A RETIRED OFFICER 197 



sometimes cause me to suppress a laugh, when he came 

 in contact with the simple habits of the farmer, or the 

 rude manners of the labourer, his conversation and general 

 deportment had a charm that chained me to his side. 

 He Avas highly connected, and had married the sister of 

 my landlord, the owner of Southwick Park, and the more 

 than 20,000 acres that surrounded it, and had commended 

 himself to the tenantry by the introduction of a Spanish 

 boar, that has been the means of a great improvement in 

 the porcine breed in that vicinity, and has tended as much 

 to immortalize the name of AA^illiam Gauntlett, Esq., 

 as has his arduous services in the war in Portuo-Jil and 

 Spain. 



Thus did my agricultural investment receive a deadly 

 blow from the effects of this unpropitious season, which 

 was most severely felt by others besides myself ; and thus 

 was my injudicious speculation in blood-stock blighted in 

 the bud ; and though my practice was but short, ex- 

 perience has since led me to believe that the breeding 

 and rearing such expensive animals is incompatible with 

 the more legitimate pursuits of the practical farmer. 



In the first place, it is very rare any tract of land, 

 whether 100 or 1,000 acres, long cultivated or recently 

 enclosed, set out for the growth of corn or the grazing of 

 cattle, has the convenience necessary to be set apart from 

 the rest of the farm for their support, with space enough 

 for their daily exercise ; and, in the second place, it is 

 equally rare to find men among agricultural labourers 

 upon whom you can rely for the care and attention that 

 racing stock, at all seasons and at every age, require. 

 Indeed, it seems to me to be a pursuit more fit and 



