to the town and to themselves individually, there was no organization, nor even spontaneous unity among the manufacturers to retain and expand the business; that a keen-eyed jealousy inspired their eager competition with a suspicious, unkindly spirit and aspect. I do not know if special occupations give a shaping to men's minds, or whether the exclusive manufacture of needles and fish-hooks tends to give peculiar sharpness to competitors in the trade. If such is the case, then a Chamber of Commerce, or a Trade Guild, would be all the more necessary and valuable to Redditch, to induce the manufacturers to say we and our in regard to the great businesses of the town more heartily than they do at present. No town could value too highly such a source of income and industry; and through unorganized and hostile rivalries it may some time go to another locality. Nature has done all it could by its gracious and peaceful surroundings to make the town and its interests a united and pleasant community, and the trade could not well find a happier seat, in this respect, for its industry. As a proof of the producing capacity of the meadow and pasture lands adjoining, the fact will suffice, that one of the leading manufacturers told me that he had kept four cows, of graded Alderney, on nine acres; and that they produced forty pounds of butter a week through the season,
