The Vanishing Farm Horse
SIR,—It is not only the horse that is vanishing. Even if we had the horses, there is hardly any harness in the country; leather is practically unobtainable and the price prohibitive. Even if we had the leather there are only a few middle-aged or old men capable of making a set of harness. As the old village blacksmiths die, their forges shut up; young men hardly ever become blacksmiths, and, if they do, they do not take up shoeing, as there is little demand for it. Wheel-wrights are practically extinct. And whereas anyone can learn to drive a tractor well enough at a pinch in a few hours, it takes years to become efficient in any of the afore-mentioned crafts.
We may as well face it. If an enemy can cut off our supplies of fuel- oil we shall lie starved into submission in a few weeks.—Yours
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