FAMILY ORIGIN 



the Landlords' hands owing to troubles brewing 

 up in the farming world after the disastrous year 

 of 1879. Salaries in those days were not of the 

 high order, £200 per annum was somewhere about 

 the income that my father received for his labours, 

 plus a little he could turn over on his horse sales, 

 amounting to ;^50 a year according to his account. 



I can seem to see him always in the saddle 

 tiring three horses a day, directing operations on 

 this series of farms. What a change has appeared 

 in the farmers' life to-day ! Most of this work 

 is now done from a motor-car. 



It must have been in the early 'eighties that I 

 can well remember spending the day at Overton 

 station unpacking self-delivery reapers, purchased 

 from Brewer of Wilton, and sending them off one 

 by one to the various farms. This new venture 

 into the world of machinery was the talk and 

 excitement of the neighbourhood. 



In 1883 the family came back into Wiltshire, 

 when my father started farming on his own account 

 at Badbury and, in spite of his acquired great 

 knowledge of arable land, started a small dairy in 

 conjunction with his arable crops. Here I think 

 we strike the root of his successful start. How 

 often do we see this beginning with a few cows 

 lead on to a larger life and a bigger income. Then, 

 again, is it not the old dairy cow which in a last 

 resource carries the declining family ? Much as 

 we may dislike the old varmint for demanding 

 so much labour and attention, she has at least 

 above all animals been a saving feature in farming 



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