Tab.443.a.6(4)

Inscription: Signed in the plate, 'P. H. Emerson.'

Genre: Landscape Photography

Rear view of a farmer ploughing an uphill stretch of field with two horses, outlined against a cloudy sky: 'Our plate shows us a stiff pull, such as is life for many. Like the horses and the ploughman in the plate, they must look neither to the right nor to the left, but straight before them, putting all their strength into their work. Slowly they climb the steep ascent of years, and finally, when they have reached the top, they sink down exhausted under the disappointments of life's imperfections. But this honest peasant, a true son of Suffolk, dogged, grasping, not over intelligent, and rather boorish, little recks he of such thoughts. Enough if he keeps off the 'rheumatics,' and has bacon and bread and beer to satisfy his appetite. Two strong bay horses of pure Suffolk breed, the pride of the country-side, drag an old-fashioned wheel-plough up the steep side of a field of mixed soil, it being neither very heavy nor very light. The horses are nearing the crest of the hill, and now comes the tug of war. We can see their muscles straining, as they bravely pull the ploughshare through the caked earth, while the ploughman, with all his might and main, guides the plough with unerring accuracy, and lays the new furrow evenly by the last one. Overhead, the sunshine breaks through angry clouds, but he heeds them not; toil and battle are his lot, and a storm more or less is nothing to him. So patiently he pursues his way and his work...' (p. 72).