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other, whenever the state of markets will afford a small pro-fit and the expence of carriage. But the prices of potatoes,milk, poultry, eggs and fish, are not so uniform. Potatoes,from their great weight, in proportion to their value, and thelatter articles, from being badly calculated for a distant car-riage, will always be found cheaper in the country, andalong the coast, than in towns or inland districts, in exactproportion to the cxpence of conveyance. At the same time,it is not an easy matter to state exactly what the real priceof these latter-mentioned articles is, for often they arebought for a third of the price they cost in the same market,at another period of the same year.
Although the nominal price of provisions is often very dif-ferent in the several districts of the kingdom, yet that vari-ance is frequently more apparent than real; for a pound oflean beef, from an ox that had been scantily fed upon wet poorpasture, may be as dear at 6d., especially for making broth,as the same weight at 8d., from an animal that has been ful-ly fed upon the richest pasture ; and, upon the like principle,it is alleged, that the oatmeal of the Lowlands, gives heartierand more nourishing food, than the same article grown in anupland or highland district.
The style of living among the labouring classes of Scot-land , has long and often been a subject of mirth or ridiculeamong their brethren in the South, as if it were impossiblethat men should be able to perform a hard day’s work, whilsttheir principal food was only oatmeal porridge, or gruel asthey term it. This seems to an English farmer quite incom-prehensible. Those acquainted with Scotland , however,know well, that in those districts where oatmeal forms two-thirds of the diet, the people may stand a comparison in eve-ry point of view, with those of the same rank in any part ofthe universe. It has been justly remarked, in a work on theHusbandry of Scotland , recently published, that “ No siHitcould possibly be more gratifying to any individual, who cancontemplate with pleasure the happiness of his fellow-crea-
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