At that season the time-honoured gossip corner, close to the
Manor gate, was deserted for the warmth and action of the forge.
Blacksmiths, like other specialists, vary, and the difference may be
expressed as that between the man who fits the shoe to the hoof, and
the man who fits the hoof to the shoe--in other words, the workman and
the sloven. Doubtless many a slum-housed artisan in the big town,
driven from his country home by the flood of unfair foreign
competition, looks back with longing to the bright old cottage garden
of his youth and in his dreams hears the music of the forge, sees the
blazing fire, and sniffs the pungency of scorching hoof.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE DAIRY--CATTLE--SHEEP--LAMBS--PIGS--POULTRY.
"And brushing ankle-deep in flowers,
We heard behind the woodbine veil
The milk that bubbled in the pail,
And buzzings of the honied hours."
--_In Memoriam_.
My farm had the reputation of being a good cheese farm, but a bad
butter farm; in spite, however, of this tradition I determined to
establish a pedigree Jersey herd for butter-making. For early in my
occupation I had abandoned the cheese manufacture of my predecessor
and later the production of unprofitable beef. My wife attended
various lectures and demonstrations and was soon able to prove that
the bad character of the farm for this purpose was not justified.
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