; but it was
_something_. His father set him into the ridge at a great distance before
him; and when he came up to the place, he found a _sheaf_ cut; and, those
who know what it is to reap, know how pleasant it is to find now and then
a sheaf cut ready to their hand. It was no small thing to see a boy fit to
be trusted with so dangerous a thing as a reap-hook in his hands, at an
age when "young masters" have nursery-maids to cut their victuals for
them, and to see that they do not fall out of the window, tumble down
stairs, or run under carriage-wheels or horses' bellies. Was not this
father discharging his duty by this boy much better than he would have
been by sending him to a place called a _school_? The boy is in a school
here; and an excellent school too: the school of useful labour. I must
hear a great deal more than I ever have heard, to convince me, that
teaching children to _read_ tends so much to their happiness, their
independence of spirit, their manliness of character, as teaching them to
_reap_. The creature that is in _want_ must be a _slave_; and to be
habituated _to labour cheerfully_ is the only means of preventing
nineteen-twentieths of mankind from being in want. I have digressed here;
but observations of this sort can, in my opinion, never be too often
repeated; especially at a time when all sorts of mad projects are on foot,
for what is falsely called _educating_ the people, and when some would do
this by a _tax_ that would compel the single man to give part of his
earnings to teach the married man's children to read and write.

113. Before I quit the _uses_ to which milk may be put, let me mention,
that, as mere _drink_, it is, unless perhaps in case of heavy labour,
better, in my opinion, than any beer, however good. I have drinked little
else for the last five years, at any time of the day. Skim-milk I mean. If
you have not milk enough to wet up your bread with (for a bushel of flour
requires about 16 to 18 pints,) you make up the quantity with water, of
course; or, which is a very good way, with water that has been put,
boiling hot, upon _bran_, and then drained off. This takes the goodness
out of the bran to be sure; but _really good bread_ is a thing of so much
importance, that it always ought to be the very first object in domestic
economy.

114. The cases vary so much, that it is impossible to lay down rules for
the application of the produce of a cow, which rules shall fit all cases.
I co