294 THE TIM BUNKER PAPERS. 



food question, which I have thought of a good deal. No 

 man has begun to conceive of the great change which our 

 improved farming tools are destined to make in the pro 

 ductiveness of human labor. A man is multiplied ten 

 fold. We should have had a famine during the war, if it 

 had not been for them, and food would have been a great 

 deal dearer than it now is. The horse reaper and mower 

 mean cheaper grain, and cheaper meats of every kind, that 

 consume hay and grain. Every year is adding to these 

 improved tools, and extending the fields of their useful 

 ness. They come very slowly into use, but they are cer 

 tainly coining ; and they can not fail to do two things to 

 make farming pay better, and to cheapen the price of 

 food. A vast deal of brain power is lavished upon these 

 inventions, and it will have its reward in relieving the 

 sweat of the brow. 



&quot; And then when steam gets into the field, as it must, 

 upon the prairies at least, wh.at may we not expect in the 

 way of cheap Johnnycakes and bacon ? &quot; 



&quot; May I be there to see,&quot; exclaimed Seth, rising to go. 

 &quot; That is what other folks will do about it ; but what do 

 you mean to do about it, Squire Bunker ? &quot; 



&quot; Do ? &quot; said I. &quot; Why, I ll stick to the old farm, set 

 my neighbors a good example, and die in the furrow. 

 And if that ain t enough, I ll blow my trumpet in the 

 Agriculturist, and set all the people from Maine to Texas, 

 thinking on the food question.&quot; 



&quot; Good ! &quot; said Seth, as he went out. &quot; That paper is 

 the best tool yet out, to make bread cheap. It believes 

 in brain manure.&quot; 



Yours to command, 



TIMOTHY BUNKEK, ESQ. 



Hookertown, Dec. 8, 1866. 



