140 CONTINUOUS CROPPING 



would be sold early, and the ewes cleared out in the 

 autumn fat. 



The hoggets could also go out in October. On the 

 other hand, there being no sheep on the land in winter 

 would permit of buying a few young store cattle in the 

 autumn and selling in the spring-time. 



There is good money to be made at the business, for 

 when the grass makes an appearance in spring, stores 

 invariably make a far better price per cwt. than in the 

 autumn, when due to the small amount of arable land 

 in the country, many farmers have to sell, lacking 

 food to winter their cattle on. 



This buying for resale, though, needs a man with an 

 eye for a likely beast, and his head screwed on tight to 

 his shoulders, and if, as in the writer's case, the buying 

 has to be done in an Irish fair, he also needs a tongue 

 sharp enough to clip a thorn fence. 



As a final word, in stocking land, the small farmer 

 should always buy young in preference to more matured 

 stock — something he can increase in capital value by 

 putting both his crops and his labour into, something 

 that, as it is commonly phrased, ''will grow into 

 money/' 



