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[i 169° J 
which people agree to, to fave themfelves the trouble of 
watching their workmen: the confequence is, the work is 
ill done, the workmen boaft at the ale-houfe what they can 
fpend in “ a wafte againft the wall,” and make men at 
moderate wages difcontented. On the little land I occupy, 
I endeavour to. keep my number of men, as conftantly as 
my number of horfes: they muft both be fed, and are 
both better kept always moderately employed, than hard 
worked at one time and idle at another. My men hoe my 
turnips at gs. a week by the day. An active farmer here 
tells me, his men are grumbling at earning 18s. a week by 
the acre, becaufe his neighbour’s men have boafted of earn- 
ing 25s. Their work, you muft fuppofe, to be done accord- 
ingly. If my work does coft me more per acre, I know the 
worft of it: no man can calculate what he lofes by not 
cleaning his ground. I am affured. that one man of this 
town can earn 5s.a day in the fpring, by cutting ftraw: he 
is an exception to the general rule, for he is a thrifty man, 
although I fee him oftener unemployed than any other man; 
but notwithftanding he is an excellent workman, I never 
dare employ him, as I fhould fet all my prefent men a grum- 
bling, men who are now peaceable, becaufe they rely upon 
me for conftant work. I fet them all to cutting hay, when 
the weather prevents their doing any thing elfe: if they do 
it flow at firft, they generally feem to feel themfelves obliged 
to me for my patience, and although I have met with fome 
inftances of ingratitude, I muft fay that in general they find 
out who is their true friend. If I threfhed by meafure, I 
fhould not have the opportunity of turning my hedgers, &c. 
into the barn in a froft, and they would naturally refort to 
the ale-houfe, 
Hand-mills, and every invention for work which can be 
done in bad weather within doors, have no fmall merit in 
promoting 
