Farming of East Lothian, 



305 



the liberal cultivator a great advantage in such a season as the 

 present, when prices are so much influenced by a confessedly 

 deficient crop, over the corn-producing districts of Europe ; while 

 its more general extension would render the country less depend- 

 ent upon foreign supplies, and, with nearly equal profits to the 

 cultivator, secure a less fluctuating range of prices to the con- 

 sumer. 



The crops in East Lothian are cut principally by sickle — occa- 

 sional fields only being cut by the scythe. Last season a con- 

 siderable number of Bell's reapers were in use, but comparatively 

 little was cut by them. The labourers employed during the 

 harvest are the resident population, with bands of Irish reapers, 

 these coming partly from the north-west of Ireland, and partly 

 from the larger towns in Scotland. About 12,000 of these strangers 

 find employment during four weeks in harvest. Sometimes 100" 

 reapers may be seen in one field, under the superintendence of 

 the master and foreman. The average wage per day is 156?., with 

 food. The food consists, morning and evening, of a Scottish pint 

 of oatmeal porridge, with milk, the porridge weighing about 5 lbs. y 

 the dinner is a quart of harvest beer, with a loaf of wheaten bread, 

 weighing 1 lb.'"*" Each reaper is furnished with a blanket ; they 

 are lodged in the barns and outhouses. One person binds for 

 every six reapers. The " stooks" (shocks) are set up in all pos- 

 sible forms, of 4, 8, and 10 sheaves. About five reapers cut 

 and bind an acre per day. As soon as the grain is in a condition, 

 for being carried, this is vigorously prosecuted. Single-horse 

 harvest-carts clear a field with great rapidity when all engaged 

 in it are active. The stacks are generally round, occasionally 

 oblong; 15 to 20 quarters of wheat, barley, and oats is the aver- 

 age size, but of course the grain contained in a stack depends on 

 the productiveness of the crop and the amount of straw grown. 



The progress of agriculture, like that of every other manufac- 

 ture, is in no small degree dependent upon the intelligence, trust- 

 worthiness, and general carefulness of the workmen. The hinds 

 of East Lothian have been long distinguished by such qualities ; 

 and any report on the farming of East Lothian would be defective 

 which did not bear tribute to their general intelligence and trust- 

 worthiness. Nowhere does there exist more of that community 



* The writer, in certain ethnological investigations he conducted, found that the 

 Irish reapers increased in weight very rapidly under this diet, " the halesome 

 'parritch, chief o' Scotia's food," The' average increase the first week was 7 lbs., 

 the second week rather less ; the third, fourth, and fifth weeks showed a progressive 

 increase. It may be interesting to record that out of several hundreds carefully 

 measured, weighed, &c., Highland females from Skye equalled in average weight 

 Irishmen of the same ages ; the females of the county and of Ross-shire exceeded 

 them by several pounds. The men of East Lothian weighed fully 30 lbs. above 

 the natives of Ireland. 



