AGRICULTURE 



Many farmers had already become parish paupers ; tithes and rates went unpaid, as did trades- 

 men's bills ; live stock diminished in number, and ' alarming gangs of poachers and other depredators ' 

 infested the country. 



The answers from Lancashire to the queries of the Board may be tabulated as follows : — 



The exceptional state of affairs at Ashworth, near Bury, is remarkable, and equally remarkable 

 are the large reductions of rent in so short a time in the other cases. 



One of the chief causes of distress was the enormous taxes brought about by the war ; on one 

 farm near Garstang, rented at ^^400, the taxes were nearly £ 1 40, and on another occupied by the 

 owner, of which the rent was ;^I78, the taxes were ;^89, exclusive of house and window tax.^° The 

 high rate of interest on money was also complained of. 



Near Lancaster the distress of the farmers was denoted by their inability to procure even the 

 necessaries of life, to purchase lime or manure, or bestow labour upon their farms. Those who 

 possessed flocks of long-wooUed sheep did not suffer equally with others, as wool of that description 

 sold high. Great numbers of the labouring poor in this district were tramping the country for 

 work, and the farmers, though anxious to employ them, could not afford to do so. 



One of the remedies proposed for the alleviation of the distress was the removal of the tax on 

 malt, which would raise the price of barley ; the then high duty on malt putting malt beer quite 

 out of reach of the labouring classes, and even of the farmers, and it occasioned the use of substi- 

 tutes. 



From Loudon's account of Lancashire, written in 1825, it appears there were a considerable 

 number of yeomanry in the county, in spite of the attractions of trade and the ruin of the long wars, 

 whose holdings were worth from ^{^10 to ;^700 per annum. 



Farm buildings at this date were being improved, and the cottages were in many places com- 

 fortable, with good gardens, though there were many of wattled studd work plastered with tempered 

 clay and straw, locally called ' clat and clay,' and answering to the ' wattle and dab ' of the Midlands. 



Farms, generally speaking, were small, and the education and knowledge of most of the small 

 occupiers very limited, though the large farmers were more enlightened, and having more capital, 

 were improving their farms. 



Little improvement too was visible in the implements, but the ' Northumberland plough ' and 

 Meikle's threshing machines were beginning to be used.'' 



More of the land was in grass than under the plough ; but in the latter great attention was 

 paid to the cultivation of potatoes ; the planting of early ones especially being carried to a high 

 degree of perfection. 



The most approved method was to cut the sets, and put them on a room floor, where a strong 

 current of air could be introduced, two layers deep, covered with chaff or sawdust about two inches 

 thick, which screened them from the winter frosts and kept them moderately warm, causing them 

 to vegetate. Plenty of air was introduced to strengthen them and harden their shoots. When the 

 shoots were sprung about an inch and a half or two inches, half of the covering was removed care- 

 fully so as not to break them. In this manner they were allowed to remain till the planting season, 

 being given all the air and light possible. 



The grass lands of the county in 1825 were chiefly used for dairying, but not much cheese 

 was made except on the Cheshire side. 



There were excellent market gardens near most of the large towns, especially near Liverpool, 

 where great quantities of cabbages and onions were used by the shipping of the port. Some of the 

 land north of Liverpool was famous for its asparagus. 



" yigric. Stale of the Kingdom, Feb. to April, 18 16, p. 142. 



" As we have seen they were introduced in 1794; their adoption was not very rapid. 



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