Chap. VII..] FoTATOBs. ' ,167 



they (lid not supply the place of oats ; and yet fashion 

 has made people believe, that they are capable of sup- 

 plying the place of bread ! It is notorious, that nothing 

 will fatten on potatoes alone. Carrots, parsnips, cab- 

 bages, will, in time, fatten sheep and oxen, and, some 

 of them, pigs ; but, upon potatoes alone, no animal that 

 1 ever heard of will fatten. And yet, the greater part, 

 and, indeed, all the other roots and plants here men- 

 tioned, will yield, upon ground of the same quality, 

 three or four times as heavy a crop as potatoes, and 

 will, too, for a long while, set the frosts at defiance. 



284. If, Sir, you do me the honour to read this let- 

 ter, I shall have taken up a good deal of your time ; but 

 the subject is one of much importance in rural economy, 

 and therefore, cannot be wholly uninteresting to you. I 

 will not assume the sham modesty to suppose, that my 

 manner of treating it makes me unworthy of an answer ; 

 and, I must confess, that I shall be disappointed unless 

 yeu make a serious attempt to prove to me, that I am 

 in error. 



I am, Sir, 

 Your most obedient, 



And most humble Servant, 



Wm. Cobbett. 



285. Now, observe, I never received any ansicer to 

 this. Much abuse. New torrents of abuse; and, in 

 language still more venomous than the former; for nou) 

 the Milton and Shakespear men, the critical Parsons, 

 took up the pen ; and when you have an angry Priest 

 for adversary, it is not the common viper, but the rattle- 

 snake that you have to guard against. However, as no 

 one put his name to what he wrote, my remarks went 

 on producing their effect; and a very considerable 

 effect they had. 



286. About the same time Mr. Timothy Brown of 

 Peckham Lodge, who is one ot the most understanding 

 and most worthy men I ever had the honour to be ac- 

 quainted Avith, furnished me with the following coinpa' 

 rative estiaiate relative to icheat aud potatoes. 



