THE ISLE OF MAN — ITS AGRICULTURE, CLIMATE, ETC. obo 



no occasion is the land ploughed up and down hill ; the plough- 

 ing is light and narrow. In spring, when they have light for 

 a day of ten hours, few, if any of them, can accomplish the 

 ploughing of an imperial acre. After harvest, when all the her- 

 bage has been eaten by the keeping sheep so bare that it is a 

 matter of surprise how they can exist, the stubble is then ploughed 

 to remain for the winter. This they do in narrow stitches. 

 In February they generally commence to plant potatoes, but if 

 the land is very wet, it is deferred until March. Seldom or 

 never do they stir the land ; it is well harrowed and grubbed 

 across, then upon the angle, and well harrowed afterwards. It 

 matters not if the land is dirty or clean, if they can ridge it, 

 it is sufficient. This they always do with the common plough ; 

 in fact they could not get a double mould-board plough to go 

 through it, as the land is not made sufficiently loose for that 

 purpose. They never draw the ridges (drills) up and down hill ; 

 it is always upon the angle, making a rib down hill, and cover- 

 ing the dung or artificial manure up hill upon large holdings. 

 Any number of ploughs can proceed at the same time. In this 

 way the turnips are then sown ; and so dirty is the land, that 

 the drill harrow works with difficulty when the turnips come up, 

 from the quantity of couch-grass left, and growing between the 

 drills. It is quite common to sow turnips, the winter furrow 

 being scarcely broken, and if well manured, it is surprising to 

 see what fine turnips grow. The singling of the crop is all 

 done by the hand. They have never been accustomed to use 

 the hoe, and cannot do it. The women employed upon the farm 

 are paid at the rate of 8d. to 9d. per day of ten hours ; but, 

 like the ploughmen, a well trained country Scotch girl would 

 do more work than any two of them. When extra hands are 

 required, they have to be sent for from the nearest town, and 

 driven home at night, if the distance is over two miles. For 

 the most part they are inferior workers, and they get Is. per 

 clay, with no certain number of hours. There is no attempt 

 made to clean the land during the raising of the turnip crop, 

 with the exception of what dirt may be drawn out by the drill 

 harrow. 



The crop of turnips is in most instances wholly removed from 

 the ground, the tops and bottoms being left. As soon as a field 

 is cleared, the young cattle and sheep are turned into it, to pick 

 up whatever is left ; and so long as a vestige of green food of any 

 description is left they are kept there. The following crop is 

 barley or oats, as the case may be. When barley, it is usually 

 not sown until it is what they term between the two Mays. 

 The consequence of this practice is that they never grow a good 

 sample, and the natural weight is always light. Oats are grown 

 all over the island, and are of ordinary quality. All land is sown 



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