170 My Little Farm 



They put what they called a " sidelang " on the 

 kicking horse, a rope tying two of his legs, the 

 fore leg to the hind leg, on the side next the other 

 horse. The animal had been accustomed to that 

 sort of discipline before, as a means of reconciling 

 him to pasture on which he could find nothing to 

 eat, but this was his first experience of the " side- 

 lang " at work, and though it made his kicking 

 harmless, it did not improve his temper. Plough- 

 ing two horses was work for only one man, but a 

 team so interesting as this required at least two, 

 and, together smoking, up and down our two 

 farmers travelled all day and day after day, one 

 horse limping in his hobbles, the other pulling and 

 stopping to accommodate his mate's manner of 

 progress. Interested in the new style of ploughing, 

 I visited my two friends at work, and what do you 

 think was their conversation ? Criticising the 

 defects of their neighbours and indicating their 

 own thankfulness that they were not as other 

 people. They regarded themselves as superior 

 farmers, and both their farms were certainly above 

 the average. A puzzle like this of the " sidelang " 

 brings its own solution sooner or later : one of 

 these two farmers is now in another country and 

 one in another world. Let us wish them the happi- 

 ness of their respective spheres, and congratulate 

 the land they have left behind them. I have an 

 idea that Ireland may begin to be a prosperous and 

 pleasant place some time after the last of the 

 present population lies dead, and a nation that 

 spends life learning only how to die cannot reason- 



