Page:Australia, from Port Macquarie to Moreton Bay.djvu/181

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EXPENSE OF MANAGEMENT.

attending the management of a herd of cattle of the foregoing number.

Two stockmen at £16. a year £32.
One bullock-driver able to plough when required, 16
One honse servant 14.
1¼ tons of flour 18. Allowance being made for transport.
500 lbs. of sugar 5. Ditto.
60 lbs. of tea 4. Ditto.
Squatting license & assessment 20.
Horseshoeing, &c. 3.
£112.

Deducting this from the average yearly income derived from the sale or slaughter of surplus stock, there would remain a sum equal to 17 per cent. on the capital invested. The reader will also observe, that, according to my calculation, a considerable augmentation gradually takes place in the number of the original herd, notwithstanding that the cattle, both male and female, are supposed to be sold, or converted into tallow, &c. as soon as they attain four years of age.

Should this work meet the eye of persons of colonial experience, they will probably smile at my extraordinary manner of disposing of the surplus stock, in the foregoing calculations respecting sheep and cattle. My object, however, has not been to recommend this mode of disposing of the increase, but I assumed it solely, because it struck me as the most simple means of shewing the income which