CH. XV 
SHEEP 
H7 
apprenticeship must be served by all. This applies 
to every man, Englishman, Australian, or New 
Zealander, who wishes to avoid an inevitable loss and 
delay. The South African farmer alone will find con¬ 
ditions of disease and herding more or less similar 
to his own ; and even he has much to learn. 
The settler who arrives with the intention of sheep¬ 
farming has to-day a far larger field from which to select 
a site for his operations than the man to whom im¬ 
mediate means of communication and a plentiful supply 
of labour are essential. And here it may be emphasised 
that already people are beginning to realise that, large 
though our supply of native labour is, it is yet totally 
inadequate to put under the more valuable crops, such 
as coffee, sisal, and wattle, the total area which might 
otherwise be developed in this way. If, as appears 
likely, free grants on a sufficient scale may be no 
longer obtainable from Government, he, the settler, 
may yet acquire tracts of country at nominal prices 
which are well suited to his purpose. Moreover, such 
areas will tend consistently to increase in value as 
communications improve and closer settlement becomes 
feasible. The Uasin Guishu Hinterland and West 
Kenia contain areas which at the present prices of six 
to ten shillings an acre offer exceptional facilities for 
the purpose, and when the long-delayed and extremely 
mismanaged movement of the Masai is an accom¬ 
plished fact the Likipia plateau will offer areas at least 
as good as any now available. 
The farmer who has secured his land has next to de¬ 
cide between two courses : whether to acquire a mob of 
native ewes and from them to grade up to the pure sheep, 
or to import a pure-bred flock and establish himself 
immediately in the position which by the other method 
l 2 
