I] THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF A FARM 47 



close connection with them, are of infinite import- 

 ance to the farmer. 



And here there are four points for consideration : 

 Is the neighbourhood unsafe? Is there no place to 

 which we can conveniently take our produce for 

 sale or from which we can procure what we need? 

 Thirdly, are roads or rivers to convey the produce 

 either absent or unsuitable? And fourthly, is there 

 any thing on the adjoining farms likely to do good 

 or harm to our own? 



t The first of these questions, whether the district 

 is safe or unsafe, is important, for there is much 

 xcellent land which it does not pay to cultivate, 

 cause the neighbours are brigands; some land in 

 irdinia, for example, near Oelies, and in Spain 

 )Out Lusitania. Those estates which have a suit- 

 nle market in the neighbourhood for the sale of 

 their produce, and can thence obtain what is needed 

 for the farm, are so far profitable. For many people 

 in the case of farms short of corn or wine or any- 

 thing else, have to send elsewhere for them ; whilst 

 on the other hand there are a good many who have 



; to send away some of their produce. Thus close to 

 a city it pays to cultivate gardens on a large scale, 

 fields of violets and roses, for instance, and many 

 other things which a city welcomes, whereas it does 

 not pay to grow such things on a distant farm which 

 has no available market for them. Similarly if towns 

 or villages exist in the neighbourhood, or even the 

 well-stocked farms and country-houses of the 

 wealthy, from which you can buy cheaply what your 



