an important routine on a sheep station. Other activities include ram buying and classing the sheep in order to determine the inferior types that are to be culled. Crops and pastures are often also grown to provide additional feed for the sheep, especially those that will be raised and sold as prime lambs. Fences require regular inspections to locate and repair any damage that has been found. Sheep breeders may also need to undertake predatory animal control if crows, dingos or foxes are likely to be a problem. Terminology The term "sheep run" was commonly used during the early settlement period to describe an unfenced tract of land operated by squatters, later used of a large station property, fenced or unfenced. For administrative purposes, many stations exist on pastoral leases, but in state government jurisdictions they are increasingly known as stations. The term "playing for sheep stations" is used to denote a large or serious game, usually in the expression "we're not playing for sheep stations". Examples Rawlinna Station in Western Australia is the largest sheep station in Australia. Walter Peak is a notable old sheep station that was founded in 1860 on the south shore of Lake Wakatipu, South Island, New Zealand. It is across Lake Wakatipu from Queenstown, 40 minutes steaming time on the historic TSS Earnslaw steamship. In literature Two well-known nineteenth-century authors have written about life on a sheep station: Lady Barker Station Life in New Zealand and Station Amusements in New Zealand. Samuel Butler A First Year in the Canterbury Settlement and his novel Erewhon. See also Cattle station List of pastoral leases in Western Australia List of ranches and stations Pastoral lease Rangeland#Australia Sheep husbandry Sheep shearing Station (Australian agriculture) Station (New Zealand agriculture) Stockman (Australia) References External links Tobruk Sheep Station — includes photo of stockman mustering sheep Sheep-dipping on the Orari Gorge Station (photo c1899) Australian English Livestock in Australia Sheep Sheep Sheep farming in New Zealand Australian sheep industry