Chap. II. RUTA RAGA CULTURE. 131 



rob the farm, and not the farm them. Horses may 

 be kept for the purpose of going to church, or to 

 meeting, or to pay visits. In many cases this may 

 be not only convenient, but necessary, to a family ; 

 but, upon this island, I am very sure, that it is 

 neither convenient nor necessary to a farm. 

 " What !" the ladies will say, " would you have us 

 "to be shut up at home all our lives ; or be drag- 

 ''ged about by oxen." By no means; not 1! I 

 should be very sorry to be thought the author of 

 any such advice. 1 have no sort of objection to the 

 keeping of horses upon a farm ; but, 1 do insist 

 upon it, that all the food and manual labour requir- 

 ed by such horses, ought to be considered as so 

 much taken from the clear profits of the farm. 



152. I have made sheep, and particularly lambs ^ 

 a part of my supposed stock ; but, 1 do not know, 

 that I should keep any beyond what might be 

 useful for my house. Hogs are the most profita- 

 ble stock, if you have a large quantity of the food 

 that they will thrive on. They are foid feeders ; 

 but they will eat nothing that is poor in its nature ; 

 that is to say, they will not thrive on it. They are 

 the most able tasters in all the creation ; and, that 

 which they like best, you may be quite sure has 

 the greatest proportion of nutritious matter in it, 

 from a White Turnip to a piece of beef. They 

 will prefer meat to corn, and cooked meat to raw ; 

 they will leave parsnips for corn or grain ; they 

 will leave carrots for parsnips ; they will leave 

 Ptuta Baga for carrots ; they will leave cabbages 

 for Ruta Baga ; they will leave Mangle Wnrzle 

 for cabbages ; they will leave potatoes (both being 

 raw) for Mangle Wurzle, A White turnip they 

 will not touch, unless they be on the point of 

 starving. They are the best of triers. Whatever 

 thii^y prefer is sure to be the richest thing within 

 their reach. The parsnip is, by many degrees, 

 the richest root ; but, the seed lies long in the 



