AGRICULTURE 



long-horned cattle were the breed of the district, Lancashire being then famous for them, cows got 

 by thoroughbred bulls of that sort selling at from ;^20 to /30 per head, and the bulls sometimes as 

 high aS;£ioo and even ^^200. The food of the cows in winter time was not very liberal, consisting 

 of straw and hay only. Flocks of sheep of from twenty to two hundred were kept, the profit from 

 them being calculated at 4^, or 51. per head, the average weight of the fleece being 3 lb. 



For the cultivation of one hundred acres of arable land twelve or thirteen horses were considered 

 necessary, the usual plough-team being four, who could plough an acre per day, cutting a furrow 

 6 in. deep. The simple art of chopping straw for chaiF was utterly unknown. 



To stock a grazing farm rented at ^150 a year a sum of ^^500 was considered necessary, but 

 for the ordinary farm of ;^ioo a year, ^^200 was sufficient. Land then sold at from thirty to forty 

 years' purchase, and there were few small estates. Poor rates in Garstang were 5^. in the pound, 

 and in the villages as low as %d. Many of the leases were for three lives, a custom long prevalent in 

 Lancashire ; some on terms of years. 



On a 200 acre farm of which 70 were arable and 130 grass, let at ;^i8o, the following live 

 stock were kept : 12 horses, 10 cows, 8 fatting beasts, 25 young cattle, 50 sheep ; and the staff to 

 work it consisted of two men, two boys, two maids, and two labourers. As to the distinction 

 between ' men ' and * labourers ' we are not enlightened. 



Wages were as follows : — In harvest u. a day and board, in haytime \od. a day and board, in 

 winter bd. a day and board for men ; women getting 6^., f,d., and 4^. with board for the same 

 periods.*^ 



There were hardly any waggons in the district, though some were coming slowly into use. 

 Carts cost j^i2, ploughs ^^i, rollers were unknown, harrows loj., spades and scythes 3^. and 

 3J. 6i. 



Bread which was made from oats sold at \d. to \d. per lb, cheese at ^d., butter 'jd., beef, 

 mutton and pork 3^., and cottage rents were low, running from 151. to £z per annum. 



The price of timber was high, oak selling at from u. 6^. to -is. per cubic foot, ash and elm at 

 li. i,dP 



On his journey from Garstang to Wigan Young found the land letting at from 155. to ^^3 an 

 acre, averaging 25^. ; from Wigan to Warrington rents were from 155. to as high as ;^3 10^. per 

 acre, the farms being generally small. Here the bread was of oats and barley mixed, and he found 

 milk selling at i(/. a pint, bacon at bd. a lb. and potatoes at 3^^. a peck. 



Turning westwards Young journeyed to Prescot, passing clay and rich loam soils let at from 

 \Q5. to 25^. an acre, and here, too, nearly all the farms were small, as they are to-day, few being over 

 100 acres in extent. Their course of cropping was either a three course one, (i) fallow ; (2) wheat ; 

 (3) oats ; or (i) fallow; (2) wheat ; (3) oats ; (4) clover. Crops were poor, wheat producing fifteen 

 bushels per acre, oats twenty-five, and beans sixteen. 



As in the northern part of the county, marl and lime were much used. 



A typical farm of the neighbourhood was one of 65 acres, 20 being arable and 45 grass, the 

 rent ,^58. On it were kept four horses, six cows, six young cattle, and twenty sheep. 



Within five miles of Liverpool, then a town of about 40,000 inhabitants, land let at an average 

 of 3li. iid. per acre, but to the north of the town, round Ormskirk, the sandy loam did not as a rule 

 fetch more than 151. 



Farms in this neighbourhood also were quite small, chiefly fifty or sixty acres,^' and cultivated 

 on a very unusual rotation, i.e. (i) oats ; (2) barley ; (3) wheat ; (4) oats; (5) vetches ; (6) barley ; 

 (7) clover for three or four years, 'and then it comes to grass of itself, and very fine grass it must 

 be.' The locality was famous for clover, it being reckoned much more profitable than corn. 



Until recently the farmers had always dug the soil for potatoes, but ploughing was coming in ; 

 a good acre of them was worth £,\0. 



The good grass land of this part, let at 30J. an acre, was used for fattening, dairying, and breeding, 

 but it must have soon deteriorated in quality if Young is right in saying that it was never manured.^* 

 The cows were housed all the winter, and fed, as near Garstang, on hay and straw only. 

 Sheep were more profitable here, producing \0t. per head nett, though the average weight of 

 the fleece was only 2 lb. 



On light soils six horses were deemed necessary for 100 acres of arable land, two or three in 

 the plough doing an acre a day, 6 in. deep. A cart, three horses, and a driver could be hired for 

 5y. a day ; poor rates were dd. in the pound. 



" The average wage, without board, of the ordinary agricultural labourer in England at this time is stated 

 by Young at 7/. \d. and by T. Rogers at fs. 6d. per week. 



" In 1907 the top price for oak and ash is about is. gJ. ; oak sometimes fetching 2;. elm is from 6d. to 

 IS. zd. per cubic foot. 



■^ To-day, on the Lathom House estate, near Ormskirk, the farms average 60 statute acres. 



'* On the Lathom House estate, at the present time, there is practically no pasture. 



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