WHAT OF THE HARVEST? 265 



Labourer, or rather, Agricultural Mechanic. This matter is 

 of life interest to me, as all my relations are working upon the 

 land. If you go into Gloucestershire round Tetbury way and 

 ask for Vaisey, they will ask you if it is Vaisey the carter that 

 you want. All Vaiseys are carters except me, and I kicked 

 over the traces. But nevertheless, I was being brought up to 

 be a carter. My father can neither read nor write, but can plough 

 with the next man in the county. He has been ploughing at 

 ploughing matches since the time when he was not strong 

 enough to turn the plough at the ends ; when grandfather 

 helped him at one end and uncle at the other in the matches. 

 He won prizes in the boys' class, in the undercarters' class, 

 as a carter, and then had to plough in the open championship 

 class. He ploughed and won in the double furrow class until 

 no one would compete against him, and was barred even from 

 the championship class at one of the places where the plough- 

 ing matches were held. 



" I was brought up to plough like father, and even got as far 

 as to fancy my chance. When my legs were long enough to go 

 across the horses' backs, I was put upon them. Many a time as 

 a schoolboy I have got up early in the morning to fetch the 

 horses in from the field for father, and have caught one of them 

 and mounted upon his back without a halter, whip in hand driv- 

 ing the other horses in front of me. Saturdays and Sundays I 

 have put in at crow scaring for a few coppers. At eleven years 

 of age I started work in earnest with the horses. Horses are 

 lovable animals, but their big feet used to be pretty hard when 

 they stepped upon mine, as they sometimes did as I well remem- 

 ber. I remember once that I fell down over the rough land 

 when leading four horses, and they all stepped over me with 

 such care, that I came out at the other end little the worse had 

 it not been for the drags that were following on behind. I 

 was holding the plough with a pair of horses for the large wage of 

 33. 6d. per week, when more often than not the plough turned me 

 at the ends instead of me turning the plough, in the winter time, 

 when the ends were all mud or rough land. I have been dragged 

 round many a time under the handles of the plough, and then 

 heard the carter shout that he would come and put his hand up 

 against my ear, all for 35. 6d. a week. I was riding mowing 

 machines when my legs were not long enough to reach the 

 footrests, and I was sitting up on the seat like a crow upon his 

 perch, with about as much control over the horses, seeing that I 

 had to slip down off the seat to get a grip with my legs before I 

 could pull on the reins. This is how farmers treat boys at 

 work. Do you remember reading the county papers ' Wanted 

 a man, with boys preferred ' ? They did not want the man at 

 all ! they wanted the boys to do men's work for boys' wages. 



