CHAPTER XXIV.

L'ENVOI.

In concluding an effort like the foregoing, it is, I believe, the usual thing for the author to tender a few words of good advice. A thankless job, perhaps, for a wise man doesn't want it and a fool won't take it. However, in case any reader might be contemplating scratching a living out of the scrub, I offer him the following, free, gratis and for nothing:--

1. Decide on your district; think carefully before taking a block; get it; then hang on to it till all's blue, for blocks aren't so easy to get now-a-days, and the time is gone when a bloke could say, "'Ere! I'm chuckin' this, and goin' for a block closer in."

2. Get your scrub down as quickly as possible. Standing timber won't bring in a penny in a lifetime, and mill timber's a rotten reed to lean on for an income. Fifty acres of grass, well fenced, will, at agistment, bring in tucker and a bit over after the first year, even if you don't use it yourself.

3. Never go working alone in the scrub. Always try to have a mate with you, and never wear smooth-soled boots in the scrub, unless you want to go to hospital.

4. Don't be afraid of the State Agricultural Bank. It's cheap money, and they won't (since they can't) foreclose for twenty-one years, provided interest is paid when due. The bank's assistance enables you to stop on your block instead of going away to work. Go as far as they'll allow you for scrub-falling and buying cows, but not for house-building or other unproductive work. Let Strawberry pay for that. Leave private banks alone.

5. Get grass seed in at once after the burn, and don't sow all one kind, no matter how good a feed it is. Her Majesty Queen Cow likes a change, like ourselves.

6. Don't start dairying until you have a good fence round the place. Then buy a few good cows and a _good_ bull. Be wary buying milkers from a dairyman. Better get springing heifers.

7. Here get married. Weigh well the advantages of a widow with, say, a couple of children able to milk. If she has a little cash, all the better. Then it won't matter if she's not beautiful and is ten years your senior.

8. If your early milking arrangements are rough, it'll be all right if you keep everything scrupulously clean. Slap the whitewash round. It's cheap, and, like a parson's coat, occasionally covers a multitude of sins.

9. Don't sell your young heifers when weaned if you can struggle along without doing so. Breeding up your own herd, you know what you've got. Also your old originals won't live for ever.

10. Try and grow a bit of hand-feed for your cows as a stand-by, no matter how good a dairying district you're in.

11. Never lose your temper, no matter how rorty your cows may be. Cows are very sensitive, and respond to quiet treatment quicker than any other animal. If you go down to the bails in a temper, the cows know it, even if you're quiet with them. They get uneasy, and hang on to the milk. I learned this by experience.

12. Keep your heart up and battle along. Don't let set-backs break your spirit. The sticker gets there--like the postage stamp. But, make no mistake, you'll need a heart to tackle the scrub.

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And that's the lot, blokes. Hello! milking time. I must get away after the cows. I wish you luck. Well--hooray!

"SENEX."

THE SPECIALTY PRESS PTY. LTD. 174 Little Collins Street Melbourne

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Transcriber's note:

Printer's inconsistencies in spelling, punctuation, and hyphenation have been retained.