in Northumberland and Durham in 1887. 595 
carry corn into the granary, clean and cut the roots, and feed 
the Cattle. In hoeing turnips they do as much work as the 
men, and it is no uncommon thing to see a gang of twenty 
women, men and boys, led by a woman who keeps the whole 
gang hard at work. So deftly do these women use the hoe, that 
it is seldom necessary for them to stoop for the purpose of 
singling the plants. The appearance of these women-workers 
belies the assertion that field work is injurious to their health. 
Labourers' Cottages. — The cottages in which the labourers live 
are generally placed near to the farm-yard ; they frequently con- 
tain only two rooms, besides a pantry and entry. Both rooms 
are, as a rule, on the ground-floor, as the people have an almost 
invincible objection to sleeping upstairs. The living-room is 
larger than is usual in Southern Counties, and it need be ; for 
in it the cooking and washing have to be done, the meals are 
taken there, and several of the household sleep there. In this 
room there is always a large cooking stove, and generally on the 
opposite side of the room will be found two beds in recesses. 
The second room is a bed-room. Of course, there are cottages 
which give better accommodation in the shape of bed-rooms ; 
but the normal cottage is such as has been described. 
Considering: the number of sin-jle women who remain at home 
to work on the farm, the cottages must, in many cases, be over- 
crowded, and there can scarcely be that separation of the sexes 
which is desirable. One reason which was given for the two- 
roomed cottages was, that the hinds were hired annually, that 
they frequently changed their homes and masters, and that the 
hirer moved as much of their furniture as could be carried in 
one cart. But many of these cottages contain as much furniture 
as is necessary for a cottage with two more rooms. However, 
in almost every case where we made enquiries, we found the 
people satisfied with their houses, and certainly they were 
remarkably clean. Many of the houses were well furnished, 
and exceedingly comfortable. In some instances we found a 
remarkable deficiency of decent offices. After looking over the 
steward's cottage on a large farm, and admiring the neatness 
and order inside, we looked around the place outside, and could 
find no privy. AVe were told that this was no uncommon 
case. 
In former days it was very generally the custom to pay the 
labourer to a great extent in corn and meal. This custom is 
now almost extinct, except among the shepherds on the hill- 
farms, who are frequently paid partly by the keeping of a certain 
number of sheep, which run with the master's flock. We also 
found several instances where the labourers owned cows, which 
were housed and fed on the employer's farm, and others where a 
VOL. XXIII.— S. S. 2 B 
