1 84 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE 



Sheep in the damp climate of England have always been 

 subject to rot, and in 1735 there was, according to Ellis, the 

 most general rot in the memory of man owing to a very wet 

 season ; and, as in the disastrous year of 1879, which must be 

 fresh in many farmers' memories, other animals, deer, hares, 

 and rabbits, were affected also ; and the dead bodies of rotten 

 sheep were so numerous in road and field that the stench was 

 offensive to every one. Another bad outbreak occurred in 

 1747. It is well known that farmers are always grumblers, 

 probably with an eye to the rent ; but even in these much 

 praised times they apparently made small profits. The west 

 country farmer quoted before, who had been fifty years on 

 the same estate, and writes with the stamp of sincerity, admits 

 in 1737 that ' with all the skill and diligence in the world he 

 can hardly keep the cart upon the wheels. Wool had gone 

 down, wheat didn't pay and graziers were doing badly ; tho' 

 formerly our cattle and wool was always a sure card '. He 

 says that the profits of grazing were reckoned at one-third of 

 the improvement that ensued from the grazing, but the grazier 

 was not now getting this. He attributed much of the distress, 

 however, to the extravagance of the times. Landlords, 

 including his own, preferred London to the country, and spent 

 their money there. How different was the behaviour of his 

 landlord's grandfather. ' Many a time would his worship send 

 for me to go a-hunting or shooting with him ; often would he 

 take me with him on his visits and would introduce me as his 

 friend. The country gentlewoman and the parson's wife, that 

 used to stitch for themselves, are now so hurried with dressings 

 and visits and other attractions that they hire an Abigail to 

 do it.' 



He thought, too, the labourers were getting too high wages ; 

 ' they are so puffed up by our provender as to offer us their 

 heels and threaten on any occasion to leave us to do our work 

 ourselves.' One would like to hear the labourers' opinion on 

 this point, but they were dumb. In spite of higher wages the 



