s possible. Buyers did not recognize anything
but level pounds (no quarters or halves), and consequently they got on
the average half a pound over the tod at each separate weighing,
gratis.

Owing to the immense importations of Australian wool, the price of
English, which at one time was half-a-crown a pound, fell to the
miserable figure of sevenpence or thereabouts. When I was in
Lincolnshire, the tenant of the farm where I was a pupil clipped 14
pounds each from 200 "hoggs" (yearling sheep), which at 2s. 6d. per
pound produced 35s. per sheep, equal to L350, so the fall of
three-quarters of the value was a serious loss.

A story is told of a cunning wool buyer in the dim past weighing up
wool on an upper floor of some farm premises. As the fleeces passed
the machine they were thrown down an opening to the floor beneath in
readiness for packing. The pile of wool upstairs had been there some
time, and was full of rats. As the fleeces were moved a rat would
sometimes rush out trying to escape. No farm labourer can resist a rat
hunt, so the buyer being left alone beside the still unmoved fleeces,
whenever a rat appeared, and the men scattered in every direction in
pursuit, he took the opportunity to kick a few fleeces unweighed down
the opening. When the owner came to reckon the quantity the buyer
should have had, and compared it with the weight, the fraud was
discovered, and the deficiency had to be made good.

I heard of a Hampshire farmer whose wife was anxious for a
drawing-room to be added to an inadequate farmhouse, and the tenant
with some difficulty persuaded the landlord to make the alteration.
When the work was complete the farmer expressed the great satisfaction
of his wife and himself with the addition, and the landlord was
anxious to see the new room. Every time he suggested a day, the farmer
objected that it would be inconvenient to his wife, or that he himself
would be away from home. Time went on, and the landlord, finding it
impossible to arrange a day that was not objected to, made a surprise
visit, when shooting over the farm. The farmer protested as to the
inconvenience, but the owner insisted, and was conducted to the new
drawing-room. The door was thrown open, and the room was seen to be
stacked from floor to ceiling with wool, without a stick of furniture
in the place!

The veterinary surgeon is a necessary, but not very welcome visitor,
for, of course, his attendance means disease or accident t