26o An American Fruit-Farm 



When its working days were over he pensioned it — 

 so to say. He gave it the freedom of a stretch of 

 pasture land he had bought for the purpose, up 

 amopg the hills, and cared for it in winter. Some- 

 times he would drive up to this pasture with 

 "Castor" and "Pollux"; draw up by the gate, and 

 sit a long time watching the old horses in the field. 

 He remembered all their names and seemed to 

 have kept a strict ledger account of their deeds and 

 misdeeds. One of his neighbors said Neville drove 

 out to his horse lot to see whether any of his classic 

 stock had flown away like Pegasus. 



All the farm-buildings were adapted to their uses. 

 There was nothing superfluous. His fruit-house, a 

 large central building, was convenience. Here the 

 handling of baskets, the making of crates, the 

 fastening of labels on covers, went on. Hither all 

 the fruit was brought, sorted, packed, labeled, 

 and from thence sent to the cars. All the lower 

 floor was of cement. He had rtmning water in the 

 building; gas, both for heating and lighting, and 

 several rooms which could be used, and were 

 sometimes used, by extra help. The tool-house, the 

 chicken-house, the bam, were complete and always 

 in order. The place never seemed to get dirty, 

 or out of order. The house in which the family 

 that lived permanently on the farm dwelt, was 

 spacious, attractive, and a model of convenience. 

 Unlike most farmers, he believed that the family on 

 the farm should have conveniences as in his own 

 house. Now every fruit-farmer knows that the 



