174 FIELD AND FERN. 



market swell and fill the stall ranges on two sides of 

 it. The crunch and the groan are sweet music to the 

 soul of ' ' Tillyfour,*' as enveloped in his plaid he 

 takes his rounds, and watches the rich rations wheeled 

 in from the canteen. How he does hate to see the 

 dust collect on their backs, and what arguments of 

 nonthriftiness he gathers therefrom ! They are "their 

 own turnip slicers," as he holds that half the sap is 

 wasted by the more modern system. The caking, 

 except for the more backward ones, does not begin 

 till within six weeks of the great market, when 

 they get 41bs. to Gibs, each ; but when cake reached 

 11 a ton, they were principally fed on bruised oats 

 and barley. Peas and beans are no part of their fare. 

 In contradistinction to the Mechian and Norfolk 

 theories, Mr. M'Combie holds that, as a rule, 141bs. 

 of cake a day is as much as any beast's stomach can 

 do proper justice to. Only two of the " doddies" had 

 <c scurs ;" but they were good enough to confirm the 

 butcher's axiom, " never a bad one with a hanging 

 head ;" and yet there was only one out of the forty- 

 three which Mr. M'Combie had the smallest notion of 

 " training/' He is very particular about a fine fore- 

 head and light bone, and if he can " get the tail 

 as small as a rat's" they are always quicker feeders. 

 Fifty-nine were away on the Dee side, but we conned 

 the weekly bulletin of them, and wished that half the 

 civil service candidates could send in as smart a, precis 

 of the week's doings. Two men were in special 

 charge of them, and the brush and currycomb are 



