CLASSIFICATION OF LABOUR. 5 



Where a farmer acts as his own foreman, having no 

 manager, he himself distributes the work to be done 

 amongst his men ; but, if the farm is too big, he might 

 do part of the management himself, and leave part to 

 a foreman. Another method is for the farmer to give 

 general instructions, leaving them to be carried out by 

 his foreman, who would have to rise earlier in the morn- 

 ing than it might suit the farmer to do. The division 

 of a large holding into several farms, distant from each 

 other, sometimes renders necessary a resident foreman 

 for each ; and the master has to exercise his general 

 supervision of the whole by riding backwards and for- 

 wards. 



When a shepherd is employed, the fact usually implies 

 a large holding, and special and exclusive attention to 

 the particular work of a shepherd. The position is 

 usually a responsible one. The hours are necessarily 

 long and the work arduous, more especially during 

 the lambing season ; and then a good deal of night work 

 is necessary. Sheep-shearing and sheep-washing, too, 

 are occupations needing attention, care, and skill. Some- 

 times a shepherd has very long distances to travel over 

 rough, broken ground ; and this duty must be performed 

 in all weathers. They cannot be said, in the ordinary 

 sense, to have hours of duty, as they work at all hours ; 

 and it has been said, in effect, that a shepherd has " no 

 hours," so uncertain are the times they have to be about. 



Very varied is the responsibility of cattlemen, and the 

 amount of their work depends largely upon the size of the 

 farms on which they are engaged. It varies also accord- 

 ing to the character of the system adopted. In breeding 

 districts, where the owners of the cattle compete at 

 exhibitions, and breed and condition count, very skilled 

 men are required, and these, naturally, can earn the best 

 wages. It so happens, not unfrequently, that the cattle- 

 man is the best paid of all the labourers. On dairy 

 farms, where the simpler operations of grazing and 



