306 



Farming of East Lothian. 



of feeling, and that friendliness of relation which ought to subsist 

 between the employers and the employed, than in this county. 

 The servants not only occasionally suggest improvements, but 

 endeavour to carry out what is novel, whether in the adoption of 

 new implements, or of what is new in practice. On some farms 

 the same families have sustained the relation of master and servant 

 for at least two generations. This, however, is somewhat on the 

 wane, and indeed modern habits scarcely admit of this rather 

 interesting feature in the domestic history of the past being pre- 

 served intact. 



It may be mentioned as a striking proof of the general trust- 

 worthiness of the hinds, that a considerable proportion of the 

 grain is sold by them in stock markets, they giving delivery 

 and receiving payment. We have only heard of one instance 

 where this trust was misplaced, every sixpence of the money being 

 always faithfully accounted for. 



The system of payment is somewhat peculiar, being a species 

 of the truck system. All the hinds upon a farm receive the same 

 *' gains." One farmer only varies from another, if at all, to a 

 very limited extent. The gains" are 72 bushels of oats, 18 of 

 barley, and 8 of beans ; keep for a cow, or, in lieu thereof, 5Z. in 

 money ; with about one-tenth of an acre of land for planting 

 potatoes ; house and garden, with liberty to keep a pig ; coals 

 driven, and food supplied during harvest, A few farmers also 

 give 2/. for flax and hen-money. The keeping of a cow is 

 a source of great convenience to the family, and supplies to 

 them many comforts which they could not otherwise secure. It 

 has also a marked moral effect, as the feeling connected with 

 property generally elevates the tone of the possessor. The 

 system of mutual insurance of the cows is very generally carried 

 out by the hinds, the allowance for a cow being 8/., about 2/. 

 below average value. The prevalence of pleura-pneumonia 

 four years ago has however very generally interfered with the 

 working of these insurances. For the above items the hind 

 gives his entire services (the period of work in the fields being 

 nine hours), furnishes a reaper, without wages, in harvest for 

 21 days, and, where such a stipulation exists, also an outworker, 

 generally a female, termed a " bondager," who, when employed, 

 receives \0d. per day. The system of "bondager" has been 

 loudly complained of by the hinds, and, from a general repre- 

 sentation, this part of the engagement is now relaxed — many 

 farmers not insisting on this provision, and trusting for the supply 

 of labour to the families of the hinds, cottagers, and the itinerant 

 Irish. 



From the greater breadth of the root crops, and partly from an 

 increasing number of the female population entering domestic 



