THE FARMER 181 



thing conjures up all sorts of anticipations of pure, 

 wholesome, rich, abundant excellence. The prime 

 home-fed beef, the dark graveyed mutton, the clean- 

 fed pork, the plump white turkey, the delicate chicken, 

 the beautiful ham, the mealy potato, the scarlet beet, 

 above all, the fine, bright, home-brewed October, and 

 home-made butter and cheese. A large farmhouse is 

 a sort of general provision warehouse, containing the 

 genuine, unadulterated article. Who ever got a snack 

 of anything at a farmhouse without thinking it 

 excellent ? Who so truly hospitable as the Farmer ? 

 He gives what he has freely and heartily, and never 

 apologises for the absence of what he has not. Who 

 ever hunted in the midland counties without retaining 

 a gratified recollection of the excellence of the Farmers 

 pork-pies ? The Lewes sausages of former days will 

 still smack on the palates of many. Again, what place 

 so sweet, so enjoyable, as a dairy. If people would 

 but be satisfied, and make the most of what they have, 

 instead of yearning after what they have not, no 

 mercantile trading life could compare with that of a 

 Farmer. The glittering uniform may delight the boy, 

 but the easy coat of the country resident, the roomy 

 house, above all, self-mastery, present attractions that 

 no gaudy outward show can compensate for the want 

 of. Though we hear of few large fortunes made in 

 farming, we seldom see a Farmer in "The Gazette" — 

 never almost, unless he has been speculating in some- 

 thing he ought not. Railways, perhaps. 



But let us take a glance at a Farmer in the hunting 

 field. The jolly - looking chap turning in is Mr. 

 Barleycorn, of Verdon, one of the old school of 

 Farmers ; he is mounted on one of the old stamp of 

 hunters. Horse and rider are very much of a-piece, 

 big, boney, lasting looking articles. The horse is two- 

 and-twenty years old, and though old " Corn," as they 

 call him, rides fifteen stone, and is generally first to 

 come and last to go, there is no blemish or symptom 



