I909-] 



Thatching. 



463 



credited and the other debited. A similar adjustment is neces- 

 sary for the manorial value of foods consumed, the crop 

 account which benefits being debited and the live-stock 

 account credited. 



The extent to which these transfers and adjustments must 

 be made will depend in each case on the character of the farm 

 and the produce dealt in, but the principle is the same 

 throughout, the object aimed at being to charge to each 

 separate branch of the business for which an account is kept 

 the whole of the direct and indirect expenses which it in- 

 volves or from which it benefits, and to credit it with its 

 due proportion of the receipts, so as to ascertain the real 

 profit or loss on that particular branch. 



THATCHING. 

 J. C. Newsham. 



Hampshire Farm School, Basing. 



The village thatcher is still a familiar figure in many of 

 our rural districts. In this typical village of Old Basing, for 

 example, grandfather, son, and grandson may be seen busily 

 engaged in rick-thatching. Some writers would have us think 

 that the present-day thatcher is behind his predecessors as 

 regards the skill and excellence with which this particular 

 branch of farm industry is performed; but I am confident 

 that this is not the case : where such incompetency does exist, 

 I have little doubt that the farmers themselves are often to 

 blame, inasmuch as many of them do not afford their men an 

 opportunity of practising thatching. As a rule they place 

 their whole trust in the "local expert," who is regarded as 

 having mastered some mystic art. This may naturally be 

 regarded as a justifiable course, for many farmers would 

 be loath to allow their inexperienced farm hands to practise 

 upon corn-ricks for fear of having them injured. A com- 

 petent man, however, can generally be selected to commence 

 upon a straw stack, when, with a few hints from the master 

 and a certain amount of natural aptitude for work of this 

 nature, he will soon become proficient. Subsequent to har- 

 vest time, the local thatcher is a hard-pressed individual, and 

 a long period may elapse before his services can be requi- 

 sitioned. In the meantime the unthatched ricks are at the 



