68 STATISTICAL SURVEY 



cattle are able to confume the fame day; this bufi- 

 ncfs is generally performed by the fervant boy on morn- 

 ings and evenings, before and after his day's work. 



Whatever little ftock of hay there may be, it 

 generally referved till fpring, and that chiefly for 

 horfes, who at that feafon mull work very fevere, 

 in order to expedite the fpring bufinefs, which is, in 

 general, very preffing, between oats, barley, flax, 

 and potatoes. 



As to the poor cottiers, who generally derive un- 

 der the farmers of all denominations, their mode of 

 feeding their cows, in winter, is very precarious and 

 uncomfortable j fome, according to the rule of cot- 

 take, or cottiers -take, may have half an acre of oats, 

 which commonly produces thirty ftooks of ftraw, of 

 twelve (heaves to the (look. Such as are fo circum- 

 ftanced confider themfelves very well off, though 

 this allowance is not more than half fufficient for 

 the feafon, as thirty Hooks of ftraw feldom weigh 

 more than 10 or 12 cwt., and a ton, of either 

 hay or ftraw, is two fmall an allowance for a cow, 

 for the fcafon. As hay is generally out of the cot- 

 tager's power, he muft buy as much more ftraw as 

 his cot-take produced, otherwife his cow muft ftarve; 

 the average price of ftraw is eight pence a ftook, fo 

 that ilxty ftooks, wfut is fuppofed to have off the cot- 

 take, and what he muft buy, may amount to forty (hil- 

 lings , and the fummer's grafs, unlcfs mountain}' pafture, 

 ': vommouly the fume. 



