1 80 A Walk from 



and a half inches wide and one in thickness. Midway 

 "between the two posts, the rails are nailed to an upright 

 slat or brace, to keep them from swaying. Sometimes 

 a farmer makes his own hurdles, thus furnishing indoor 

 work for his men in winter, when they cannot labor in 

 the fields ; but most generally they are bought of those 

 who manufacture them on a large scale. Some idea of 

 the extent of sheep-folding on Chrishall Grange may 

 be inferred from the fact, that the hurdling on it, if 

 placed in one straight, continuous line, would reach 

 full ten miles! 



A portable steam-engine, of 12 horse-power, looking 

 like a common railway locomotive strayed from its track 

 and taken up and housed in a farmer's waggon-shed, 

 performs prodigies of activity and labor. Indeed, search 

 the three realms through and through, and you would 

 hardly find one on its own legs doing such remarkable 

 varieties of work. Briareus, with all his fabled facul- 

 ties, never had such numerous and supple fingers as 

 this creature of human invention. When set a-going, 

 they are clattering and whisking and frisking every- 

 where, on the barn-floor, on the hay-loft, in the granary, 

 under the eaves, down cellar, and all this at the same 

 time. It is doubtful if any stationary engine in a 

 machine shop ever performed more diversified operations 

 at once ; thus proving most conclusively how a farmer 



