72 BRITISH RURAL LIFE AND LABOUR. 



STAFFORDSHIRE. 



In the east of this county 



Breakfast. Oatmeal porridge, milk, bacon, coffee, bread. 

 Dinner. Beef, mutton or pork, stews, potatoes, and other 

 vegetables. Tea. Bread, butter or cheese, tea. Supper. 

 Sometimes porridge or cold meat, or both. Note. A good 

 many men keep pigs. Most have large gardens, sometimes big 

 enough to grow all the vegetables required by the family. The 

 allotment system is but sparsely adopted. It generally happens 

 that the labourers can grow pretty well all the potatoes they need 

 on the employer's land. Nearly all the men belong to benefit 

 societies. 



SUFFOLK. 



In the east of the county 



Breakfast. Porridge, milk, a little fat pork or bacon, cheese, 

 bread and dripping, tea. Dinner. Boiled pork, occasionally a 

 rabbit, potatoes, cabbage, swedes, turnips, or other vegetables ; 

 boiled rice and treacle, or dumplings (made of flour and water). 

 On Sundays, beef or mutton, often foreign, at 5d. to 6d. a pound, 

 and vegetables, baked batter pudding, milk pudding or plum 

 pudding, or fruit pie. Tea and Supper. Bread, butter, cheese, 

 tea ; occasionally a meat pudding. Note. A number of 

 labourers keep both fowls and pigs, and join benefit societies, 

 whilst the wives belong to clothing clubs ; but sometimes, where 

 a family is large and expensive, there are no means of finding 

 even the small necessary subscriptions to these institutions. 



In the west of the county 



Breakfast. For the man, tea, bread, butter, bacon ; for the 

 wife, tea, bread, butter ; for the children, bread and milk. If 

 the man is working at a distance from home he takes with him 

 bread, butter or cheese, and occasionally a piece of pork or other 

 meat. Dinner. Pork, suet pudding, vegetables ; sometimes 

 the mother and children have bread and butter, or bread and 

 cheese, and tea at both breakfast and dinner, with the addition 

 of potatoes for dinner. At Sunday's dinner, beef or mutton, 

 with pudding and vegetables. Tea. Bread, butter, tea, milk. 

 Supper. For the man only, bread, cheese, and tea ; or, it may 

 be, potatoes added, and occasionally a small piece of pork. 

 Notes. Perhaps about half of the labourers keep pigs. They 

 have small gardens attached to their cottages and a fair number 

 of allotments. Sometimes a man may have as much as half an 

 acre of allotment ground. There are also some benefit clubs 

 and coal and clothing societies. In the case of clothing clubs, 

 a bonus of twopence is given to every deposit of one shilling, 

 but the bonus does not exceed in all more than two shillings. 

 Allotments not obtainable near cottages are falling into disuse 



WARWICKSHIRE. 



Breakfast. Tea or cocoa, bread and butter, or bread and 

 dripping ; sometimes bread, bacon, and tea. Dinner. Bread, 



