฀ don’t฀ have฀ veterinary฀ expenses฀ either,฀ whereas฀ in฀ Europe฀ diseases฀ become฀ more฀ contagious฀ because฀ animals฀ are฀ packed฀ closer฀ together.฀They฀have฀to฀be฀looked฀after.฀Here฀we฀practise฀natural฀ selection.1 ฀ The฀contribution฀of฀space฀to฀the฀success฀of฀livestock฀production฀in฀ Australia฀has฀long฀been฀clear,฀but฀the฀low฀cost฀of฀veterinary฀care฀also฀played฀ a฀major฀role฀from฀the฀beginning฀of฀white฀settlement.฀At฀first฀this฀was฀because ฀most฀of฀the฀infections฀and฀infestations฀that฀livestock฀suffered฀from฀in฀ Europe฀found฀it฀difficult to฀survive฀in฀the฀distinctive฀ecosystems฀of฀Austra- Australian Pastoralists and State Veterinary Services฀฀฀|฀181 lia.฀As฀this฀freedom฀from฀disease฀did฀not฀persist,฀however,฀action฀to฀control฀ introduced฀diseases฀and฀to฀prevent฀further฀imports฀was฀necessary. ฀ The฀evolving฀response฀to฀disease฀led฀to฀the฀formation฀of฀organizations฀ that฀came฀to฀be฀called฀“stock฀branches”฀in฀the฀Australian฀colonies.฀They฀ appeared฀soon฀after฀the฀middle฀of฀the฀nineteenth฀century,฀roughly฀contemporaneous ฀with฀the฀appearance฀of฀state฀veterinary฀services฀in฀western฀ Europe฀and฀other฀regions฀of฀European฀settlement฀and฀performing฀similar฀ functions.2 ฀They฀differed,฀however,฀from฀the฀European฀model฀in฀two฀important ฀respects.฀In฀the฀first฀place,฀although฀the฀stock฀branches฀were฀ government฀ bodies,฀ with฀ their฀ powers฀ established฀ by฀ legislation,฀ their฀ policies฀and฀actions฀were฀paid฀for฀and฀largely฀decided฀by฀their฀clients,฀the฀ livestock฀owners฀themselves.฀In฀the฀second฀place,฀while฀in฀Europe฀the฀new฀ services฀were฀staffed฀by฀professional฀veterinarians,฀the฀latter฀were฀markedly฀ absent฀from฀the฀Australian฀stock฀branches. ฀ These฀features฀arose฀out฀of฀the฀nature฀of฀Australian฀pastoralism฀as฀it฀ evolved฀after฀1788.฀The฀response฀to฀disease฀was฀one฀part฀of฀the฀evolving฀ strategies฀of฀pastoralists฀as฀they฀sought฀to฀adapt฀Old-World฀technology฀ and฀modes฀of฀production฀to฀meet฀the฀challenges฀that฀came฀from฀operating฀ in฀the฀unfamiliar฀ecosystems฀of฀a฀New฀World.฀Their฀ability฀to฀adapt฀successfully ,฀as฀will฀be฀seen฀below,฀reflected฀the฀particular฀characteristics฀of฀a฀ distinctive฀group฀of฀large฀capitalist฀producers. Evolution of Australian Pastoralism The฀first฀white฀settlement฀in฀Australia฀was฀intended฀to฀be฀a฀jail,฀and฀this฀ remained฀its฀primary฀official function฀until฀the฀1820s.฀Nevertheless,฀many฀ of฀the฀early฀settlers,฀notably฀John฀Macarthur,฀were฀attentive฀to฀the฀potential ฀for฀economic฀gain.3 ฀Opportunities฀came฀first฀in฀supplying฀the฀jail฀at฀ Sydney฀Cove฀with฀basic฀necessities฀(including฀rum),฀in฀facilitating฀Pacific trade,฀and฀in฀harvesting฀the฀marine฀resources฀(primarily฀whales฀and฀seals)฀ of฀ the฀ South฀ Pacific.฀ It฀ was฀ soon฀ evident,฀ however,฀ that฀ the฀ longer-run฀ economic฀future฀of฀New฀South฀Wales฀lay฀in฀utilizing฀its฀most฀abundant฀ factor—land—for฀livestock฀production. ฀ Colonial฀governors฀and฀private฀individuals฀both฀played฀a฀role฀in฀the฀ early฀introduction฀of฀domesticated฀livestock฀into฀New฀South฀Wales,฀but฀ it฀was฀the฀latter฀who฀dominated฀the฀development฀of฀Australian฀pastoralism .฀After฀initial฀problems฀in฀getting฀horses,฀cattle,฀and฀sheep฀to฀Australia,฀ the฀white฀settlers฀were฀encouraged฀by฀positive฀feedback฀from฀the฀processes฀ Alfred฀ Crosby฀ terms฀ “ecological฀ imperialism.”4 ฀ Livestock฀ flourished฀ in฀ Australian฀ecosystems฀in฀the฀early฀colony;฀they฀benefited฀from฀a฀relative฀ absence฀of฀predators฀and฀disease฀agents,฀exhibiting฀high฀reproduction฀rates฀ 182฀฀|฀฀฀John฀Fisher and฀excellent฀health.฀The฀problem฀for฀white฀settlers฀was฀how฀to฀extract฀ maximum฀value฀from฀this฀success. ฀ Despite฀a฀sharp฀rise฀in฀convict฀numbers฀after฀1815,฀the฀jail฀was฀too฀limited ฀a฀market฀to฀provide฀much฀of฀a฀prospect฀for฀colonial฀entrepreneurs.฀A฀ number฀of฀them,฀however,฀were฀already฀experimenting฀with฀sheep฀breeding .฀John฀Macarthur,฀long฀considered฀the฀“Father฀of฀the฀Australian฀Wool฀ Industry,”฀was,฀in฀fact,฀only฀one฀of฀a฀number฀of฀entrepreneurs฀involved฀in฀ the฀early฀development฀of฀Merino฀wool฀production.5 ฀However,฀the฀point฀ here฀is฀that฀the฀successful฀pioneers฀were฀men฀and฀women฀with฀capital฀and฀ vision฀combined฀with฀the฀ability฀to฀participate฀in฀the฀wider฀economic฀and฀ social฀networks฀necessary฀to฀realize฀the฀fruits฀of฀their฀efforts. ฀ Their฀success฀also฀reflected฀their฀capacity฀to฀operate฀on฀a฀large฀scale฀of฀ production.฀Although฀there฀were...