iSoOo On the Proper S'iz€ of Farms, 377 



commonly dwindle down, in the end, to be fon-y mechanics 

 likewife. 



It would, however, be wrong to prohibit this fpecies of 

 hufbnndry. Why fooald a man be hindered from giving vent 

 to his folly in this line, as well as in any other ? His time, to 

 be fure, is very ill beftowed on fuch a fpeculation ; but it would 

 be worfe fpcnt in the tavern^ on the turf^ or in the cock-pit ; 

 and if there be any truth in the notion, that the healt/j of fuch 

 people is promoted by rural operations, it may compenfate, in 

 fome degree, to the itate, v/hat it thus lofes by their wretched 

 cultivation. 



There are, indeed, fome examples of farms on a larger fcale, 

 that are occupied by towfj/mefi, in which the cultivation is by 

 no means bad. Some people, however, are ill-natured enough 

 to remark, that the original proiellion declines in proportion 

 as the farming advances : but tlie confideration of this is foreign 

 to the prefent quellion. 



2. Of frr.nil Farms in the luinds of Hajbandmen having m 

 cth^r profeffion. 



By a farm of this defcription, I mean one of z Jingle plough- 

 gate of land, containing from 30 to 50 acres. 



In this fituation, the farmer cannot afford to lye idle^ as it 

 is termed ; he mult be a labourer bimfelf, and is commonly 

 the hardeft wrought labourer on his farm. He is indeed 

 the only able-bodied man about his town ; his fervants con- 

 fiftlng of a raw lad to affid iiim in the field-operations, and 

 a boy to take care of the cows. In Winter, he may have am 

 old man, fupernumerary, to afiiil him four or five months to 

 thrafh out his crop ; but at all fcafons, he receives much af- 

 fiftance from the female part of the family. The women 

 are ever kept in full employment. They redd the barn to 

 the old man ; they fork the dung, and fpread it along with 

 the lad ; they muck the byre, and fot'ner the nolt with the 

 boy ; they carry the feed-corn to the gudeuian ; and, in com- 

 pany with the gtukwifey they weed the lint, and drefs it ; 

 and, befides fpinning, and the daily operations of the dairy y 

 and making of the porridge and kale^ they have the occafional 

 drudgery of the walhings to perform too. Nothing, indeed, 

 can exceed the induftry of this part of the family, but the 

 cheerfulnefs of their difpofition, and their unafFeded fimplicity 

 of manners. 



With 



