53S 



F A li i\i t: i{,iri' ii i': c; i :s r t: ii . 



l[Nv. 



The third head servant is John Fairbairn, 

 who superintends the sladdnir, thrasliinj;, and 

 dighting of 'he corn ; also the stoning ol' gratis 

 land, weeding the corn fields, gathering qniolien^-, 

 &c, li-oni llie failows, &c. &c. He has lour men 

 and five women conslantiy under his charge, and 

 occasionally a greater number of the latier as may 

 be called Ibr by ihe work to he executed. Diaugh's 

 are olten made Irom my corps to assist tiin), espe- 

 cially when the thrashing machine is employed. 

 The Iburih head servant is the clerk, whose 

 work is the easiest in one sense, but most fatiguing 

 in another. He writes out the orders, — posts the 

 books, — rides upon business, — receives money, — 

 and pays it away as ordered. Every night he gels 

 reports from the other head servants ; and upon 

 Saturday, settles accounts for the past week with 

 Mr. Jamieson. 



The fillh head servant is your humble servant, 

 and the nature ol'liis office is already explained. 



You would be surprised, notwithstanding the 

 number of people employed, and the multiplicity of 

 business executed, to see in what order and method 

 every thing goes Ibrvvard. In fact, every heads- 

 man may be considered as a separate farmer ; 

 with this beneficial difierence, that his attention is 

 in a gieat measure directed only to one object; 

 whereas, in ordinary cases, the attention of a 

 farmer must be displayed upon multifarious articles 

 of business, some of which, of course, siand 

 a chance of being neglected. JVlr. Jamieson in- 

 sists, in the mnst pointed way, that none of us shall 

 interfere with the business of his neighbor, or 

 even go near each other during work hours, unless 

 when directed by him. He maintains that these 

 rules are not only necessary to support good gn- 

 vernmenr, but even to preserve untunnuty amongst 

 ourselves. I believe he is in the right, and shall 

 walk accordingly. 



Elliot is always first up in the morning, having 

 his horses to feed ; and rings a bell placed on the 

 top of the granary, which sunmions his men to the 

 stables to Iced and dress the horses; afier which 

 breakfast is taken. In tlic mean time, he goes to 

 the office, and receives orders for the day, with 

 which he instantly returns, and distributes among 

 his ploughmen. In good weather this is an easy 

 task, because the whole are usually kept together; 

 but, in bad weather, the scene ia changed, and a 

 greater division of orders becomes necessary. 

 Howard, after receiving his orders, goes to h's 

 Iterds and turnip-feeders in the byres ; Fairbairn 

 to his barns; and me to my old fellows, who as- 

 semble in a shade adjoining to the house, where 

 tlieir implements are deposited. Mr. Jamieson 

 goes where he pleases, and superintends the whole. 

 At night, afier work is over, we go to the clerk's 

 office, and give in our reports, which are entered 

 in the journal for Mr. Jamieson's inspection, wlio, 

 from these vouchers, and obsevations made by 

 himself, determines upon the orders for next day. 

 When money is wanted, — as every headsman 

 pays the people employed in his department — we 

 make out an account, which is shown to Mr. 

 Jamieson. If he is pleased to order payment, the 

 pencil mark of "/)«t/" is alTixed, and we go to the 

 clerk who takes our receipt at the foot of the account, 

 and dehvers the sum wanted. These accounts 

 are kept by the clerk till Saturday evening, when 

 Mr. Jamieson takes them offhis hand. By atten- 

 ding to these methods of carrying oa business, I 



am bold enough to say, that the adinrs of this fiirrii 

 are regularly conducted, and wiih nuich less bus- 

 tle and conliision than on farms not a sixih part 

 so large, where order and jirecision arc neglected. 

 You Will be well pleased with these panicu'ais, 

 being a lover of regularity, and a keen friend to 

 systematic arrangement in executing every kind 

 of business. 



3Iarch 4. Mr. Jamieson desired me to lake ti 

 walk with him this lijrenoon, which I did with 

 much pleasure. We went to a field where Elliot 

 was drilling beans, his whole eighteen ploughs 

 and six drill barrows being employed ; and a no- 

 ble sight they made. 'Elliot,' says Mr. Jamie- 

 son, 'have we a prospect of obtaining a good 

 crop here '? 'In my opinion,' replied Elliot, ' we 

 have a fair chance of it ; the land is rich and 

 clean ; and if the season is not against us, eight or 

 ten bolls per acre may be expected.' ' Pray, Mr. 

 Jamieson,' I said, 'how many beans will you sow 

 here V for I could hardly see to the end of the 

 field. To which he replied, 'There were just 

 one hundred acres in the break, which may re- 

 quire fi"om 130 to 140 bolls ofseed.' ' And what 

 time may it lake to plough and sow the whole of 

 Ihat quantity ; ' ' Elliot ' says Mr. Jamieson, 

 'how long have you been here7' ' Why, Sir, two 

 days before this one ; and I am tolerably certain 

 that in three days more, if you ixW^w the whole 

 strength to continue, we shall have the field finish- 

 ed.' As this was nearly an acre per plough per 

 day I expressed some amazement at the quantity 

 of work executed ; but Elliot said, that a pair of 

 good iioises with a light furrow, such as should be 

 given to covering beans, were unprcfitably em- 

 ployed, if they did not turn over an acre per day, 

 at two journeys of lour Iiours and a lialf each. 

 So much for the despatch given to business at this 

 place. 



We went fiom the bean field to the land intended 

 lor oats, which Mr. Jamieson thought to be in 

 good condition Ibr receiving the harrow; and 

 added, that the moment his bean seed was over, 

 he would strain every nerve to get his oats deposi- 

 ted in the ground as speedily as possible. He 

 informed me that his earliest oats, though often of 

 least bulk, were always more prolific than those 

 latter sown, and that a day at this season was of 

 incalculable value. Here ended our walk ; and 

 I went to a detachment of my old fellows, employ- 

 ed at turning a compost midden, the remainder 

 being with Elliot wheeling his bean drills. 



Howard tells me, that he has got a lew lambs, 

 and expects, ten or twelve score more, before eight 

 days are over. The ewes, I notice, have got a 

 supply of turnips lately on their pastures, which 

 Mr. Jamieson assures me, is absolutely neces- 

 sary at this season, if good lambs are to be reared. 

 It is the New Leicester or Bakewell sort of sheep 

 that are chiefly kept here, and they are quiet and 

 docile in disposition, beyond any sheep that hither- 

 to liave come under my observation. 



March 20. — Our oat-seed is finished this day ; 

 and when I tell you that three hundred acres have 

 been sown, you will allow that no idle bread has 

 been consumed, either by men or liorses. I noti- 

 ced that thirty-six harrows were employed, and 

 learn from Elliot, that above thirty acres were, on 

 an average, finished in each day, a good part of 

 it having to get lour double times of the harrows. 

 He added, that when grass land is not very lender. 



