London to John O* Groat's. 



165 



the written contract with the landlord. The very term, 

 " course" is adopted to designate the direction which 

 the English farmer is to observe. Skilled hands are 

 plenty and pressing to man the enterprise. With such 

 a chart, and such a force, and such an open sea, it is as 

 easy for him to sail the " Great Eastern " as a Thames 

 schooner. The helm of the great ship plays as freely 

 and faithfully to the motion of his will as the rudder of 

 the small craft. Then the English farmer has a great 

 advantage over the American in this circumstance : he 

 can hire cheaply a grade of labor which is never brought 

 to our market. Men of great skill and experience, who 

 in America would conduct farms of their own, and 

 could not be hired at any price, may be had here in 

 abundance for foremen, at from twelve to sixteen shil- 

 lings, or from three to four dollars a week, they board- 

 ing and lodging themselves. And the number of such 

 men is constantly increasing, from two distinct causes. 

 In the first place, there is a large generation of agri- 

 cultural laborers in England, now in the prime of 

 manhood, who have just graduated, as it were, through 

 all the scientific processes of agriculture developed in 

 the last fifteen years. The ploughmen, cowmen, cart- 

 men, and shepherds, even, have become familiar with 

 the established routine ; and every set of these hands 

 can produce one or two active and intelligent laborers 



