Before I resided in the country the pony cost me more than four times the sum I have mentioned; the stable was apart from the house, and I knew nothing for months of the bills run up on his account.  I had once a bill sent in for sugar!  “Why, George, what can the pony want with sugar?”

“Why, ma’am, you said some time ago that the pony looked thin, so lately I have always mixed sugar with his corn; nothing fattens a horse like sugar.”

Now what could I complain of?  This man had been recommended to me as a “treasure,” and one who would do his duty by the pony, which, I may mention, was a very beautiful one, and a great pet; so if George considered sugar good for him, what could I do but pay the bill, and say, “Let him have sugar, by all means?” Not that “Bobby” was a bit the fatter or better for having his corn sweetened.  An intimate friend of mine, who always kept three or four horses, laughed outright when I told him that the pony had consumed such a quantity of sugar, and expressed his opinion that very little of that article had ever been in his manger.  Under the same superintendence “Bobby” wore out four times the number of shoes; and as at that time I had to purchase hay and straw as well as corn, all on the same scale of magnitude, the expense of keeping the little carriage really did cost more than the convenience attending it was worth; and had not the pony been the gift of a beloved friend, we should have parted with it when we quitted London, as at that time we were ignorant how cheaply it could be maintained in the country.  There we had a servant who was content with his wages, and did not seek to make them greater by combining with tradesmen to defraud his employers.  If any of my readers commence keeping a pony in the country, they may rely that it need not cost them a penny more than I have put down.  Of course they must have the hay from their own grounds, and neither reckon the cost of the straw nor the labor of the man who attends to the pony.  Ours did all the “jobs” about the place—­cleaned the knives and shoes, milked the cows, fed the pigs and poultry, helped in the gardens, and, in short, made himself “generally useful.”  Now, a servant who is able and willing to do all this, besides properly attending to a pony and carriage, is very difficult to be met with, but he is absolutely necessary for a place in the country where economy has to be studied.

Something must be allowed yearly for the wear and tear of carriage, harness, etc., but it need not be much.  Any gentleman can easily calculate the sum which may fairly be allowed for these items; I only think it my part to show the expense attending a pony in the country; and though those who have been in the habit of keeping horses in London, either in a livery or private stable, may think it impossible to maintain one for $52.57 yearly, let them leave town for a four-acre farm, and they will find that I have spoken the truth on this point, as well as on all the other subjects of which I have given my experience in this little volume.