794: = 528 The Agricultural Labourer. 
Matches bene 
ficial 
founty Shows Moreover, I must not omit to notice that, in the actual daij 
^o^f!i!!?l!!i°° work of the labourer, he is not left without some incentives]" 
excel. Ploughing-matches are common in most counties, ail 
are genetally held under the direction of the local Agricultuij 
Societies, which abound. For draining, for hedging, for ditcj 
ing, for stacking and thatching ricks of corn, appropriate pri 
are also commonly offered ; and these trials of skill are looi 
forward to with anxious interest by the competitors. It is 
uncommon thing on these occasions for one man to take pr 
in two or three different classes of work, and the same individv 
is sometimes declared the winner of the ploughing, the stackiil 
the thatching, and the hedging prizes. Shows of cottage-gard 
produce are also frequently held at the same time, and the en| 
lation and interest which they excite are the surest signs of 
attraction and pleasure which a good garden offers to its 
sessor. Perhaps, also, I should not neglect to remark til 
prizes are frequently oflfered by these Agricultural Societies 
length of service under one master. 
CHAPTER V. 
Education. 
If I now turn from these considerations, which all affect OK 
or less the material welfare of the labourer, to the subject of 
education, which is equally important, I am glad that in tl 
matter also there is a progress to report which bids fair, at t 
present time, to keep pace with his worldly prosperity. It is ti 
that hitherto the latter has been outgrowing his mental cultuij 
but the education movement in England has lately been so rap 
Education that there is every hope of his children growing up with a satj 
until recently factory amount of elementary teaching. The better paid northf 
•ptional. labourer has long recognised the value of education for his ch ' 
dren ; but the poorer southerner, who could ill afford to spare t '• 
addition which their labour brought to his own sdanty earnin;! 
was content, perhaps, to let them " shift for themselves " as [ 
had done, and take their chance of picking up a little learning \ 
the Sunday or the night-school, instead of undergoing a regu " 
course of instruction. If the national system of education i 
England has hitherto been voluntary, so also has it been optioil 
with the poor man whether his children should be taught r 
not. 1 
All this, however, is altered now. Among domestic subjecl 
i 
i 
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