AGRICULTURAL POPULATION. 



47 



stockings the whole year. Their living consists of bread made 

 of barley and peas, meal or oaten porridge and milk, and pota 

 toes ; and they generally have a pig. They cannot, of course, 

 lay up any money ; and she added, in her own pleasant dialect, 

 that &quot; the lassies have muckle sair work in harvest.&quot; They 

 depend on the sale of their surplus grain for what little money 

 they need. I will do justice to her modest merit, and say, to 

 the shame of thousands rolling in unstinted luxury, that she 

 spoke of her condition as comfortable, and expressed strongly 

 and religiously her contentment. 



The wages paid in the county of Northumberland, where the 

 Scotch system of farming is carried to a high degree of perfec 

 tion, is as follows, as given by several gentlemen, familiar 

 with the subject, to the parliamentary committee : 



FIRST EXAMPLE. 



36 bushels of oats, 

 24 &quot; &quot; barley, 

 12 &quot; &quot; peas, 

 3 &quot; &quot; wheat, 

 3 &quot; &quot; rye, 

 36 to 40 &quot; potatoes, 



24 Ibs. of wool, 



A cow s keep for a year, 



Cottage and garden, 



Coals carrying from the pit, 



4 in cash. 



SECOND EXAMPLE. 



10 bushels of wheat, 

 30 &quot; &quot; oats. 

 10 &quot; &quot; barley. 

 10 &quot; &quot; rye, 

 10 &quot; &quot; peas, 

 A cow s keep for a year, 



800 yds. of land for potatoes, 

 Cottage and garden, 

 Coals led, 

 3 10 s. in cash, 

 2 bushels of barley in lieu of 

 hens. 



THIRD EXAMPLE. 



36 bushels of oats, 

 24 &quot; &quot; barley, 

 12 &quot; peas, 



6 &quot; wheat, 

 1000 yds. of land for potatoes, 



A cow s keep, 

 House and garden, 

 Coals led, 

 5 in cash, 



