MY FARM OF EDGEWOOD 



The reader is spared this; but he must par- 

 don me a Httle fanciful illustration of the sub- 

 ject, in which I have sometimes indulged, and 

 which may, possibly, at a future day, become 

 real. 



AN ILLUSTRATION OF SOILING 



From the eighty-acre flat below — so like a car- 

 pet, with its checkered growth— I order every 

 line of division fence to be removed; the best 

 of the material being kept in reserve for mak- 

 ing good the border fences, and the remainder 

 cut, split, and piled for the fire. The neigh- 

 bors, who cling to the old system of two-acre 

 lots, and pinched door-yards, open their eyes 

 and mouths very widely at this. The novelty, 

 like all novelties in a quiet country region, is 

 at once astounding and oppressive. As if the 

 parish parson were suddenly to come out in 

 the red stockings of a cardinal, or a sober- 

 sided selectman to appear on the highway with- 

 out some important article of his dress. 



I fancy two or three astute old gentlemen 

 leaning over the border fence, as the work 

 of demolition goes on, 



"The Squire 's makin' this 'ere farm inter a 

 parade-ground, a'n't he?" says one; and there 



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