A TROUT BROOK. 25 



ground, and the limbs trimmed so as to allow free passage to 

 cattle beneath them. The land was in an old weedy sward, 

 and was pastured by horses and cows. It had not been in 

 any way drained, and was in some parts boggy. In these, 

 willows, and sallows or osiers, (basket willows,) were grow 

 ing. The trees all appeared to me unhealthy, mossy, and 

 stunted. A few pear-trees grew here and there, indiscrimi 

 nately, among the apples. The cider-mill was just like the 

 old-fashioned ones, with a stone wheel, common in New 

 England. 



After seeing the orchard in such condition, I was surprised 

 to find excellent, neat, and well-ordered stables. The horse- 

 stalls were large, with iron racks and mangers, and a grating 

 and drain to carry off the liquid. The manure in the yard 

 was piled up in a large, oblong heap, covered with earth, to 

 prevent evaporation, with a space of clean pavement, wide 

 enough for a cart to pass all around it. The liquid overflow 

 of the yard was conducted off by a drain, so as to flow over 

 the orchard pasture. 



We reached Leominster at noon, after a few miles further 

 of walking through a pleasant country, remarkable for its 

 pretty old cottages. At Leominster, (pronounced Leminster,) 

 there are also more than usually quaint old houses, grotesquely 

 carved ; and on the market-house, an odd old building, there 

 are some singular inscriptions. I recollect only one, which 

 runs in this way : &quot; As columnes do pprope up &quot; a house, so 

 do a gentry support a state. 



In the afternoon we walked for some distance on the banks 

 of a trout brook, in which a good many ladies and gentlemen 

 were angling, with but poor success. The trout were small, 

 and, if I recollect rightly, rather lighter coloured than ours, and 

 not so prettily mottled. Some of the anglers called the stream 



PART II. 3 



