THE FARMER 169 



In talking of a Farmer, it is necessary to make 

 the same sort of distinction. There is all the 

 difference in the world between a Leicestershire 

 or Northamptonshire grazier, or a Norfolk or 

 Northumbrian Farmer, and the little scratching- 

 holders-at-will we too often meet with, who seem to 

 be running a starving match between themselves and 

 the land, and look likely to make a dead heat of 

 it. A Lincolnshire Farmer will have his ^2,000 or 

 ^3,000 a year in wool ; and Norfolk or Northumbrian 

 Farmers, think nothing of holding land to that 

 amount. Yet these men, opulent and independent 

 as they are, only rank as farmers, unless they occupy 

 their own land, in which case they combine the title 

 of Esquires. 



The dictionaries, from which we authors draw half 

 our apparent knowledge, say that "to farm, is to hire, 

 or take upon hire ; to hold or take, for certain rents 

 or sums to be rendered, or other considerations 

 required or performed ; to let land or other property 

 on such conditions; to till, or cultivate land;" so 

 that the payment of money seems to draw the line 

 between the Farmer and the farming landowner, or 

 what is commonly called an Esquire. 



Most of us have some sort of outline in our mind's 

 eye of the human form divine filling the various 

 occupations of life, and the word " Farmer," we 

 should think, generally suggests a large drab coat, 

 with flap pockets, patent cords, drab gaiters, and 

 double soles. The term " Gentleman - Farmer " 

 suggests a green cutaway, with white cords, and top- 

 boots. The Gentleman-Farmer, we should imagine, 

 was merely a refinement, or buck of a Farmer not a 

 landowner occupying a certain portion of his own land, 

 though some of these we see write themselves up 

 Farmers at the backs of their gigs and dog-carts. 



Taking the word " Farmer," however, in its general 

 and comprehensive sense, it is suggestive of more 



