On  the  Fanning  of  Somerset. 
7 51 
advantage  or  a loss  to  the  workman  according  to  the  disposition 
of  his  master.  These  are  generally  three  or  four  pints  of  cider 
per  day  all  the  year  round ; wheat  at  6s.  per  bushel  in  all 
seasons  ; potato-ground,  let  at  a “ shilling  a lug,”  that  is  81.  an 
acre,  sometimes  as  high  as  10/.  an  acre,  the  farmer  ploughing 
and  manuring  the  land  ; and  sometimes  a cottage  at  a low  rent 
or  rent  free.  Of  the  cider  I will  speak  presently.  The  wheat 
at  6s.  is  an  advantage  to  labourers  who  bake  at  home,  provided  it 
is  sound  and  good  wheat,  worth  about  that  money;  but  as  the 
system  commonly  works,  the  labourer  is  practically  obliged  to 
take  inferior  wheat  at  more  than  it  is  worth,  and  truth  compels 
me  to  say  that  I have  met  with  too  many  proofs  of  unsaleable 
wheat  of  1848  being  forced  upon  the  labourers  this  year  at  the 
rate  of  5s.  or  Os.  a bushel,  or  tailings  wheat  at  6s.,  when  the  best 
quality  is  not  worth  more  than  5s.  9c/. : such  practices  meet  with 
no  countenance  among  the  more  high-minded  farmers.  Some, 
however,  of  the  kindest  masters,  who  have  made  no  change  in  their 
wages,  continue  to  give  the  same  proportion  in  wheat  as  here- 
tofore, by  which  the  labourer,  if  he  does  not  gain,  at  any  rate 
does  not  lose  by  the  fall  of  prices.  But,  unfortunately,  the 
example  of  these  masters  gives  an  apparent  sanction  to  a great 
abuse. 
The  system  of  potato-ground  has  been  in  great  measure  super- 
seded by  allotments,  or  by  the  failure  of  the  root. 
The  value  of  a cottage  when  allowed  to  a labourer  as  a part 
of  his  wages  depends  on  its  state  of  repair,  situation,  garden,  and 
on  whether  it  is  partly  or  wholly  an  addition  to  or  deduction  from 
the  current  rate  of  wages.  It  places  the  man  in  his  master's 
power ; on  the  other  hand,  it  probably  secures  him  regular 
work,  and  relieves  him  from  house-rent  if  he  is  ill  for  a few 
weeks. 
I now  come  to  the  cider  question,  which  I will  not  attempt  to 
argue,  though  I have  heard  one  gentleman  of  education  defend 
the  practice  of  paying  part  of  the  wages  in  cider.  The  fact  is 
that  the  masters  and  men  play  into  each  other’s  hands,  the  women 
and  children  suffer,  and  the  men,  too,  in  the  long  run.  The 
labourer  in  a year  takes  off  his  master’s  hands  about  two  hogs- 
heads of  cider,  and  satisfies  one  of  his  own  bodily  appetites  at  the 
cost  of  15  per  cent,  of  his  earnings.  The  liquor  refreshes  and 
stimulates  him,  but  wears  him  out,  for  common  cider  is  not 
nourishing,  but  exciting  like  spirit  and  water.  West  country 
labourers  will  never  be  what  they  might  be  as  long  as  this 
system  goes  on. 
The  following  fact,  so  simply  told  by  Mr.  Danger,  and  so 
much  to  his  credit,  will  do  more  than  many  arguments  : — 
“ For  some  years  I have  paid  my  labourers  in  money,  instead  of  the 
3 c 2 
