THE TECHNOLOGY OF OPEN-RANGE CATTLE FARMING IN EARLY EUROPEAN AUSTRALIA

Abstract

The technology of open-range cattle-farming in early European Australia was notable for a simplicity that bordered on the primitive. It was far less sophisticated than contemporary farming in the British Isles. Some of the techniques used were identical with and may have been borrowed from New Spain. Others, in particular the use of the stockwhip and the development of an effective cattle dog were Australian innovations.

Keywords:

• Cattle dogs
• horsemen
• open-range cattle-farming
• stockwhip
• stockyards