MY FARM OF EDGEWOOD 



leads to his enrolment among the dignitaries 

 of the County Society. 



But the neighbors who stare, have their oc- 

 casional chat with the canny Scot, from whom 

 they learn that the expenses of the business 

 are "gay large"; they pass a quiet side wink 

 from one to the other, as they look at the 

 vaulted cellars, and the cumbrous machinery; 

 they remark quietly that the multitude of im- 

 plements does not forbid the employment of 

 a multitude of farm "hands" ; they shake their 

 heads ominously at the extraordinary pur- 

 chases of grain; they observe that the pet 

 calves are usually indulged with a wet nurse, 

 in the shape of some rawboned native cow, 

 bought specially to add to the resources of the 

 fine-blooded dam; and with these things in 

 their mind — they reflect. 



If the results are large, it seems to them 

 that the means are still more extraordinary; if 

 they wonder at the size of the crops, they won- 

 der still more at the liberality of the expendi- 

 ture; it seems to them, after full comparison 

 of notes with the "braw" Scot, that even their 

 own stinted crops would show a better balance 

 sheet for the farm. It appears to them that 

 if premium crops and straight-backed animals 

 can only be had by such prodigious appliances 



72 



