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The Country Gentleman^ s Ulagazine 



for them when they come to be sold in the 

 south(}i-n markets leave less margui than 

 many would suppose. The wholly cereal 

 husbandman in the north of Scotland 

 must experience very great loss indeed this 

 year. 



It is known that in ordinary fruitful and 

 seasonable years, he sufters more or less from 

 the ravages of hares and rabbits ; often very 

 considerabl}^ This year the elements, as 

 well as the fcrce iia/nrce, have been against 

 him. We do not now remember whether 

 that watery Saint Swithin was unpropitious 

 on the occasion of his celebration day this 

 year or not to the Aberdonians, but he 

 appears since that time to have taken re- 

 venge on the county for the sarcastic rhyme 

 about him emanating from the Granite City 

 many years ago. Along with the rhyme there 

 were caricatures of his reverence floating 

 down on waters which had swept over the 

 standing coi-n, and carried away that which 

 had been stooked after the reaper. It is 

 difficult to believe that a saint should be re- 

 vengeful, but the truth is, according to all our 

 correspondents, that Aberdeenshire is in a 

 very sorry plight indeed with regard to the 

 harvest ; and not only that county but others 



in the north. The cereals were late in 

 ripenmg, they are not all thoroughly ripened 

 yet, and when the golden tinge had decorated 

 beauteously the ears of the earliest kinds, 

 frost and snow came, rain fell and put an end 

 to reaping. 



For more than three weeks heavy rains 

 have fallen, but a perfect deluge, we are told, 

 descended on Wednesday, flooding the 

 country and spoiling its produce for miles 

 beyond the banks of the overflowing rivers. 

 The harvest, which as yet in Aberdeenshire 

 has made little progress towards completion, 

 will, it is stated, " be irretrievably ruined." 

 In nearly all parts of Scotland great loss, so 

 far as all our reports go, must be sustained 

 by the tenants, and losses, which many of 

 them who are paying high rents and who 

 have had this season to provide for enhanced 

 wages to the agricultural labourer are very ill 

 able to afford. We trust landlords who have 

 not had, as yet, anything taken out of their 

 pockets by the labourers' demands, will con- 

 sider the hard case of their industrious 

 tenants this year, brought about by no delin- 

 quency on their part, and act generously 

 towards them by bearing part of theii- pecu- 

 niary burdens. 



THE PROPER WAY TO DO IT. 



WE extract the following from Sir 

 Baldwyn Leighton's interesting 

 pamphlet on " The Farm Labourer :" — 



When I first came here five years ago, I 

 found wages at eleven shillings a-week, and 

 the men doing about two-thirds of a day's 

 work for it, and though cottage rents were 

 certainly low, the gardens were very inade- 

 quate. The first thing I did, was to pick out 

 the best labourers I could find, and give them 

 an extra shilling a-week, which afterwards sent 

 up wages all round a shilling a-week ; but, 

 however, that's neither here nor there. One 

 day my men (I employ eight on my farm) 

 came to me, and said, quite respectfully, they 



A\anted me to consider if I could give them a 

 rise in wages. Well, I said, we'll talk about it. 

 How much do you want ? ' Fifteen shillings 

 a-week, and we think we can do more work 

 on that than on twelve shillings.' Very well, 

 suppose I rise you to fifteen shillings a-week, 

 then you'll be able to pay me a full rent for 

 your cottages, and you'll be able to pay for 

 your own beer and potato ground ; and sub- 

 scribe to clubs, so that when you are sick 

 you'll require no help from me. And then 

 I shall be able to do with one or two men 

 less, so that the worst will be knocked off. 

 ' If you please, sir,' they said, ' we should like 

 to talk this over amongst ourselves first.' 



