GENERAL AGRICULTURAL CHARACTER. 177 



CHAPTER XXI. 



TILLAGE. SIZE OF FARMS. CONDITION OF LABOURERS. FENCES. HEDGES. 



SURFACE DRAINAGE. UNDER DRAINAGE. VALUABLE IMPLEMENTS FOR 



STIFF SOILS, NOT USED IN THE UNITED STATES. 



T SHOULD think that more than three-quarters of the land 

 L we have seen was in grass and pasture. I suppose that it 

 would be more productive of human food, and support a much 

 larger population, if it were cultivated ; but the farmers being 

 generally men of small means, barely making a living, are in 

 disposed to take the trouble to break up and till the tough 

 sward and stiff soil from which, while it is in pasture, they 

 are always sure to realize a certain product of cheese without 

 any severe labour. The cultivation is not, either, very thorough, 

 because the strongest and most efficient implements and great 

 brute forces are needed to effectually act upon such a soil 

 Accordingly we have observed on the large farms, where the 

 extent of ground to be, of necessity, cultivated, warranted the 

 purchase of clod-crushers and other strong and expensive im 

 plements, and made it necessary to employ a considerable 

 number of labourers, the proportion of land under tillage was 

 more extensive, and much more thorough work was made 

 with it. 



I wish I could say that the condition of the labourers ap 

 peared to be elevated with that of agriculture, by the leasing 



