VIII] BEDFORDSHIRE: TURVEY 125 



and water. Sometimes the talk would be of hunting, or even 

 of the county races when any one was present who had horses 

 good enough to run. On one evening I heard an agricultural 

 problem solved by an expert, and it is the only piece of 

 definite information I ever heard given on these occasions. 

 A young farmer was complaining of the poor crop of wheat 

 he had got from one of his best fields, and said he could not 

 make it out. One of the large farmers, who was looked up 

 to as an authority, asked, " What did you do to the field ? " 

 "Well/' said the young man, "I ploughed it" (a pause) ; I 

 ploughed it twice." "Ah!" said the expert, "that's where 

 you lost your crop." The rest looked approval. Some said, 

 " That's it ; " others said, " Ah ! " The young man said nothing, 

 but looked gloomy. Evidently the oracle had spoken, and 

 nothing more was to be said ; but I have often wondered 

 since if that really was the cause of the bad crop of wheat. 

 There seem to be so many other things to be taken account 

 of — the kind of seed used ; the mode of sowing, whether 

 broadcast or drilled ; the quantity and kind of manure used ; 

 the condition of the soil as regards moisture, freedom from 

 weeds, and many other matters ; — all, one would think, equally 

 important with the mere difference between one or two 

 ploughings. I should have liked to have asked about this 

 at the time, but I was too shy and afraid of exposing my 

 ignorance. 



The farmers here were very proud of their mutton, and 

 one with whom we were especially friendly told us one day 

 about a fine sheep he had killed the previous year — five years 

 old, I think he said — and that he had kept one of the legs of 

 mutton six months in his cellar, which was large and very 

 cool. He assured us that it was perfectly sweet, and that he 

 invited several of his friends to dinner, and they all agreed 

 that they had never eaten such fine mutton in their lives. 

 At the time I hardly believed this, holding the usual opinion 

 that meat necessarily putrefied, but I have no doubt now that 

 he was speaking the truth, and that much of our meat would 

 be greatly improved in quality if we had suitable places in 

 which to store it for a few weeks or months before cooking. 



