ill always be a better and a worse side. The dealer sees
this at a glance, and, if so inclined, can make the cut much as he
likes. The buyer, again, if he is as good a judge as the jobber (which
is seldom the case), if allowed to cut them, would be likely to make a
good cut for himself, and not a fair one for the seller; but the
difference will not be so glaring, as he cannot know the beasts as the
dealer does. I am speaking always of a fair cut as sold from the sixty.
It is not easy to explain in writing how this division is made; but as
there is no doubt many a one has been bitten, I shall do my best to
describe the process. Suppose the sixty beasts are well driven through
one another, which is always done before a cut is attempted, and
suppose the dealer is to cut the cattle, he merely gives the lot a
glance; he can see in a moment the strong and the weak side, for there
will be a difference. He will run off the twenty from the worst side of
the sixty, and he will run the number off to a beast or two. It is very
quickly done; the stick is used sharply, and in running off the twenty
he can easily put six or eight of the best in the line to any side he
may think fit. I do not mean to say this is often done, but I wish to
show that it can be managed.

In selling lean cattle there is a great deal to be gained by choosing a
favourable stance and showing them off properly to the buyers. Cattle
look best on the face of a moderate sloping bank, and worst of all at a
dead wall. The larger the number shown in a lot, especially of polled
cattle, as they stand close together, they look the better. I never
liked to show less than forty in a lot, but sixty will look better than
forty, and eighty better still. I never would break a lot of beasts
except for a consideration in price, as the cattle left behind never
have the same appearance. The dealer likewise knows that cattle look
largest on the off-side. Many buyers like to see every beast in a lot
go past them; and if the dealer can get the buyer to inspect them on
the off-side, it is to his own advantage. Cattle and sheep are the
better of a good rouse-up when the buyer is inspecting them. I have
often seen quarrelling between the buyers and the drovers, the buyers
insisting on the drovers letting them alone, while the drovers will not
let them stand. I have seen a clever man keep some of the best beasts
always in view of the buyers, a stick with a whipcord being used for
the pu