314 A FARMER'S YEAR 



on the land, picked from the ears and cast away by these mis- 

 chievous little wretches. In this field there was a mighty rabbit 

 hunt, for at the end of it lies the little Hollow Hill plantation, also 

 the old sand-pit in its midst is a great harbour for them. Several 

 men and dogs appeared upon the scene, and as the area of standing 

 corn was narrowed to a little patch the rabbits began to bolt from 

 it freely. To and fro ran the men, shouting, while the scared 

 coneys, after various vain efforts to hide themselves, made a 

 wild attempt to escape, the cur dogs leaping high into the air to 

 try to catch a glimpse of them as they scuttled through the fallen 

 corn. With many turns and doubles they coursed the poor 

 bunnies, uttering short sharp yaps of excitement, and, gripping 

 them at last with their white teeth, shook and bit them till they 

 were dead. In all about a score of rabbits were killed, but quite 

 as many more gained the shelter of the hedges and plantation. 



In the afternoon the machine was moved to the All Hallows 

 wheat, No. 32. On half of this field the corn is badly laid by the 

 recent wind and rain storms, while in the other half it stands 

 quite upright and unharmed. The laid half, through which the 

 thistles and divers rubbish are growing freely, was, I remember, 

 drilled a fortnight before the upright half. Last year this laid 

 portion produced a crop of vetches, and, as vetches are supposed 

 to exhaust the land, it received a good dressing of farmyard manure; 

 while the rest, that was under beans, among the stubble of which 

 some mustard had been sown, was only folded over with the sheep. 

 The results seem to suggest that it is a mistake to manure wheat 

 land too heavily, as it makes the straw rank and liable to go down 

 under wind and rain ; also that vetches are not after all a very 

 exhausting crop. 



The weather to-day has been very sultry, and heavy rain must 

 have fallen within a few miles of us, as a thunderstorm growled and 

 muttered past in the direction of Loddon, but left us untouched. 



A friend with whom I was talking this afternoon about the 

 poverty of those who follow the profession of agriculture, pointed 

 out that here and there are people who seem to thrive upon it. 



