io8 A FARMER'S YEAR 



however, I am inclined to believe that countless generations of 

 semi-intelligent labour, that is, labour in which the animal takes 

 what seems to be a thinking part, have really given it more brain 

 and power of reflection than belong to the class of horses used 

 only occasionally, and, for the most part, for the purposes of 

 pleasure. 



To-day, Sunday, there were showers of snow and sleet in the 

 morning, though after church the sun came out. In the afternoon 

 it was dull again, with a strong west wind ; but the moon-rise to-night 

 was one of the most lovely that I have seen for a long time. In 

 front of where I stood, on the top of Hollow Hill, lay a stretch of 

 bare plough, bordered by a little belt of plantation. Above these 

 trees the moon, full, bright, and round, appeared in a perfectly 

 clear sky, turning the tree-tops and the cold purple plough silver 

 with her light. 



February 10. For the last three days all the available carts 

 have been at work carting litter out of the yards. The weather 

 has been bright and colder, with slight frosts at night, which have 

 done much good. The manure, I may explain, is hauled on to a 

 heap in the field for which it is intended, where it heats. After 

 about fourteen days it can be turned so that the bottom of the 

 heap becomes the top, and to do this properly is part of the 

 mystery of farming. Then it heats again, after which, shortened 

 and sweetened, it is fit to go upon the earth. This heating kills 

 all seeds of docks or other rubbish that may have been brought 

 in with the hay or straw ; also it breaks up and decomposes the 

 fibre of the straw, so that the mixture becomes more readily in- 

 corporated with the soil. Summer muck, however, being much 

 shorter owing to its containing less straw, is often carted straight 

 on to the land without being ' haled ' or heaped. The manure 

 this year should be of good quality, as so little rain has fallen to 

 wash the yards and spoil it. Before another winter comes round 

 I hope to have most of it safe under cover of iron-roofed sheds. 



To-day is Bungay market, and Hood sold about fifty-six coomb 



