34 CHRONICLES OF A CLAY FARM. 



Certain reports respecting the field that had been 

 drained, and so curiously 'top-dressed,' had from 

 time to time changed the current of opinion which 

 had hitherto run so strongly all one way. The under- 

 wagoner had told somebody (in strict confidence) 

 that the snow had disappeared on that field two days 

 sooner than from any other. This had been repeated 

 in equal confidence from mouth to mouth, with the 

 addition that all the clay had ' kicked down to ashes ;' 

 but what topped everything was that before even 

 Bean-sowing had begun, the * Motley close ' (so it 

 has, ever since, been called) was reported ' as dry as 

 a bone ! ' 



The Harrow is certainly not the most ingenious 

 or perfect of agricultural implements ; but never was 

 a more surprising feat performed by any, than was 

 witnessed one fine morning early in March, when it 

 was ordered over the field aforementioned ! Down 

 went the clay, sand, peat, and everything else, 



' Black spirits and white, 

 Blue spirits and grey, 

 Mingle, mingle, mingle, 

 Ye that mingle may ! ' 



And * mingle ' in truth they did, into as free healthy- 

 looking a soil, as fresh and as mellow as if it had 



