1854. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



93 



The hedges are almost uniformly so trimmed as to 

 occupy but little land ; scarcely a weed could be 

 found on the island. A general rule in leasing 

 land is, not to permit the growing of two white 

 crops in succession. The owners are also shy of 

 oats. They regard oats as an exhausting crop ; in 

 traversing the island, you see here a field of wheat 

 covering forty, sixty or one hundred acres ; then 

 a like extent of turnips , a field of barley, or a 

 patch of oats, or scarcely one of flax. In one place 

 you see five Juindred or one thousand acres of down 

 (rolling hill land) grazed by thousands of sheep ; 

 and near by meets your eye a rich valley, fed by 

 scores of fine Durhams, Herefords or Devons. 



Amid so much that is so bright, beautiful and 

 cheering, one thing grieves the American who 

 comes here, to the very heart ; — agricultural 

 laborers are not half paid. Nine shillings sterling 

 (about $2,12,) per week is the uniform price paid 

 for farmer labor. The laborer boards himself. The 

 land being let in lai-ge portions to the great far 

 mers, it is impossil)le for him to get a few acres, 

 or a patch even, to cultivate on his own account 

 In nine cases out of ten, the sole dependence for 

 his family is in his wages, unless his wife works 

 in the field, or he has children old enough to draw 

 wages. There is terrible oppression, and yet it is 

 hard to say who is the oppressor. One can hardly 

 find it in his heart to blame any one. 



The intercourse of the landed aristocracy with 

 the tenant former seemed to us kind and gener- 

 ous ; nor could we say anything worse of the ten- 

 ant farmer than that he, in accordance with a 

 general mercantile principle, buys his labor as 

 cheap as he can. The fact is, the evil is the re- 

 sult of a state of things, for which the farmers 

 are not alone responsible, and which is now in a 

 rapid process of reform. Labor on the farm is 

 now rising in price, in most parts of the kingdom, 

 especially in portions intermingled with mercan- 

 tile and manufacturing interests, so that now 

 farm laborers in the vicinity of large towns are 

 getting 12, 13, 14 and in some cases as high as 15 

 shillings a week ; though still, in the pui-ely ag- 

 ricultural districts, as in the Isle of Wight, wages 

 remain as low as nine shillings a week. The la- 

 borers in those districts have not yet found out 

 that wages have risen ; it will be years before they 

 will ; but the time will come, thanks to America 

 and Australia, rather, thanks to Divine Provi- 

 dence, when labor in Great Britain will be fairly 

 rewarded . 



The President then called upon Isaac Davis, 

 President of the Worcestor County Society, who 

 drew most interesting comparisons between the 

 modes of culture and building in this country and 

 England and Franco. 



Ajiasa Walker, late Secretary of State, spoke 

 upon several topics, but particularly in relation 

 to the importance of agricultural lectures in the 



town lyceuras, and that efforts by the State Board 

 to furnish lecturers would prove of signal benefit. 



Dr. Reed, from Berkshire county, also spoke of 

 the importance of more attention to agricultural 

 matters, by the citizens of the towns in Farmers' 

 Clubs. 



Mr. Dodge, from Worcester county, spoke par- 

 ticularly of the improvement which had been ef- 

 fected in plows, and of the effects upon the old 

 homesteads of the State by the introduction of so 

 much foreign labor. 



Mr. Lawton, from Berkshire county, at a late 

 hour, made some pertinent remarks, and then the 

 following question : — Is the increased culture ot 

 Indian corn worthy the attention of the farmers 

 of the Commonwealth 1 was announced as the sub- 

 ject for discussion on next Tuesday evening, when 

 it is expected His Excellency the Governor will 

 preside. 



There were an unusual number of active and 

 earnest gentlemen present, and the meeting pass 

 with great spirit and gratification to all. 



The meetings are free for the attendance of all, 

 and it is hoped that our agricultural friends, and 

 indeed, all others, vsdll avail themselves of this 

 opportunity to gather, as well as to impart, val- 

 uable information to others. 



For the New England Farmer. 



PROFITABLE COWS. 



Mr. Editor : — I noticed at the time, the account 

 published in yoar December number, of the Al- 

 derney cows, owned and cxlii))ited at the last 

 Middlesex Fair, by Mr. Elijah M. Reed, of Tewks- 

 bury. ;My attention has since been particularly 

 called to the statement of Mr. Reed, as evidenc- 

 ing, in a high degree, the superior quality of this 

 stock for the dairy. I conceded the great value 

 of the animal — and the large yield of milk and 

 butter, but did not coasider it so unusual as to be 

 astonishing. Nay, I insist that the records of our 

 Shows for the last few years would, taking into 

 consideration the feed, show a better result. 

 With your leave, I will submit the proof to my 

 friend through the columns of j'our paper. Mr. 

 Reed's statement is, that in 7 days of May, and 

 9 days of September, IG days in all, his cows yield- 

 ed 195 qts. of milk, which gave 30 lbs. 4 oz. of 

 butter ; so that, taking, an average of both trials, 

 there was a yield of 12 qts. of milk daily, produc- 

 ing a daily average of 1 lb. and 15 oz. I)utter. 

 The fractions I have discarded throughout tho 

 comparison. 



This yield was ujion the generous keeping of 

 2 qts. of meal per day. Now let us see whether 

 or not the Worcester cows are loft entirely in the 

 shade by this lady of foreign blood. 



I prefer, in making the comparison, to go back 

 a number of years, so that, if it be said the com- 

 parison is witli chance cows, it will be seen that 

 we have a good many of them. 



In 1844, Mr. II. B. Leach, of Grafton, exhibit- 

 ed at our Show a cow, of what breed we are not 

 informed, wIk^sc daily average from the 10th to 

 the 20th of Juno was, omitting fractions, 14 qtg. 



