Book I. 



AGRICULTURE OF EAST LOTHIAN. 



137 



Lueem tried with the greatest care, but owing to the cli- 

 mate, it was found to produce less bulk of herbage than red 

 clover. 



3. Grass. 



Natural meadows and pastures are not admitted into the 

 East Lothian system of husbandry, as they are found only where 

 nature or certain local circumstances render them, in some 

 measure, unavoidable, and are never kept voluntarily, or from 

 an idea of profit. Many farmers fallow land to lie for a few 

 years in grass, especially where it has been exhausted by long 

 and imperfect tillage ; but fields of this description are not to 

 be ranked as permanent pastures, tor the object is to restore 

 them as soon as possible to a state capable of bearing com -crops 

 to advantage. 



Clovers introduced by the sixth Earl of Haddington and 

 Cockbum, about 1720 or 1722, but made little progress till 

 1740; now generally sown with rye grass. Application, graz- 

 ing, soiling, and hay, but chiefly soiling. 



4. Gardens and Orchards. 



Some few market gardens and nurseries, but the climate 

 does not admit of orchards, which are very rare. Every cottage 

 has a garden annexetl, sufficient to produce the various 

 common kitchen vegetables for the cottager's family. This 

 class of people are remarkably attentive to the cultivation 

 of their little spots, and derive great advantage from them, at 

 small cost ; the labor is entirely performed after their ordinary 

 work is finished. 



5. Woods and Plantations. 



Scarcely any of the former, and none of the latter of any ex- 

 tent, excepting in gentlemen's parks. 800 acres on Tynning- 

 ham demesne, planted by the sixth Earl of Haddington, who 

 wrote a treatise on planting, about 1715. Osiers cultivated by 

 Sherrief, of Captain Head, for which, in 1803, he received the 

 gold medal of tne Society of Arts. 



6. Wastes and Commons. 



Are in this as in other Scotch counties, generally enclosed, 

 which is here an easy matter in comparison to what it is in 

 England, in consequence of a general Act of Enclosure by the 

 Scottish Parliament in 1695. 



7. Improvements. 



Paring and burning little known, and not wanted, because 

 very little ground is kept long in pasture that can be profitably 

 employed in tillage, and new grass lands do not require these 

 operations. 



One attempt at irrigation on a sandy waste near Dunbar, the 

 levels of which were taken by, and the water turned on under 

 the direction of the compiler of this work, in 1805. 



8. Live Stock. 



The practice of East Lothian, in this department,'does not pre- 

 sent much that can be generally interesting. Grazing, in nine 

 cases out often, is carried on only as subservient to tillage, and 

 therefore held a secondary object by cultivators. Many cattle are 

 fed, but very few reared, in the county. Almost every person 

 who practises the sheep husbandry, in the lower districts, buys 

 and sells within the year. Some recent attempts have been 

 made to keep flocks of full bred sheep, and, there is reason to 

 believe, with considerable success ; but, taking the county gene- 

 rally, such attempts are of little importance. 



Cattle. Every farmer keeps a small number of milch cows, 

 but few keep more than are sufficient tofiimish a regular sup- 

 ply through the whole year, of milk, butter, and cheese, for 

 their own families. The same attention accordingly is not 

 paid to the kinds of cattle, as in other districts, where they 

 form a more important object of farm management. 



A very considerable number of black cattle are purchased 

 annually at fairs and markets, to be wintered in the fold-yard, 

 or fed on turnips in the house. Cattle kq)t for the dairy, or fed 

 for the butcher-market, comprehend all that are to be found in 

 the county , none are employed in labor. Every part of 

 farm-labor, in which beasts are employed, is executed by 

 horses. 



Sheep. Permanent flocks, and regular sheep management 

 may be said to |je almost confin;jd to the higher parts of the 

 county. In the low country they are kept chiefly to eat the 

 turnips, and sometimes sown grass, which is permitted to lie 

 a year or two for pasture. Flying flocks are therefore generally 

 kept ; and as soon as they are fattened for the market, which 

 is usually within the year, they are sold off. A considerable 

 number of lambs likewise are reared, only so far, however, as 

 to render them fit for the butcher. 



As the great object in the lower districts is feeding, little 

 attention is paid to particular kinds ; every farmer keeps those 

 which he thinks are likely to pay best for the food which they 

 consume. The black-faced, or Tweed-dale breed, are most ge- 

 nerally preferred for feeding on turnips, because they are most 

 esteemed in the market ; but many of the Cheviot breed are 

 likewise kept, and even some of the improved Leicester. 



The kind of sheep bred, and most generally kept, in Lam- 

 mermuir, is the black-faced, or more properly what is called 

 the brocked-faced, a sort of dirty looking mixture of black and 

 white; they are for the most part homed: when they are fed, 

 the wedders weigh from ten to twelve pounds per quarter, and 

 the ewes from eight to ten on an average. 



The Bakewell breed has been tried, but not extensively ; in- 

 deed it does not seem well calculated either for the nature of 

 the climate or the quality of the food. 



The Cheviot sheep were introduced several years ago, and 

 are kept with atlvantage in many places. It is not the general 

 opinion, however, that they can ever universally supplant the 

 native breed, or even become equally numerous, with profit. 



Of horaet very few are bred in the county, not one perhaps 

 in a dozen that are kept. In a district so well calculated for 

 raising com, it is more profitable to purchase horses, ready 

 for work, than to be at the trouble and expense of rearing 

 them. The farmers here are supplied with this part of stock, 

 chiefly from the dealers of Ayrshire and Lanarkshire, who col- 

 lect many of them in these counties, and procure not a few 

 from Ireland. The horses generally kept are of that moderate 

 size, which may be considered as equal perhaps to any others 

 for combining strength with activity. They may be stated, 

 generally, to be about fifteen or sixteen hands high, and strong 

 built. Many teams are wellymatched, very handsome, capable 

 of great exertion, and kept in excellent condition. 



One will luirdly be at a loss to determine the character of a 

 ariner, from the condition of Ids horses. Very line high bred 



4 



horses, exhibiting an appearance of being prepared for Uie 

 market, may rather suggest the idea of icUeness Uian of labor 

 but, on the other hand, lean spiritless creatures, worn out bv 

 toil and hunger, are the certain indicatives of a bad farmer o"f 

 one who is not thriving, and does not deserve to tlirive. u'he 

 man who uses bad instruments, cannot have his work well 

 done , and one imjmrtant and primary step towards good farm- 

 ing, is to keep the lalioring stock in good condition. Horses 

 regularly fed and regularly wrought, will perform a great deal 

 of labor without falling off either in strength or appearance 

 it is of great importance, therefore, to distribute the labor as 

 equally as possible, through the various seasons of the year ; 

 and if, as must sometimes be the case, an extraordinary exertion 

 ought to be madCj they are in a proper condition for making it. 

 when horses do fall off, it requires much more to restore them, 

 than might have kept them in a good state. 



Hoga are kept in considerable numbers in tills county, at dis- 

 tilleries, starch works, mills, and breweries. Every farmer 

 keeps a few, chiefly for supplying his own table, and the gene- 

 rality are able to sell some annually. Farm servants too, who 

 have houses, are generally allowed" to keep a jiig for each fa- 

 mily, which adds greatly to their comfort. 



Poultry, t,ieeims,and bees kept to a moderate extent for home 

 use. Much land on the coast, which would be thought by 

 many unfit for any thing but rabbit warrens, now bears tumiiw 

 and rye. 



9. Rural Economy. 



Thee are not, perhaps, in the island more active or correct 

 laborers, than the farm servants here, and certainly none more 

 sot)er and respectable; and this may, in a great measure, be 

 ascribed to the terms on which they serve. Those servants, 

 who lodge in the houses of their masters, are, generally speak- 

 ing, on the same footing here as in other places; there is no- 

 thing, with respect to them, which merits particular notice. 

 A small proportion of farm servants, however, belong to this 

 class; married servants are uniformly preferred; those who 

 reside in their master's house are, in many cases, not employed 

 in regular labor, but perform that sort of extra work, and 

 kind of household dmdgery, which requires some hands on 

 every considerable farm. 



The far greater part of the regular labor is performed by 

 married servants, called hinds; a class more numerous here 

 than in other districts. These dwell in houses provided by 

 their masters, and receive their wages, wholly or chiefly in 

 kind ; the circumstances are so comfortable, under which they 

 are generally placed, ps to secure a full supply of such servanU 

 at all times. They are more steady generally than young men ; 

 their families, and the property which they have acquired, give 

 them a sort of interest in their situations, and afford some se- 

 curity for their continuing longer in their places. 



The hind occupies a house provided by his master, for which 

 his wife works in harvest; he has a cow kept all the year 

 round, generally ten bolls of oats, three bolls of barley, two bolls 

 of pease, all of the best quality upon the farm, seed com ex- 

 cepted. He has likewise a peck of flax seed sown, and about 

 the sixteenth part of an acre of ground, well preparetl, and 

 sufiSciently dunged for planting potatoes ; his fuel is carried ; 

 he has his victuals during harvest, which is always four weeks, 

 sometimes six, and when he carries com to market, he has an 

 allowance, provincially called mags. Those who are employed 

 m sowing and building the com ricks have, besides the ordi- 

 nary wages, a pair of shoes and half a boll of wheat. On all 

 well managed farms, the labor is carried on regularlv at set 

 hours : and though it is not understood that servants, who 

 work horses, are absolutely exempt from extra work, vet ttiey 

 are very seldom required to do any thing of this nature". 



It is evident, that the value of hind's wages, in money, can 



not be accurately stated ; that must vary according to the mar- 

 ket price of the articles in which he is paid. On an average of 

 some years past, it could not be less than twenty-five pounds 

 sterling per annum. 



The circumstance, which deserves particular attention with 

 regard to this class, and which renders their condition so much 

 more comfortable than that o^ the laborers in many other 

 places, is the receiving payment of their wages in the necessa- 

 ries of life. They are far more comfortable than those wlio 

 receive the same rate of wages in money, any where ; they are 

 generally more faithfiil to their employers, and infinitely more 

 attentive to the interest of their families. They have all the 

 necessary articles of food continually at hand, and seldom nee<l 

 to purchase any thing considerable, except shoes. Their wives 

 make linen from their own flax sufficient for their fami- 

 lies, and often cloth, for other articles of dress. The quantity 

 of corn which they can afford to sell, with the surplus produce 

 of their cows and hens, brings them as much money as fully 

 anwers every demand, and enables them to give a better edu- 

 cation to their children, than is sometimes obtained by per- 

 sons, considerably above their condition, in some other parts of 

 the island. There are few of tWs class in East Lothian, who 

 cannot read, most of them can write ; none of them foil to 

 have their children instructed in these necessary branches of 

 education, including the rules of arithmeti<r. One sees, abbut 

 every farm-house, a number of children, vigorous and healthy, 

 decentljr clothed, and exhibiting every appearance of being well 

 fed. Not an instance occurs of any of these people soliciting 

 relief from the public, unless they are bv some accident dis- 

 abled from future labor, or overtaken by the infirmities of 

 age. Indeed the times which are hardest for the lower classes, 

 in general, are usually favorable for them, because the com 

 and other articles which they have to sell, bears a better price 

 while what they have to purcha.se is not so much affected. 



The cottage system, which found many advocates some time 

 ago, was inferior in every view of the matter to the manner in 

 which laborers in agriculture are accommodated here. Many 

 of those who labored to introduce the new cottage system, de- 

 served all praise for the purity of their motives ; every friend 

 of humanity will honor them for the generous interest which 

 they felt in behalf of the laboring poor ; but if they had un- 

 derstood the condition of the hinds m this county, they would 

 have found out a much better plan for accomplishing their 

 object, than giving to every cottager land to produce his sub- 

 sistence. A hmd here receives as much com as such a cot- 

 tager might be expected to raise, his labor is not interrupted 

 to his employer, nor himself worn out by extra and eicessi\e 

 labor ; he has no care upon his mind, no rent to pay, no bad 

 seasons to dread, for whatever may be his master's crop, he is 

 sure of his full share. If the labrer profit by this svstem. 



