Delmar.] «->-^' [Jau. 15, 



Effectiveness of .La.bor. 



In GalLcia and Asturias a good workman is expected to plow about 

 one-fifth of an acre per diem. (L. T., 20.) One laborer only is required to 

 every six acres yearly. {Ibid, 24.) One man with two horses or mules can 

 plow in two days six fanegadas or 1.237 acres, equal to about five-eighths 

 of an acre per day. (L. T., 53.) Consult also pp. 28 and 50 for similar, 

 though less definite statements. 



This extraordinary degree of inefficiency is not the result of indolence. 

 All writers, from Arthur Young to the present time, agree in giving the 

 ypanish peasantry the credit for untiring industry and perseverance. It 

 is rather the product of weak and insufiicient food and lack of comfort. 

 (See Arthur Helps on Brassey.) 



Condition of the Peasantky. 



Qalicia and Asturias, 1870. Their houses of rough stone — aiostly con- 

 sisting solely of the ground floor — are poor and dirty, the same roof fre- 

 quently giving shelter to the proprietor's family and to the produce of 

 his farm, including his oxen, cows, pigs and fowls. Some of the better 

 conditioned of the same class construct with wood an upper story to their 

 houses, which serves for their dwelling and granary, in which case the 

 lower part is occupied entirely by the live stock. (L. T., 20.) 



Majorca, 1870. Their houses are wanting in accommodations. Their 

 food is frugal ; their dress modest. {Ihid, 32.) 



Minorca, 1870 Their cottages are of a cleanness that is remarkable, 

 being whitewashed inside and outside twice a month. Their clothing, 

 bedding, etc , are also very clean. Their habits are moral and religious. 

 All disputes settled by arbitration. [Ibid, 32.) 



Gui'puscoa, 1870. They are badly housed and have none of the com- 

 f )rts of the English. The kitchen is black, dirty and full of smoke 

 They dress in home-spun flax. {Ibid, 38.) 



Alicante, 1870. They are clothed in the linen shirt and short, wide 

 trousers of their Moorish ancestors. (L. T., 51.) 



Valencia, 1870. The peasants live in small stone or brick houses of one 

 story, and in mud huts with thatched roofs. Their donkeys and pigs 

 occupy a shed at the back of the house ; but all pass through one door. 

 (L. T., 53.) 



Biscay, 1870. They are housed in stone buildings with no comfort and 

 scarcely decency. Stables for oxen and pigs on the ground floor ; 

 sleeping apartment above. Results : dirt, discomfort and fever. Home- 

 spun clott es, the men cloth, the women cotton and flannel from abroad. 

 Habits thrifty. The tenant farms descend regularly from father to son 

 by force of custom. (L. T., 41.) 



Andalusia, 1870. The great mass of the country population are hired 

 laborers. The Spanish peasantry are generally poorly housed, fed and 

 clad. The country is still insecure, and abductions for ransom by 



