CHAPTER X. 



STOCKING A FARM. 



We will suppose a young man, a bachelor^ has gone 

 through his novitiate on some farm, has cut his wisdom 

 teeth, and has £2,500 to invest. How had this capital 

 be best invested ? 



We will suppose he has decided to try up-country 

 and not on the coast^ the capabilities of which for birds 

 have yet to be proved ; but should it prove that the 

 birds will remain in health on the coast, a much smaller 

 farm than is given below would be sufficient. 



A farm of, say, 3,000 to 4,000 acres of suitable land, 

 with good permanent water, with some sort of a house 

 and a couple of outbuildings, has been leased for five 

 years at, say, a rental of £150 a year. It has probably 

 been used for cattle, there is a kraal, there is plenty 

 of bush near the homestead and in other parts, but 

 there are no camps. 



The first thing is to buy a cart and six oxen, a few 

 simple articles of furniture and cooking utensils, a 

 couple of horses, a dozen cows and a bull, fifty head of 

 poultry, provisions and rations for four or five men, 

 axes, and a few carpentering tools, &c. ; with these our 



