298 CANADIAN TURF RECOLLECTIONS 



He was to plow for one hour and I was then to take the 

 same team, plow the same length of time and three com- 

 petent judges were to decide which man had done the 

 most satisfactory work during the trial; the $50 put up 

 by the loser to be divided into three prizes of $25, $15 

 and $10 for a plowing match between the young men of 

 the township. The proposal was received with unbound- 

 ed applause by the crowd, and I called upon Mr. Mc^ 

 Kellar to either accept or refuse the challenge. He was' 

 evidently unprepared for my call, and without taking 

 proper time to consider it he bluntly replied: "I never 

 bet, and I therefore won't accept your offer." 



Now, it was not a difficult matter to convince the young 

 men present that there was nothing of a betting char- 

 acter about my proposition, and I expressed deep regret 

 that I should be deprived of the opportunity, which I 

 felt positive would have been mine, of handing over such 

 a handsome amount as the $50 of the loser to be com- 

 peted for by themselves ; however, I hoped to be invited 

 by them to their spring plowing match, then I would have 

 a chance of spending a pleasant hour or two and at the 

 same time show them what I could do in the plowing line. 

 At this the applause was of the heartiest description, 

 during which I rushed matters by calling for three cheers 

 for the Queen, and the meeting broke up satisfied that I 

 was a boss plowman and that my opponent was afraid to 

 meet me. 



The day after the election, in which the Conservative 

 candidate won, I spent a pleasant hour with the Minister 

 of Agriculture. He expressed surprise at hearing I was 

 a proficient at farm work, and asked me if it was really 

 so that I was such a good plowman. I then admitted the 

 bluff I had played on him by saying that I had never in 

 my life handled a plow but once and that my debut in 

 that line was a dismal failure. I felt, however, that I 

 was justified in playing the card owing to the persistent 

 manner in which he was seeking to raise a prejudice 

 against me as a city chap who knew nothing about coun- 

 try life and ways. He laughed heartily over the joke 



