CHAPTER XXVIIL 



HORSES AND CATTLE.. 



Every Ostrich-farmer must^ keep some horses. The- 

 number, of course, will depend upon the number of 

 birds he has. Birds are always apt to get astray, and 

 unless followed up as soon as missed, they may go long 

 distances, even if they are not altogether lost. It is much 

 cheaper, quicker, and more effectual to send men on 

 horseback than to send them on foot, when they will 

 probably not go half far enough, spending much of 

 their time asleep under a bush. And much of the feed- 

 ing can be done by a man on horseback, with a led 

 horse carrying a pack-saddle. Pack-saddles are not 

 half so much used in the country as they might be; 

 they can be bought in the colony, with breeching and 

 breastplate, and complete, excepting the side bags, for 

 £4, and the bags can be made on the farm out of 

 sacks. 



The farmer should never give a long price for 

 his horses — what he wants are quiet mokes, the quieter 

 the better for working with birds. Their food should 

 not cost him anything, as he should let them run in one 



