XXIV. Vain Regrets 



JOHN MILTON was a noble poet, but he was 

 not a safe guide in matters pertaining to 

 animal husbandry. For the ordinary man, 

 the bulletins of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture are safer reading than the masterpieces of 

 literature. If it were not for John Milton I might 

 to-day have a bank account that would outshine 

 "the wealth of Ormuz or of Ind." Just listen to this 

 piece of foolishness that I have been cherishing all 

 these years : 



"Alas ! what boots it with incessant care 

 To tend the homely, slighted shepherd's trade. 

 And strictly meditate the thankless muse?" 



You couldn't expect me to go in for sheep-raising 

 while giving that quotation a place of honour in my 

 memory, could you? The boys, not caring for 

 poetry, and caring much for the practical bulletins, 

 obtained my permission to go in for sheep-raising. 

 Remembering the kind of sheep we had when I was a 



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