190 
THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 
[Mar. 21, 
money when you wish it, without being asked what you 
want it for. If at any time you should desire ten shil- 
lings or a pound, you have merely to take your deposit 
book and apply for it, and it is paid you immediately. 
Remember, too, that in a savings’ bank you are subject 
to no income-tax, nor any other tax. You are not 
obliged to take all your money when you want only a 
part; you may take out what you please. If you do 
not receive your money at the end of every half-year, 
are produced, Orderly habits and respectable conduct 
on the part of the servants produce consideration and 
kind treatment from their masters ; and in this way the 
great majority of this class of our population come to 
the end of their days without having once suffered the 
degradation of being on the list of parish paupers. 
Perhaps the foregoing statements may be best proved 
by annexing a list of the servants, being householders, 
at this time resident upon a considerable farm* in 
Northumberl with a table showing the length of 
you have added to your account interest in proporti 
to the amount you have in the Bank. If it please God 
that you may not want to receive any part of it, and 
still Keep on adding to it, you will in a few years have 
in the bank something to comfort you in sickness—pro- 
vide for you in old age—or befriend you in a time of 
need. If nothing of this sort should happen, you will 
have the comfort of leaving to your family a few pounds, 
at a time when it will be most needed. Think on these 
things—consider well for whose benefit savings’ banks 
were established—if for yours fail not then to embrace 
the advantages held out, and begin immediately by 
depositing your first shilling. 
THE NORTHUMBERLAND HIND SYSTEM. 
[The following passage is extracted from a paper in an early 
volume of the ‘English Agricultural Society’s Journal,” by 
r. Grey, of Dilston.] 
Loox into one of our north country cottages 
during a winter's evening, and you will probably 
see assembled the family group round a cheerful 
coal fire — which, by the way, is an inestimable 
blessing to all classes, but chiefly to the poor of this 
eountry—females knitting or spinning — the father, 
perhaps, mending shoes—an art almost all acquire— 
and one of the young ones reading for the amusement 
of the whole circle ; and contrast this with the condition 
of many young men employed as farm servants in the 
southern counties, who, being paid board wages, club 
together to have their comfortless meal cooked in a 
neighbourhing cottage, with no house to call their home, 
left to sleep in an outhouse or hay-loft, subject to the 
ination of idle pani with no parent’s eye 
to watch their actions and no parent’s voice to warn 
them of their errors; and say which situation is best 
ealeulated to promote domestic comfort, family affec- 
tion, and moral rectitude. The possession of a cow is 
to the northern hind an object of endeavour and am- 
bition. He cannot marry and establish himself in life 
without one ; at least, he knows that he ought not to 
marry till he can purchase one—and this is the first 
step towards independence that is generally aimed at ; 
salutary alike as .a check and a stimulus. This point 
gai cottage resp bly furnished, and a situa- 
tion obtained under a good master—he brings home his 
bride ; feeling that he is a useful and, comparatively, an 
independent man. The situation of a hind living upon 
the premises, and hired for the year, possesses this de- 
cided advantage—that in seasons when employment is 
searce, when day labourers are turned adrift, however 
unproductive his services may be to his master, his 
wages go on—even months of confinement from ill 
health produce no diminution in his income ; and thus 
it is, that though his wages per day may seem but small, 
yet, at the end of the year, he is found in better cireum- 
stances than those artisans or labourers by the piece, 
who, though obtaining nominally higher wages, are 
liable to much loss of time and uncertainty of employ- 
ment. It may seem hard, at first sight, that the farmer, 
whose servant, after haying entered upon his service 
for a year, has fallen ill and become unable to work, 
should still have to make good his bargain ; but such is 
the custom ; and were it otherwise, the family would 
goon, in many cases, be thrown on the parish funds, 
The farmer may as well then take the chance of sup- 
porting his own for a while as be compelled to contri- 
bute to the support of all who might fall into similar 
circumstances throughout the parish. But by far the 
pest reason for the custom is, that it gives rise to a 
feeling of gratitude to a master for having afforded gra- 
tuitous relief, and a desire, which I have often heard 
expressed by servants, to make up for the loss he had 
sustained by the best services they could bestow ; and 
surely the sacrifice is not too great, if it saves an 
onest man from the feeling of degradation, which 
ought, and still sometimes does attend the application for 
parochial support. This mode of engaging and paying 
farm servants is not only more conducive to their wel- 
fare and social comfort than the weekly payment of 
money wages, which go but a little way in purchasing 
e es fora family—are injudiciously laid out, 
and sometimes wastefully squandered—but it has 
besides a strong and apparent influence upon their 
habits and moral character ; it possesses the advantage 
of giving to the peasant the use of a garden and a cow, 
with the certainty of employment ; it gives him a per- 
sonal interest in the produce of his master's farm, and a 
desire to secure it in good condition ; it produces a set 
of local attachments which often lead to connexions 
between master and servant of long continuance. It is 
not a comfortable or convenient thing for a man to 
move from place to place with his furniture and family ; 
and, when he finds himself well situated, he has a strong 
inducement to conduct himself respectably, and give 
satisfaction to his employer. While, on the other 
hand, such removals being attended with expense and 
loss of time to the farmer, who always sends his carts 
to bring the family and furniture of a new comer, it is 
his interest to encourage and retain a respectable 
servant; and thus mutual accommodation and respect 
time that each has lived under the same master, and the 
sum of money that remained due to each at the half- 
yearly settlement of their accounts at Martinmas last 
(11th November), being a surplus, arising from the 
labour of all the members of the families who remained 
at home, which they had not found it necessary to call 
for in the course of the half-year, but left in their 
master’s hands till the final settlement of the half-year’s 
account :— 
Years’ Cash dee upon his ac- 
Service, a at Martinmas, 
5. 
d. 
George Cranston. .. 8 3 6) 
Alexander Tunmah 15 0 44 
John Redpath . 9 711} 
Samuel Ewart. ....- 5 5 9 
Andrew Gray . 9 714 44 
Andrew Elliott. 14 LENO 
mas Robson .... 4 4 31 
James Cranston .... 20 612 44 
Andrew Young 12 T Dbh 
Edward Davison. ... 15 515 1 
1 Chirnside.... 10 516 
John Middlemas . 
Thomas Fullerton . 
Average 13 years. 
In the case of Thomas Fullarton, who, instead of having 
money due to him, stood indebted to his master in the 
sum of 7/.9s. 8d., it is necessary to remark, that he 
had had the misfortune tolose a valuable cow by death ; 
and being unable to purchase another, having a large 
family, was favoured by his master with the loan of 
104. to enable him to do so, which loan, it is understood, 
he is to pay off by instalments, or as he can afford ; 
which, as his family gets up to be useful, he will have 
it in his power to do. The existence of this kind of 
fid anc lation may be adduced as one 
of the beneficial effects of the system herein explained, 
A master, in such a case, frequently gives the servant 
the use of one of his cows until he can procure one for 
himself; but the servant is always anxious to have the 
eredit of having a cow of his own, and it would be ab- 
surd not to give every encouragement to the mainte- 
nance of so laudable a spirit.f It may further be 
worthy of remark, that only two in the foregoing list 
ever received parochial aid—one, John Redpath, who 
was disabled by illness from working for nearly three 
years ; and George Chirnside, whose father died, leav- 
ing a widow and four very young children, of whom he 
was the eldest ; but since the time that he was 16 years 
of age, the whole family have been supported by their 
own industry. He was at first assisted by his master 
in the purchase of a cow, which is now cleared off, and 
the family are in good ci n ing 
the condition of the peasantry in the southern with that 
of the northern parts of the kingdom, it would be highly 
improper to pass over unnoticed the superior education 
of the latter, and the effect which is produced by it 
upon their worldly circumstances, as well as upon their 
moral and religious character. No greater stigma can 
attach to parents than that of leaving their children 
without the means of ordinary education, and every 
nerve is strained to procure it. In the school attached 
to almost every village, one finds children not only able 
to read and write at a very early age, but most expert 
in all the common rules of arithmetic, and not unfre- 
quently capable of extraeting the square and cube root 
with great expedition and accuracy. And even the 
young men who labour in the fields all the day often 
spend a couple of hours in the evening in school, to ad- 
vanee themselves in such acqui If pati 
alone is a valuable antidote against idle and vicious 
habits, the acquirement of useful knowledge and the 
cultivation of the mental faculties must be still more so. 
And when these are d by gratuitou: 
means, but by the produce of economy and toil, it be- 
speaks a state of society where sobriety is habitual and 
intellig is held in estimati 
ON THE STATE OF HUSBANDRY IN LOWER 
BRITTANY. 
WITH INCIDENTAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE CONDITION OR 
THE FARMING POPULATION THERE, COMPARED WITH 
THE SOCIAL STATE OF THE ANALOGOUS CLASSES IN 
IRELAND. 
By MARTIN DOYLE. 
(Continued from p. 171 
We shall here make a digression from the general 
subject under consideration, in order to compare the 
to is situated, 
rate, however, is occasioned by the 
containing some tradespeople and artisans, who obtain settle- 
habitants of a village, 
ments by servitude or occupation ; and a very small proportion, 
indeed, by the agricultural population, The writer never knew 
n instan f a regularly-hired farm-servant, or hind, apply- 
arochialaidin time of health, however large his family ; 
and though, in the case of widews and orphans, assistance 
iven, we would say that, in townships where the 
population is purely agricultural, 6d. in the pound would cover, 
on an average, the amount of the poor's-rate. 
ow-clubs are now established in various parts, to purchase 
cows for the members who have the misfortune to lose them. 
mers subscribe according to their number of hinds, and 
each hind, to enjoy the benefit, subscribes 1s, per quarter. 
2 
results of our own operations on a tract of bog-moor in 
Ireland, on which we tried the two methods pursued by 
M. Rieffel, the only material difference being that the 
plough was used in both cases, the hoe having been 
unnecessary from the nature of the ground. This wild 
hill farm, which was ecclesiastical property, and held 
by me under a doties quoties lease, contained 240 acres, 
and had never been cultivated when it came into my 
possession ; and of the entire portion at least 40 acres 
were full of bog-holes and of no value, except for the 
small supplies of indifferent turf which it yielded for the 
farm-bailiff and a few of the labourers—the estimated 
value of the whole was then 6s. per acre. The neces- 
sary ring-fence being completed and main drains cut, 
the work of reclaiming was commenced in three modes, 
regulated by the varied qualities and circumstances of 
three separate lots. 
o, 1 contained 40 acres, gently sloping to the west, 
and presented an even surface of very coarse sour her- 
bage, in which} Crowsfoot (Ranunculaceæ), Plantain 
(Plantago), and Carexes prevailed, intermixed with 
Heath, and a considerable portion of Rushes, sure indi- 
cations of excessive moisture. The better Grasses were 
varieties of the Agrostis and the Nardus stricta. The 
depth of peat before its subsidence from draining, 
averaged 18 ins, and rested on a subsoil of bluish 
argyl resembling marl, but totally deficient in calcareous 
matter, with an intervening stratum of thin brownish 
earth on the higher parts, 
No. 2 consisted of the same quantity of land, and 
more inclined, with a better sward, though abounding in 
Rushes ; the subsoil the same as in No. 1 ; but with a 
greater proportion of loose brownish earth over it. 
The Treatment of No. 1.—After the fences had 
been made, and main drains cut, the Rushes were mown, 
and the large tufts of Heath dug out; a light wooden 
two-horse plough, with very sharp irons, was then em- 
ployed straight up and down the slope, to turn the 
sward in furrow-slices, 12 ins. wide, and 3 ins. deep, in 
lands about 18 feet wide, the plough commencing at the 
centre of each land, and backing the first furrow-slice, 
so that no hollowappeared in the middle, The necessary 
effect of ‘ploughing the ley in shallow and relatively 
wide slices, was that these were laid quite flat, as at 
Grand Tuan. Some irregularities, however, occurred 
in the work by the collision of the plough with sturdy 
tufts of Rushes, which refused to give way, or from 
being choked with Heath or long Grass; but such sods 
as were thus prevented from being laid evenly, were 
easily arranged by men who followed to close them up, 
and when necessary to skim a spade along the edges of 
the slices to level off a sufficiency of soil to fill up 
chinks, so that the lands presented a perfeetly level 
surface. The next operation was that of digging and 
chopping into small portions the peat in the furrows 
down to the clay bottom, and this was tedious, from the 
toughness of the materials to be subdued. While this 
labour was being performed, a very liberal allowance of 
lime in a caustic state was laid down at convenient dis- 
tances on the lands, and spread, when slaked, over the 
whole surface. 
The summer was pretty far advanced when this lot 
was in this state for the reception of hay-seeds, which 
were sown and lightly harrowed in. The expence o! 
the above operations may be thus estimated :— 
Ploughing 40 acres, at 10s. per acre... d) 5% 
240 men arranging this displaced, at 10d. per day 10 0 0 
400 men digging the furrows and shovelling them 2 13 E 
£58 13 4 
The Treatment of No. 2—Paring and Burning.— 
There was less attention necessary as to the regularity 
of the ploughing; the lands were wider, and conse- 
quently the quantity of unturned sward less. After 
the first ploughing was over, the plough divested of the 
share, but furnished with an extremely sharp coulter, 
was yoked with a single horse to eut the furrow-slices 
across, at intervals of about 3 ft., after which the share 
was put on again, and (still with one horse) the sec- 
tions were subdivided and turned over to facilitate the 
labour of the women and children, who tossed about 
nearly five-sixths of the sods with forks, to take their 
chance of weather. 
The remainder was coited up on edge for the purpose 
of becoming a certain supply of inflammable materíal to 
ignite the heaps, or renew the fires in case of their ex- 
tinetion through the dampness of the other sides in a 
flat state after rain ; when all the sods were sufficiently 
dry,they were collected in equi-distant heaps and in 
rows, on the unploughed -sward in the centre of each 
and. This arrangement answered a two-fold purpose : 
first, the parts of the grassy strips under the burning 
heaps were incinerated without the labour of paring ; 
and secondly the remaining unploughed parts were 
useful to prevent the too rapid ineiniration of the heaps 
—a most important matter towards increasing the 
quantity of ashes—for, by paring off part of the sward, 
and laying a sufficiency of it on the burning heaps at 
night, the fires were checked and kept in a smouldering 
state. 
The ashes were then evenly spread, and the ground 
was ploughed lightly into ridges, and let on the con-acre 
plan, at the rate of 2/. 10s. per acre to the labourers, 
who executed all the remaining work at their own cost. 
They first levelled the ridges perfectly with spades, pre- 
paratory to the planting of Potato-sets, which were 
stuck with the same implements into the ground, after 
the primitive practice pursued in parts of Munster and 
Connaught. ‘The manual labour executed by them on 
this lot was considerable ; because, in addition to what 
