s,
what were the kinds of bad luck that could happen to a man who engaged
in it.

"As to that," replied Mr. Syme, "there are several things which it is
not possible to foresee or prevent. In the first place, nobody can
foresee a great drought when cattle perish of thirst and starvation;
added to this danger is that of diseases to which cattle are subject,
especially pleuro-pneumonia. Whole herds may be carried away by this
disease, and if it once gets established among the cattle of an estate
it is very difficult to eradicate it. Sometimes it is necessary to kill
off an entire herd in order to get rid of the disease, and I have heard
of cattle runs that were depopulated successively two or three times by
pleuro-pneumonia, and their owners ruined. Sometimes the market is very
low in consequence of an over-supply, and the price cattle furnish is a
very poor remuneration to stock raisers.

"Sheep farming is more profitable, on the whole, than cattle farming,"
he continued; "but the risks are somewhat greater in consequence of the
greater liability of sheep to disease. There are several diseases
peculiar to sheep which carry them off in great numbers, and they are
affected by drought quite as much as cattle are. A sheep run can be
started with a small capital, and you might almost say with no capital
at all. For instance, a man with very little money, or practically with
none at all, can find a location and squat upon it, and then go to one
of the cities, and if he is known to be a respectable, honest, and
industrious man and free from vicious habits, he can find somebody who
will supply the capital for buying a few hundred sheep. With these sheep
he can make a start, and if he is industrious and attentive to business,
and has no bad luck with his flocks, he will make money rapidly. In ten
years he will have a comfortable fortune; but, on the other hand, he is
liable at any time to be ruined by two successive bad seasons of drought
and disease. Sometimes the price of wool is so low that it leaves very
little profit to the sheep farmer after paying for shepherds, shearers,
and other employees, and the expense of taking his wool to the
sea-coast."

Their host remarked, in conclusion, that he was afraid the good days of
cattle and sheep farming had gone and would never come again. "Land has
become dear," he said, "and labor unions compel us to pay high prices
for stockmen and shearers, especially the latter, and the prices