464 The Agriculture of Worcestersliire. 



the evil habit of frequenting- those places. I should reduce the 

 quantity and strength of the cider, for in years of plentiful fruit 

 the scarcity of casks leads to the cider being made so strong 

 that the men cannot drink the usual quantity without showing its 

 effects. This, I think, is as much the fault of the farmers as the 

 labourers, and it has been specially seen during the past year in 

 contrast with four or five years before. 



The system of letting large allotments to the labourer I con- 

 sider to be unwise ; for he cannot, as a rule, cultivate the land 

 as it ought to be done, and serve his master properly, whilst 

 competing with him by spade labour, and necessarily paying 

 a higher rent ; as a rule, his allotment should not exceed a 

 quarter of an acre ; this is sufficient to employ his odd time, 

 and if he has more he must lose his wages by stopping at home 

 to work it ; he then soon begins to select out fine days for this 

 purpose, and those are the very days when the farmer is busy, 

 thus an ill-feeling is engendered between master and servant, 

 which would not otherwise arise. 



Great advancement has been made in the education of the 

 labourer, but this might be further improved in a way which 

 the farmers would cordially approve. We all admit that children 

 should have their faculties exercised, by committing something 

 each day to memory ; I would therefore suggest that books should 

 be published specially for country schools, in which all the read- 

 ing, spelling, &c., should bear upon subjects connected with the 

 farm, so as to make the boy familiar with the names, make, and 

 use of things which in after life he will have constantly to deal 

 with. Such a boy, knowing all the different parts of implements, 

 &c., would, when he leaves school, be of more value to a farmer 

 than at present, for he would have learned more, and would take 

 more interest in learning. 



The Labouretis' Cottages. 



In many parts of the county the cottages are built of brick 

 and covered with tile, and have a nice garden and plenty of 

 room ; but in others I have observed poor miserable huts, with 

 a chimney built of stone and mud, the rest being timber, covered 

 with thatch, with only one room up-stairs and one below, for all 

 the family to live and sleep in, and I am sorry to say very many 

 of this class are to be found. 



The cottages on the eastern side of the county, are to a great 

 extent congregated in villages, as at Inkberrow, Bishampton, &c., 

 but this often involves a long distance for the labourer to walk 

 to and from his work ; sufficient cottage accommodation on every 

 farm for the labourers required upon it is preferable. 



