28 
The Agriculture of the Cots wolds. 
about 5s. or 6s. an acre ; the low meadows about 20s. They 
reckon three quarters of wheat to be a very good crop, 
and as much barley and beans. The farms are m general 
large, indeed absurdly so considering the manner ot 
managing them, for the farm-houses are all m the towns ; 
so that the farmers are at a prodigious distance from then 
lands; they are in general from 200?. to 500?. a year at about 
5s. per acre. Enclosing by no means flourishes, for from 
Tetsworth to Oxford enclosures are scarce, and from thence 
to North Leach few or none. Mr. Dutton has planned 
some at Sherborn, but the scheme goes on very slowly, it 
is amazing that a man of his considerable fortune can bear 
to live in the midst of such a vastly extensive property 
in its present condition. All this bleak unpleasant country 
is strong enough for any kind of trees, and might there- 
fore be ornamented with fine plantations, which would 
yield considerable profit in a country wherein firing is so 
scarce. (Scarcely any wood. Coals brought from Gloucester 
cost at Sherborn 25s. a ton.) And farm-houses barns 
and all kinds of out-houses might be built on the spot 
cheaper, I apprehend, than in any part of England ; oi 
the stone which everywhere lies almost within six inches 
of the surface forms the walls and covering slates ot ail 
the buildings in the country. The wages of labourers 
were 8 d. to 10c?. a day in winter and spring, and Is m 
summer, and Is. 8c?. in harvest. Butter cost l^d. (lhe 
dearness of this article must be owing to nine-tenths ot 
the country being arable.) Mutton cost 4c?., and beet 4a. 
About North Leach they sow much sainfoine ; they pre- 
pare for it by turnips, and sow it with oats, and mow it 
every year for about ten, getting generally a tun or a tun 
and a half of hay from it. Between North Leach . and 
Frog-mill the country improves continually until it 
becomes what may really be called fine. About Stowell, 
the seat of Lord Chedworth, I observed them for the 
first time ploughing with oxen, and to my great indigna- 
tion eight large ones yoked to a plough, and skimming up 
the surface about three inches deep, which the ploughman, 
with a very grave face, called stiff work. About Shipton 
day labour used all winter to be 8c?. to 10 d. a day, but 
lately the farmers raised it to Is. for the first time on 
account of the dearness of provisions, and gave the men 
Is. 2c?. in the spring, Is. 6c?. in mowing time, and Is. 8a. 
at harvest for five weeks. Oxen are pretty much used. 
The ploughs here are very clumsy, the beams 10 ft. long, 
and all have wheel coulters. From Frog-mill to Crickley 
Hill, which leads into Gloucester Yale, the beauty of the 
