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ON THE RURAL ECONOMY

Throughout the whole kingdom, the different classes offarm-servants, generally work ten hours a-day, while the daysare sufficiently long to admit of it; and during the wintermonths, the hours of labour are from the dawn of morningtill twilight, with the allowance of about half an hour at mid-day for dinner. The only material deviation from the abovehours is supposed to be in the arable districts, during theharvest, as the reapers (shearers) work from the rising to thesetting of the sun, with only an hour for breakfast, and ano-ther for dinner, with about twenty minutes in the forenoon,and as long in the afternoon, for a rest; which latter allow-ance of time for resting is usually given even where reapersonly work from six o’clock in the morning till six o’clock inthe evening; also in a circuit of 15 or 20 miles aroundGlasgow , where the hired servants, upon all farms wherethreshing-mills are not employed, are in the practice ofthreshing with tire flail, the necessary quantity of fodder forthe stock upon the farm, by candle light, in the winter morn-ings. Although ten hours is the general length of time fora day’s work, during the spring, summer, and autumn quar-ters, yet farmers are by no means uniform in their hoursof working, as some begin at five o’clock, rest three hours atmid-day, and fill up their day’s work by beginning again atone o’clock, and ending at six o’clock evening, while othersbegin at six o’clock, and end at six o’clock, allowing an hourat breakfast and another at dinner. But, although the abovebe the ordinary hours, yet in no situation do farm-servants everscruple to work either sooner or later, when occasion requires.

The class of labourers who are generally employed bythe day, are at the same time frequently engaged, in work-ing by the piece, in making and cleaning ditches, openingand filling drains, planting and cutting hedges, turning, fill-ing and spreading lime, composts, and dung, working stonesin quarries, cutting both hay and corn, and, in a very fewinstances, even in threshing grain, &c. &c. But the per-formance of these different kinds of work, depends uponso many different circumstances, that it is scarcely possible