Page:Australia, from Port Macquarie to Moreton Bay.djvu/175

 not so great as that of sheep, yet the great exemption of the former from disease or casualties, and the very small expense attending their management, rendered cattle, during the prosperous times of the colony, the favourite stock, especially for newly arrived emigrants. The only disorder, which appears occasionally among cattle in New South Wales, is black leg, or black quarter; it is of very rare occurrence, for although we had about two thousand head of cattle on our run at the MacLeay river, we did not lose more than half a dozen from this disease.

During the period that I took an active part in the management of our cattle at the MacLeay I did not notice more deaths from accidents or disorders than at the rate of two per cent.; for as our cattle were all branded with our initials, consecutively numbered, and enrolled in our cattle book, with their descriptions annexed, it was easy to ascertain the exact losses at our periodical musters. In the following calculation I have allowed 3&#8531; per cent. for deaths from disease or accident in each year, on the whole number of cattle; I have also assumed that the cows drop yearly sixty per cent, of calves, which, being subject to the same deduction of 3&#8531; per cent., would give about fifty-five per cent, yearly increase.

In order then to arrive at some sort of estimate of the probable profits attending the rearing of homed cattle, when purchased at a low price,