180 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



family. There have been certain curious and remarkable ques- 

 tions raised on the other side of the water within the last two 

 or three months, that will illustrate this. Every man who is 

 interested in the great political movements of the world knows 

 that under the leadership of the great English statesman, Mr. 

 Gladstone, the Irish Church has been disestablished, and at last 

 the question comes up, how the lands shall be disposed of, that 

 the Irish farmers may carry them on at a profit. As one of the 

 consequences of the debates and liberal legislation of that king- 

 dom, attempts have been made to ascertain what were the rela- 

 tions between landlord and tenant here. 



In an interview which I had with Mr. Murray, who came here 

 as a friend of John Bright, last autumn, this interesting ques- 

 tion arose ; and all the answer I could give him was that such a 

 relation, as understood in his own country, did not exist here. 

 Rented farms are rarely seen. The lands are cultivated by the 

 owners generally, the harvests are reaped by them. They are 

 the " laboring class " upon the land. Other than such as these 

 we have no " laboring class," that portion of society in which 

 Mr. Bright is especially interested. Labor is the business of all 

 men. Every man works, more or less. The farmer works, the 

 clergynien works, the judge works, or thinks he does, and we 

 all work. In the shop, or in the mill, or on the land, or in the 

 pulpit, we are all engaged in doing some business here. If a 

 man cannot get a living in one way, he will try to do it in an- 

 other. That is the way we labor here. " Well," said he, " how 

 does the laborer live ? " " Go with me to the window and select 

 the best house you can see ; in such they live." " What is the 

 internal condition of their houses ? " " Just as good inside as 

 outside." " They are represented here by intelligent, active, 

 vigorous men, appreciating entirely their condition in society ; 

 and when they return home, three-quarters of these men will 

 settle down into the exact condition which you call the condition 

 of the working class ; that is, they will go to work either with 

 their hands or brains to earn their daily bread. They are the 

 mechanics, the manufacturers and the farmers of Massachusetts, 

 and in this way they live." 



Not long ago, an English gentleman brought me a list of 

 questions relating to the rotation of crops, the general manage- 

 ment of the farm, the amount of barley and wheat and corn 



