CHAPTER XXI. 



AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, TOOLS, AND FURNITURE. 



THE cost and charge of the various tools and implements 

 needed for carrying on agricultural operations can be exhibited 

 with tolerable distinctness from the farming accounts ; and the 

 record of such expenses will at once serve to illustrate that rise 

 and fall in prices which we have had occasion to recognize 

 in other articles, and supply the material for inferences on the 

 state of agriculture, and the profits of landlord and farmer. 



It will be most convenient to discuss the price of these 

 articles under distinct heads. Some charges are relative to 

 the breeding and other management of sheep. Others are 

 incurred in the dairy. Others are connected with the stable. 

 Some again, and of the most important character, are relative 

 to the cultivation of the soil, the harvest, and the barn. And 

 lastly, there are a number of articles which belong to minor 

 but necessary operations on the farm. On all these points 

 information more or less copious has been gathered, and it is 

 hoped that the facts will supply means for arriving at least 

 at a conclusion on the character and extent of those agricul- 

 tural pursuits in which our forefathers were engaged, and 

 enable us to draw certain inferences as to the cost at which 

 the conveniences of life were procured. It will be quite in 

 accordance with the ancient method of keeping a bailiff's 

 account if these items be discussed under separate heads. 



CHARGES INCURRED FOR SHEEP. Sheep were kept in fold 



