136 A Walk from 



of animal life, which he reared to such perfection, were 

 scattered on the wings of wind and steam to the utter- 

 most and most opposite parts of the earth. 



The eldest son, Mr. Samuel Webb, who supervises 

 part of the farm occupied by his father, and also carries 

 on one of his own in a neighboring parish, was very 

 cordial and courteous, and drove me to his establish- 

 ment near Chesterford. Here a steam threshing machine 

 was at work, doing prodigious execution on different 

 kinds of grain. The engine had climbed, a proprii 

 motu, a long ascent ; had made its way partly through 

 ploughed land to the rear of the barn, and was ratlingly 

 busy in a fog of dust, doing the labor of a hundred 

 flails. Eicks of wheat and beans, each as large as a 

 comfortable cottage, disappeared in quick succession 

 through the fingers of the chattering, iron-ribbed giant, 

 and came out in thick and rapid streams of yellow 

 grain. Swine seemed to be the speciality to which this 

 son of Mr. Webb is giving some of that attention which 

 his father gave to sheep. There were between 200 and 

 300 in the barn-yards and pens, of different ages and 

 breeds, all looking in excellent condition. 



From Chesterford I went on to Cambridge, where I 

 remained for the most part of two days, on account of 

 a heavy fall of rain, which kept me within doors nearly 

 all the time. I went out, however, for an hour or so 



