58 PROBLEMS OF VILLAGE LIFE 



the farmer expects and enjoys substantial 

 comfort. A maid-servant in the house, a 

 piano in the parlour, a neat dogcart, a hunter 

 or two to be sold at a profit and now and then 

 to be ridden to hounds these are things 

 which the much-abused soil of England is 

 expected to yield, and not infrequently does 

 yield, to those who superintend its culture. 

 The farmer's daughters are less and less 

 inclined to help in the work of the farm, 

 and turn more and more to pursuits which 

 yield a higher degree of social consideration. 

 Between the farmer's family and the agri- 

 cultural labourer's a sharp line is drawn. 

 To this distinction the farmer clings te- 

 naciously. Often he works with his men and 

 associates with them on terms of hearty good- 

 fellowship. But he thinks that they get more 

 than they deserve. The suggestion of a 

 minimum wage moves him to indignation. 

 He ridicules the idea of the labourer turning 

 farmer on his own account. His attitude, 

 indeed, closely resembles that of his landlord 

 towards himself. " Let us be friends if 

 possible. Let us stand in with each other 

 all we can, but you must know your place and 

 keep it." 



