FOOD OF SCOTTISH PEASANTS. 113 



counties of England, where the amount consumed averages 

 8 oz. a week. It will be observed that in both districts 

 the value of food consumed by the family is only a few 

 shillings lower than the average weekly earnings of the 

 man (including the value of allowances in kind). In District 

 i the difference is 33. njd. ; in District 2 it is 33. ?fd. 

 The earnings given in the tables, however, are those of 

 the men derived from farm labour, but the wives sometimes 

 earn money by milking or by working in the fields at 

 harvest, or potato - lifting, weeding, etc. The children 

 begin to work as soon as they leave school. Further, the 

 men's incomes maybe increased by profits derived from the 

 sale of garden produce, or from keeping cows, pigs, sheep, 

 and poultry. Again, no deduction has been made in the 

 estimates of value of the articles enumerated as consumed, 

 for the smaller cost of home-grown produce, such as pork 

 and bacon, or of milk and butter, or of eggs ; or for potatoes, 

 meal, milk, etc., which are given as allowances in many 

 districts. The values are based on the ordinary retail 

 prices in the various districts. Consequently, the cost 

 of the housekeeping, as shown in the table, must frequently 

 be reduced to some extent, or the yearly income increased, 

 leaving a larger margin for expenditure on clothes, house- 

 hold requisites, tobacco, and rent, in the cases where it 

 is paid, but it is usual for farm servants to get their houses 

 rent free. A large number of farm servants keep pigs, 

 and many fatten two. The keeping of fowls is a common 

 practice, more particularly in the north. Eggs are often 

 sold when dear, and consumed at home when cheap. 

 Where cows are kept (and this is nowhere so common as 

 formerly, though shepherds in all parts often have one 

 and sometimes two), butter is made at home, and both 

 milk and butter are often sold. Butter is also often made 

 at home from the milk allowances. Sometimes a man 

 buys a sheep and salts it for eating in the winter, and 

 occasionally some men club together and buy a cow to 

 kill in the winter. Jam is made at home in some districts ; 

 fuel is very frequently carted free, and sometimes pro- 

 vided free by the employers, particularly in the case of shep- 

 herds. In the counties in District i, where the earnings 

 are lowest, peat is often given free. Estimates of the 

 annual expenditure on clothes and boots of a man, his 

 wife and four children, given by correspondents after 

 making careful inquiries, vary from 7 to 14. A. good 

 deal of information has been obtained with reference to the 

 expenditure of farm servants on alcohol and tobacco, and 

 the general concensus of opinion appears to be that, as 

 a class, they are sober, and spend comparatively little on 

 drink. Many correspondents say that the men drink 

 but little whisky or other alcohol except on holidays, 

 market days, or during the visit of a friend, or on some 

 special occasions. More money appears to be spent on 

 8 



