SPONGES. 45 



Sponges. — Sponges are amongst the more ex- 

 pensive items in the list of stable gear ; that is to 

 say, they are made so by servants, but should not 

 be. A groom requires two, one large and one 

 small. Now, saddlers never keep cheap sponges, 

 and it is difficult to get a fair-sized sponge at a 

 saddler's under 6s. or 7s. They assure you they 

 are of the best qualit}^, and they doubtless are so ; 

 and they assert that, being so, they will last out two 

 or three of a cheaper kind ; so they should. My 

 experience, however, goes to prove that they do 

 not — not from any fault of the sponge itself, but 

 rather through the carelessness of the user. The 

 temptation of a new sponge is too great for some 

 servants, who quietly appropriate them to their own 

 use, and if they do not, they are so careless in 

 wringing them out that they invariably tear them, 

 and all that they have to produce within a short 

 time of what was vaunted to last so long is a torn, 

 wretched strip of a thing. I myself always now 

 buy the cheaper kinds, and I find that a sponge 

 for which I give Is. or Is. Gd. lasts just as long as 

 a more expensive one. I therefore recommend the 

 reader to follow my advice. Otherwise he would 

 have more satisfaction if he were to o-ive the extra 

 5s. to the first beggar he meets, or even to throw it 

 over the hedge where somebody might benefit by it. 



