AGRICULTURE 



considered to be the unexhausted manurial value of corn and cake consumed 

 during the last two years of the tenancy. 



The farmhouses and buildings of Gloucestershire are as a rule sufficient, 

 and on the Cotswolds the cost of keeping them in repair, which through- 

 out the county almost invariably falls upon the landlord, makes a very 

 serious inroad upon the rent. In this poor district the gross rental of 

 agricultural holdings seldom amounts to more than the interest on the 

 capital expended by the owner in providing this necessary equipment. The 

 increased quantity of labour-saving implements now used upon a farm 

 necessitates increased accommodation to protect them from the weather, and 

 corrugated iron and timber have been largely substituted for stone and tile in 

 meeting the demand. Such buildings are undoubtedly necessary, but do not 

 add to the beauty of the landscape. 



Although many new labourers' cottages have been provided, there still 

 are a great many that do not satisfy the requirements of the present day. 

 This is largely attributable to the pernicious system of life leases that 

 formerly prevailed. It was in many districts the custom for a labourer to 

 take a lease of his cottage at is. a year or thereabouts, for the longest of three 

 lives, generally those of himself, his wife, and a child. When one of the 

 parties died a younger life was often substituted on payment of a small fine. 

 The lessees were under strict covenants to repair, but as the structure became 

 old, and the roof-timbers and walls began to decay, there was no incentive to 

 get an extension of the lease, or to carry out the necessary repairs. It conse- 

 quently followed that, at the death of the last surviving lessee, the tenement re- 

 verted to the landlord worn out and valueless. Some have been newly roofed 

 and repaired at great cost, and others have been permitted to go into ruin, 

 being completely worn out. Since the agricultural labourer can only pay 

 from is. to 2s. a week for his cottage, in return for which his landlord 

 pays the rates and undertakes all repairs, it is evident that the building of 

 labourers' cottages in country villages is a philanthropic work which land- 

 owners, with their incomes in many cases reduced by one-half, are not 

 competent to undertake. 



It is not the custom in Gloucestershire for labourers to be boarded and 

 live in the farmhouse or with a foreman. Carters, undercarters, shepherds, 

 and cattlemen are usually engaged by the year, and receive higher wages than 

 daymen, and cottages rent-free, besides other privileges. There appears to 

 be a sufficiency of agricultural labour in the county, although complaints are 

 sometimes made of the quality, and there is an undoubted deficiency of boys 

 for agricultural employment, especially for those required to attend live stock 

 on Sundays, and it is difficult to get milkers. A satisfactory mechanical 

 milker has not yet been discovered. 



LIVE STOCK 



No county of its acres is more distinguished for the excellence of its 

 flocks and herds than is the county of Gloucester. 



Reference has already been made to the breed of Cotswold sheep that 

 was renowned in the middle ages, and stood its ground until the last quarter 

 of the nineteenth century. 



255 



