38 
Agriculture of the Islands of 
woman — if not fed in the house ; but if they receive their meals, 
the pay is Is. per man, and 6<f. per woman. There is also 
another class of servants who board and lodge altogether on the 
premises ; in this case, the maid servants are paid from 8/. to 10/. 
a year, and the men from 12/. to 14/. The former are in most 
cases natives, but many French and Irish are also found ; the 
men are generally English or French : in the eastern district of 
the island the latter prevail, and in the western district English 
are mostly found. 
Before entering into the modes of cultivation it will be well 
to understand the arrangement of the farmhouse, outbuildings, 
yards, &c. The most usual plan is for the dwelling-house to 
border upon the road-side, with only a small garden or yard 
intervening. If it be a garden, it is laid out with flowers and 
vegetables ; if a yard, it is kept gravelled and clean, and through 
it is a path which leads to the principal entrance. On this side 
of the house (which usually faces the south) is frequently trained 
a vine, which adds considerably to i(s appearance. The interior 
contains, on the ground- floor, two kitchens, one parlour, and a 
room appropriated for the dairy : on the upper floor are four 
bed-room.s. 
The farm-offices are built near the dwelling-house, in some 
cases actually adjoining to it ; they are convenient and compact, 
and calculated rather for these objects than for appearance. The 
bakehouse is a small room, containing a bread oven, and a copper 
for boiling or steaming roots ; this room is also frequently used 
as a washhouse. The horse and cow stables are inelegant, but 
paved and divided into stalls. The pigsties are large and well 
constructed, entirely built and paved with granite ; generally 
there are three or four of these sties attached to the outbuild- 
ings of a farm such as we are now describing. Near these is the 
manure-pit, which contains the whole of the manure made on 
the premises ; and in the neighbourhood of the pit is the liquid- 
manure tank, sunk frequently in the form of a well and cemented. 
It is so constructed as to receive all the drainage from the different 
stables, &c., as well as what may overflow from the manure-pit 
in cases of heavy rain. This valuable liquid is emptied by 
means of a pump, and applied to the grass-land in the spring. 
The barn is built in the ordinary way : in most cases it is floored 
with wood, which is considered by far the best flooring for 
threshing upon with flails, as is customary in the island. The 
granary is a small room above or near the barn, divided into 
partitions for the reception of corn when threshed and cleaned. 
Near the barn is always the stackyard. 
The cider-press house is also another appendage of the farm 
offices. It is usually a large room, wherein is fixed a circular 
