THE FARMER Un 



In talking of a Farmer, it is necessary to make the same sort 

 of distinction. There is all the difference in the world between 

 a Leicestershire or Northamptonshire grazier, or a Norfolk 

 or Northumbrian Farmer, and the little scratching-holders-at- 

 will we too often meet with, who seem to be running a starving 

 match between themselves and the land, and look likely to 

 make a dead heat of it. A Lincolnshire Farmer will have his 

 ;£^2,ooo or ;f3,ooo a year in wool ; and Norfolk or Northumbrian 

 Farmers think nothing of holding land to that amount. Yet 

 these men, opulent and independent as they are, only rank as 

 farmers, unless they occupy their own land, in which case they 

 combine the title of Esquires. 



The dictionaries, from which we authors draw half our 

 apparent knowledge, say that " to farm, is to hire, or take 

 upon hire; to hold or take, for certain rents or sums to be 

 rendered, or other considerations required or performed ; to let 

 land or other property on such conditions ; to till, or cultivate 

 land ; " so that the payment of money seems to draw the line 

 between the Farmer and the farming landowner, or what is 

 commonly called an Esquire. 



Most of us have some sort of outline in our mind's eye of the 

 human form divine filling the various occupations of life, and 

 the word " Farmer," we should think, generally suggests a 

 large drab coat, with flap pockets, patent cords, drab gaiters, 

 and double soles. The term " Gentleman-Farmer " suggests 

 a green cutaway, with white cords, and top-boots. The 

 Gentleman-Farmer, we should imagine, was merely a refine- 

 ment, or buck of a Farmer — not a landowner occupying a 

 certain portion of his own land, though some of these we see 

 write themselves up Farmers at the backs of their gigs and 

 dog-carts. 



Taking the word " Farmer," however, in its general and 

 comprehensive sense, it is suggestive of more innocent if not 

 more poetical associations than any other title we know of. It 



M 



