THE FARMER 97 



stopped to-morrow, the amount of money that 

 would go abroad would be enormous — money 

 which now is spent in England. 



Now that we are on the topic of farmers, I will 

 take the opportunity of making a few observations 

 which I hope may help the beginner to avoid all 

 friction with those who occupy the land. Farming, 

 you must remember, in the best of times is never 

 very remunerative, and the man who is losing 

 money is apt to be irritable. Take every possible 

 precaution not to give offence, and be always 

 courteous in addressing those who are in any way 

 connected with the land. It might be argued that 

 no man with pretensions to be a gentleman would 

 act otherwise, but unfortunately, in the heat and 

 excitement of a run we sometimes do not study 

 our speech. I have often seen an occupier of the 

 land holding his gate open whilst men galloped 

 through without turning their heads or murmur- 

 ing a word of thanks, and amongst the crowd are 

 generally many women. A man will often also 

 curse the farmer who is standing on his own land 

 because he does not get out of the way quick 

 enough. The men who do these things have the 

 most perfect manners in the ordinary moments 



G 



