serf. /. THE COUNTY OF FIFE. 275 



ner. They are allowed each an oaten loaf, ten 

 or twelve of which are made from the peck, and 

 an English quart of beer. This they consider 

 as at once a sufficient and a wholesome meal ; 

 and as they can perform their work upon this 

 kind of diet, with more ease and alertness than 

 any other, so the farmer finds it the least trou- 

 blesome and most convenient to provide. 



Working by the piece is not a general prac- 

 tice ; though in many kinds of work it is the most 

 eligible plan. As it proves a stimulus to exertion, 

 it is more profitable to the labourer ; and while 

 it gives the employer the advantage of having 

 his work executed with dispatch, it encreases 

 the quantity of productive labour in the coun- 

 try, and therefore must be a benefit to the com- 

 munity at large. 



But though working by the piece be not a ge- 

 neral, it is a frequent, practice. And the fol- 

 lowing are the usual rates, in those cases where 

 it takes place. Wheat is threshed at I s., and 

 oats and barley at 8 d. per boll. Hedging and 

 ditching at 10 d. per rood of six yards, the ditch 

 five feet wide. Hay is cut at from 2 s. 6 d. to 

 5 s. per Scots acre, more or less, as the crop is 

 heavy or light, is laid and entangled by the 

 weather, or stands fair. Smith-work is always 

 done by the piece ;, shoeing horses at 2 s. per 

 fet, when the iron is furnished by the fmith ; 

 but when the iron is furnished by the employ- 

 er, at 10 d. per set ; and for each remove, i^- d., 

 the smith affording the nails. Cart-wheels are 

 ringed and mounted at 75. 6 d. per pair, the 

 iron by the employer. Plough-work is done 

 M in 2 



