158 CHRONICLES OF A CLAY FARM. 



longer deep : my largest fields no longer * to' big 

 for the farm.' But Greening was a true improver 

 notwithstanding. He baptized every new-born 

 notion with a jest, but he watched its growth and 

 adopted each youngster in succession, and so heartily 

 and practically withal, that they seldom got into his 

 hands without thriving better after all than they had 

 done in mine. 



Ye ardent Go-aheads ! who expect every new ar- 

 gument to tell at once, every intellect to yield at 

 the first onset, every new plan to be tried by every- 

 body, learn to wait : and you will find that there 

 is much more chance of your notion being overtaken 

 than overlooked, much more likelihood of your having 

 to re-claim than to re-assert a single hint that was 

 ever good for anything. The seed may seem a long 

 time buried, but if it have any vitality in it, it is 

 germinating where you little think, and will fructify 

 when you least expect, and with a produce you had 

 never dreamt of. And when you come again and 

 say * this is mine ! ' do not be surprised if shouts of 

 louder laughter greet you than even befell your first 

 announcement of it. 



I had time to think all this : for my guest, like a 

 shrewd bargainer, as he was, gave a little fling to the 



