30 
The Farmiiuj of Westmorland. 
man having invested his all in land, may fairly object to hand 
ovei" his property lor lons^ periods to a farmer who may turn out 
a disagreeable neighbour, of objectionable moral character, or 
deficient in requisite capital, skill, and energy ; and, in spite of 
the most stringent conditions, a farm may almost imperceptibly, 
although surely, be robbed and depreciated by an unprincipled 
tenant. On the other hand, no farmer can be expected, without 
security of some kind, to put anything into the land which he 
cannot readily get out again with a profit. The fact is patent 
that long leases and good farming are always found together, and, 
as a general rule, no leases and bad farming go in company. If 
the landlord coldly stands by, declining to grant a lease, affording 
no confidence, or security, or facilities in some other way, it 
is pretty certain that he and his property will be left 
behind in the general rate of progress. All agricultural improve- 
ment produces a rapid increase in the value of the fee simple of 
the soil. Self-interest alone must prompt the far-seeing landlord 
to grant facilities and encouragement to deserving tenants, not to 
name higher principles, the duties attaching to the possession of 
property, and the " golden rule " for both landlord and tenant, in 
all their relations. 
Laboukees. 
The farm-labourers are usually kept in the farmer's house, 
often taking their meals at his own table with his family. Wages 
are increasing. Emigration, and the attraction of large public 
works, railways, &c., and the iron-works in Furness, have tended 
to increase the cost of all kinds of labour, and good servants, 
male and female alike, are becoming a scarce article. A first- 
class " head man " and ploughman commands from 20Z. to 25Z. 
or more per annum, with victuals, lodging, and washing. Young 
men, Vll. ; lads, 8/. ; maid servants, 12/. ; girls, 5/., and upwards. 
In the villages, or where cottages can be had, married out-of- 
door labourers are found, whose wages are now from 2s. %d. to 
3s. per day, where not employed the year round. In hay-time 
and harvest, men get from 4Z. 10s. to 5/. per month, with victuals, 
&c. Labourers' cottages let from l,v. to Is. 6c?. per week. Very 
little has been done in the way of providing gardens. 
The in-door servants, especially on the southern side of the 
county, are well and substantially fed. Meat dinners, with milk 
and oatmeal porridge ; oat-cake, cheese, and milk for breakfast 
and supper. In harvest meat suppers are provided ; and at mid- 
forenoon and afternoon a refreshment of oat-cake, cheese, and 
beer, called " the drinking." 
Pringle, in 1793, reports the wages of ordinary labourers at 
