CHAPTER XXIX. 



THE LABOUR SUPPLY. 



The next great difRculty to the constant and ever- 

 recurring drouglits, is the uncertain supply and inferior 

 quality of the labour attainable ; and as a young man 

 might even have had an apprenticeship of a few years 

 on a farm where the master had the knack of getting 

 on with his labourers, and during a time when labourers 

 happened to be extra plentifid, he might even be 

 deceived, and not calculate this difficulty at its true 

 weight ; so that we need not offer any apology for a 

 few remarks on this subject. 



The great bulk of the work on a farm is and will 

 continue to be done by natives, and how to manage 

 them successfully can only be learnt from experience. 

 All extra work on a farm requiring mechanical skill, 

 such as fencing, is nearly always done by the assistants 

 on the farm, or by white labourers, who can generally 

 be procured by enquiries amongst the neighbours or 

 by advertising in a local paper, though not always 

 just when they are wanted. Much heaV}^ work, 

 such as dam-making, is often done by white navvies, 

 



