STOCK AND IMPLEMENTS OF AGRICULTUEE. 53 



On no estate have I ever seen good, clean, well covered- 

 in stalls, in which a steer might be tied up and fed. 

 Neither have I ever seen guinea-grass hay made and 

 stacked for the working cattle of an estate, that they might 

 become firm in flesh, and capable of great and long con- 

 tinued exertion. Far from all this, I have generally 

 remarked a total disregard for their preservation, amount- 

 ing to a shameful sacrifice of property. Amongst the 

 many, I will instance a property I was once intimately 

 acquainted with, on the north side of Jamaica, of about 

 750 acres, and then making 150 hhds. (of 1800 lbs. each) 

 of sugar. * * * This property had 250 head of 

 horned cattle, worth, as nearly as possible, £8 a head — 

 £2000 sterling — about 40 mules, value about £20 each — 

 £800 — in all £2800 sterling for cattle alone, which one 

 would be apt to suppose an enormous sum, yet this estate 

 was every year supplied with fresh cattle to supply losses by 

 death. * * * We know that the average working 

 period of a steer or heifer in Jamaica, under favourable 

 circumstances, is 10 years, but when a little extra care 

 has been bestowed upon them, we may safely reckon on 

 15 years, whilst a mule, with common care, will work for 

 20, 30, and even 40 years. I have had four mules varying 

 in age from 45 to 48 years each, as proved by most 

 undoubted evidence, and all of them at that age taking 

 their regular spells in turn" — Wray's Practical Planter. 



There are some persons who deserve great credit for the 

 care which they bestow upon their stock, and there are 



