AGRICULTURAL POPULATION. 67 



rent of their cottages may be said to average about 1 s. 6 d. ster 

 ling per week, or 3 18 s. per year.* It may interest some of 

 my American readers to learn the expense of some of the families 

 of the cottagers, as they are given from authentic sources, as 

 below : 



&quot; H. Sopp, laborer, has a wife and four children : earns 9s. 6 d. 

 a week ; spends 7 s. 2 d. in flour and yeast ; has been without 

 tea, cheese, butter, soap, firing and candles, clothes and beer, for 

 three months. 



&quot; Slements, laborer, has a wife and four children ; earns 



11 s. 6 d. per week ; spends 7s. 3d. in flour and yeast.&quot; 



&quot; Pullen, laborer, has a wife and six children ; wages 11s. 



6 d. ; flour and yeast, 9 s. 7 d.&quot; 



I shall quote, further, the actual expenses of a laboring man 

 with a wife and six children, in March, 1841 ; and &quot; this will 

 afford an average view of the manner of living of the agricultural 

 population of the southern and midland counties of England.&quot; 



6 gallons of flour, 8 s. d. 



Yeast, 03 



1 Ib. of meat, and J Ib. of suet, 08 



1 Ib. of butter, 10 



1 Ib. of cheese, 06 



Ib. of candles, 3 



J Ib. of soap, 3J 



Potatoes, 10 



Worsted, starch, cotton, and tape, .... 3 



Total, .... 12 3 



&quot; This leaves nothing for rent, clothing, education, or any 

 other expenses, the only fund for defraying which consists of 

 the extra earnings during harvest-time, a resource which, in many 

 parts of England, is greatly limited by the periodical influx of 

 Irish laborers. It is obvious, from a glance at this statement, 

 that the bulk of agricultural laborers in the country are, at the 

 best, just able to struggle on from hand to mouth, and that any 

 suspension of employment, rise in the price of provisions, or 



* One shilling sterling may be reckoned at 24 cents 4 mills ; when a sover 

 eign, as now, is estimated at $4.88. 



