336 Letter ii. to [Part III. 



them !) drove me in 1817. I think it cost me about a 

 hundred pounds. I forget, whether I had sold anj 

 flour from it to the Bakers. But, independent of that, 

 it was very valuable. I think we ground and dressed 

 about forty bushels of wheat in a day ; and , we used 

 to work at it on wet days, and when we could not work 

 in the fields. We never were stopped l)y want of wind 

 or water. The horses were always ready ; and / know, 

 that our grinding was done at one half the expense at 

 which it was done by the millers. 



635. The farmers and millers used to sav-, that I 

 saved nothing by my mill. Indeed, gain was not my 

 object, except in convenience. I hated the sudden calls 

 for going to the mill. They produced irregularity ; 

 and, besides, the millers were not more honest than 

 other people. Their mills contained all sorts of grain ; 

 and, in their confusion, we sometimes got hadjiour from 

 good wheat: an accident that never happened to us 

 after we got our own mill. But, as to the gai?i, I have 

 just received a letter from my son. informing me, that 

 the gentleman, a farmer born and bred, who rents my 

 farm in my absence, sells no wheat ; that he grinds alt : 

 that he sells flour all round the country ; and that this 

 flour is -preferred before that of the millers. I was 

 quite delighted to hear this news of my little mill. It 

 awakened many recollections ; and I immediately 

 thought of comnmnicating the facts to the public, and 

 particularlj' to you. 



636. You will observe, that my farm is situated in 

 the midst of mills. So that, you may be sure, that the 

 things answers, or it would not be carried on. If it 

 were not attended with gain, it would not be put in 

 motion. I was convinced, that any man might grind 

 cheaper with a horse-mill than with a water or wind- 

 mill, and now the fact is proved. For, observe, the mill 

 costs nothing for scite ; it occupies a very small space ; 

 it is independent of Avind and water ; no floods or gales 

 can affect it. 



637. Now, then, if such a mill be preferable to wind 

 or water-mills in a place where both abound, how useful 

 must it be in a situation like yours ? Such a mill would 

 amply supply about three hundred iamilies, if kept con- 



