2o8 THROUGH STABLE AND SADDLE-ROOM. 



or rug. Such a state of affairs is to me so very un- 

 lovely, that I would far sooner keep but one pony 

 and turn it out well, than three horses, and have to 

 put up with dirt and slovenliness. Let a man 

 have a fair day's work to do, by all means, but let him 

 have a fair day to do it in. If matters are thus 

 arranged, insist upon every little detail being kept 

 up to the highest possible pitch. Excuse nothing; 

 allow of no excuse, unless it be through ignorance, 

 and a groom is supposed to knoiv his work. A 

 good servant costs no more than a bad. People are 

 for ever bemoaning the scarcity of good servants. 

 It's all rubbish. There are heaps to be got — plenty 

 of good, honest men, who both know their work 

 and do it ; but every man is not like this, and it is 

 necessary to exercise due precaution, and perhaps to 

 take some little trouble in the matter. People get 

 bad servants very often because they won't take the 

 trouble to get good ones. 



' A fair day's work and a fair day's wage.' Let 

 the master be just and considerate, and, above all, 

 courteous to his servants, and let him in return exact 

 to the full the duty they should give to him, insisting 

 upon a willing and ready compliance with his orders ; 

 failing this, dismissal. If a difficulty is experienced 

 in obtaining a good servant, it is, believe me, a far 

 better plan to train a man who is steady, respect- 



