110 THE TIM BUNKER PAPERS. 



It can be done just as easy as to flip a cent, if he lias the 

 money to do it with. 



That letter tried to make it out that I had spent a great 

 deal of money on my marsh. This shows how little the 

 writer knows about it. I have got more than muck enough 

 out of the ditches to pay for all the improvements and top- 

 dressings applied, to it ; so that I am a good deal in debt 

 to that land to-day. The principal part of the expense of 

 such an improvement is in the embankment, and that was 

 all made in this case. 



As to this marsh ever going back again, of course it will, 

 if it is not taken care of. -Any fool can see that if the tide 

 gate is not kept in order, the sea water will come in, and 

 the salt grasses will grow again. But any fool in Hooker- 

 town will tell you that Tim Bunker knows enough to keep 

 a tide gate in order, and to shut out &quot; crabs &quot; and &quot; eel- 

 grass.&quot; 



The letter tries to make a handle out of my dress, and 

 on this subject I guess I am posted about as well as some 

 of my neighbors. I believe in people s dressing according 

 to their characters and their business. If there is any 

 thing better than rubber boots for a ditch half full of wa 

 ter, I should like to see it. I have not got above my busi 

 ness of farming yet, and don t expect to very soon. Some 

 folks, I suppose, like Tucker and Jones, if they should be 

 made a Justice, or elected to any high office, would not 

 wear anything but calf-skin, for the rest of their lives. 

 And thereby I think they would show that the calf was 

 a little more than skin deep. 



You see, Mr. Editor, this matter of dress is of more im 

 portance than most people think. It makes or ruins a 

 multitude of people, and has a great deal to do with these 

 crashes that you have in the city, every few years. And 

 to begin with, as Mr. Spooner would say, there is a great 

 deal in dressing folks up with the right kind of names, 

 when they start in life. I don t think your correspondents 



