ON THE AGRICULTURE OF THE COUNTY OF FIFE. 57 



possessor. He is closely associated with the farm and every- 

 thing around it, and to change his quarters, would be to entail a 

 sacrifice of feeling and comfort which he rarely is able to over- 

 come. Hence, many of the agricultural labourers of Fifeshire 

 of the present day have been employed on the same farms for 

 ten, fifteen, and even twenty years and are as warmly interested 

 in the welfare of the farmer as he is himself The servants' 

 families when grown up are often employed under their father, or 

 engaged on neighbouring farms ; and are thus seldom beyond the 

 healthy influences of the parental circle. Generally speaking, farm 

 labourers are very liberally paid in the county ; the increase 

 during the past twenty-nve years being equal at least to 100 

 per cent., or equal to an increased rental of about 7s. 6d. per 

 acre. Ploughmen receive from L.24 to L.30 a-year, with about 

 16 gills of milk per day, and 2 pecks of meal per week, 

 and sometimes 4 or 5 bolls of potatoes. In a good many cases 

 the men servants are allowed about three-fourths of an acre as 

 potato ground, the farmer furnishing the land, dung, and horse- 

 labour. Women get from L.IO to L.15 a-year with rations. 

 Harvest hands, when employed by the day, usually get about 

 2s. 6d. a-day with provisions, or in some cases with dinner only. 

 "Bandsters" generally get from L.4 to L.4, 10s. per month, 

 when not employed by the day. About 1850 wages were as 

 near as might be one-half the rates given above, and at the 

 beginning of the present century little more than one-fourth. 

 In 1792 ploughmen got from L.6 to L.7 a-year, and women from 

 L.2 to L.3 ; while day labourers were quite as poorly paid, many 

 of them receiving only from lOd. to Is. for their long hard day's 

 work. Even in these days, however, the farm labourers of Fife 

 are said to have lived comfortably, and to have fed and educated 

 their children well. 



Commercial Interests. 



The commercial interests of the county of Fife are numerous 

 and very valuable ; and our report would be incomplete without 

 a few remarks regarding them. The space at our disposal, how- 

 ever, would not admit of anything like a full notice of all the 

 various Interests, and therefore we shall content ourselves with 

 a few statistics and facts respecting their recent progress, and 

 present extent and value. We shall begin with 



Minerals and Quarries. — The coal mines of the county are 

 numerous and very valuable. They aff'ord employment for a 

 great many people, and yield a very large revenue. It has been 

 computed that the quantity of available coal within the bounds 

 of the county is equal to about 1,098,402,895 tons, which places 

 it fourth in Scotland with regard to the stock of this valuable com- 

 modity, the counties exceeding Fifeshire being Edinburgh, Lanark, 



