OF SCOTCH AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS. 13 



arithmetic), which would greatly aid them in after-life in Falsing 

 themselves in the scale of social life, are, if overtaken at all, merely 

 glanced at in a cursory manner. This mode, therefore, of increas- 

 ing the income of a labourer's family is to be deprecated most 

 strongly, — the price paid for such improvements in the dietary, by 

 the premature earnings of the children, is a burden and mortgage 

 over the whole family for the future, and is certain to result in 

 moral degradation and deterioration. Nor should the labourer's 

 wife regularly assist in outdoor occupations of the farm ; this may 

 be all very well for a few weeks during harvest, or occasionally, 

 when, through any emergency of the weather or lateness of the 

 season, much additional assistance is required ; but it is better, if 

 possible, to avoid withdrawing the mother ,of a family from her 

 housekeeping and maternal duties, as it tends to detract from the 

 comfort of the ploughman's home, and consequently from his 

 dietary, and maintenance in full, healthy, and robust physical 

 ability for labour. 



Taking the average weekly requirement ,of nutritive food of a 

 man to enable him barely to subsist and avert starvation, as 

 30,100 grains carbon, and 1400 grains nitrogen, and of a female, 

 as 27,300 grains carbon, and 1260 grains nitrogen, we find that 

 in none of the examples cited, nor in any of the returns we have 

 obtained from any part of Scotland, mainland or insular, does the 

 dietary of this country fall so low as these figures. Poor diets, 

 we find, tell least upon those without families, and insufficient 

 diet affects the wife and children more than the father of the 

 family. This may be accounted for, either from the labourer 

 being fed in his employer's house in some instances ; or, having 

 to work, he must eat, and thus comes in for a better share of 

 the pittance allotted to the sustenance of his family's life. The 

 size of the ploughman's family affects the variety and quantity 

 of the diet. 



It only remains for us now to notice one or two local pecu- 

 liarities of dietary and social condition of the agricultural 

 labourer, reported to us from different quarters. In Sutherland- 

 shire, an article of pretty general use exists, called " crowdie." 

 This is simply curded milk made into a sort of cheese, but 

 not pressed in the cheese-press. It sells at 2^d. and 3d. per lb. 

 In Skye, the use of shell-fish amongst the poor people is very 

 general. In this district the subsistence of the low-fed popula- 

 tion is very precarious. They may be well off the one month, 

 and exceedingly poor the next. An ordinary labourer gets Is. 

 for ten hours' work, and a woman 6d., both without food. 

 Employment is not regular, and they seldom work a full day. 

 They have, however, little windfalls occasionally, and many go 

 south to harvest and to public works. Yet throughout the 

 island there is quite as little abject poverty as in any part of 



