New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-04-30
THERURAL LIFE OF ENGLAND
BY CAPTAIN MAYNE REID.
THE PLOUGHMAN. TIE WAGGONEk AND lie
Ai- SHEPHERD.


snoc,oItios NJ calling. two or more of them some
times combined in the same Individual; 'no"Bh
often each is exclusively practised DIV ono WIZ cN
coils in IT, Permanent attachments to the farm are
q nlonrhu an. waggoncr, w-man ana shepheru;
while connected with IFS work, nut Oh co'ISc "o'
constantly ut it., are the rick-thatcner' heueoI'
drainer and sheepshearer. Other rnral lauus'rico'
on,rt rror, Agriculture are moe-trappng and rat
catching: while in wooded districts there are DARK
strinnrrs hurdle-nakers and charkers 'charcoal
burncrsl-all these coming under the ca'ego'S vi
lobo,inq men. Taking them in the order mehtioheu'
I proceed to give account OF The fioughn.lah'
On farms Of largo acreage, or thoSc 'unuor 'le
oreration Of gentlemen farmers there is &" balIf"
vboeo busness IL is 10 superintcnd field operations
look after the laborers and stock-with occasional
a,+horitv to bnv and sel-in short, like the over
soor of n plantation III your Southern States.
S,collcr establishments, unable to afford the eX-
nense Of such dgntary. have what is termed n
{" ,vorkinp bailin" whose duties are OF slmliar
nature but who has to tackle on and noe his
row with the rest of the labOrcrs. Conlnlng my
remarks to the average 20Oacre farm upon TINS tho
balm IS non-existent. the plonghinan taking MS
place as the farmers head, oI right-hand man. lie
- usually n parsonage in the prime Of life, and
canoble of doing all sorts of farm work well indeed
has his turn at all sorts IN their seasons. Gencr-
ally. however poughinc Ellis up the greater part OF
his time. with the associate operations OF harrow
ing. scufing, horse-hocing and rolling. Nhen all
those are over he takes TO the wagon, rather re-
turns to IT, since on farms OF this class the plough-
man and woqeoner are one and the same individual.
Al holding the plough he is an adept-none IN any
other country surprising him, il indeed any he his
canal which | doubt He will run turrow
lcnptbwise through a fOrty-acrc field straight as
Tho shaft Of a lance and Law the whole field over in
recnlor parallels. like the ribs on corduroy web.
Vitbol the work Is slowly done. though that is
mot his fault but the ia lit OF the system. IN acre
a day on fairly level ground is considered good
average. and TO plough tins two of the largest
horses are employed-in heavy land three-geared
standardization, with boy jthe" waggoners boy
TO lead and turn them on tho headlands. Ohc Oh
vour great Stcam-pOughing prairie farmers WouI"
lie tortured to witness sucn crawling work, an" not
much wonder For considering its cost IN mans
WAGES and horse. Keep with the selling price of
farm produce as it is now in England. the thing
poorIy paws Undoubtedly it is one oi the factors
which hinder English agriculture from being prof.
liable occupation. We have the steam plough loo
of various sorts and specalics but It's employment
is EXCEPTIONAL However well the English pIoHSh-
man may do his work, his wages are l'tiir above
those of any other farm hand-iwo or three shlIi-
ings a week at the utmost. and often not So much !;
his chief compensation being III that his engage
mcnt is generally permanent. As already stated,
when the plOughing, with other ti!la@e is hmshcd
he resumes his place Is The Naggoncr.
This role in point OF fact be- has revor resi- med :;
since yaceoningIs done at all Times ami seasons of
the year. In winter and spring the manure has TO
lie distributed over the land. in summer "ni autumn
the hav and corn must he GOT home To- the rlca-
folder: and again the hay ana thr'Shcd-out grd IN
must be transported to mil or market There are
ionrncyngs also, to coal mines AMI railway STA
ton, TO fetch coal not alone for the farmer Elm-
self. but frequently in the service oi a neItho"r'
who not having horse oG WAGON OF lls own. has TO
charter them. The English farm WAGON Is an i'm
Inense cumbersome vehicle. of itself a load when
empty Two tons and hall are It's ordinary ladn@,
drawn by couple Of gigantic hors''-" English
elephants" as some a,tonshed Orcnials on iirst
seeing pronounced thcm-or more usually three,
which as in the plough. are attached tandem.
Four five and six are sometimes used III timber
hauling or TRANSPORTING heavy blocks of building
stone from the quarres These, however, are
spcciatics apart from the WORK of the farm
vyaggoncr. and to MIN we return. He takes great
pride in bis horses; likes TO them wcil-condi-
toned with their coats glossy: and has 4 lnOWl-
edoe of all the balls and medicamcns tending TO
u1oduce this effect. 1t pleases him also 10 have
them grandly geared. the straps with big brass
buckles. a high pitched housing on the collar, with
tinkling bells ana a cockade of scarlet or whi'e
horse hair surrounding tLcir frontlctS. still more
does the waggoncrs boy eNuit TIN, luxury OF orna-
mentaton especially when Il new hand To the
business; and some will voluntarily spend part Of
their slender earnings in the purcha.e of a superior
kind of whip with brass rings set thick along the
stock. This in hand they THINK Themselves no
longer boys.
one popularity about English wacgoners. which
has often surprised. not To say puzzled, me. may be
worth noting 40 matter what their ~" or natural
tone of voice, the peculiar ph;ascology employed by
them in the guidance of their enns-the " come
hee'er" and gec-woat-tha lis iutoued rs much
alike as if it all came ont of the same throat.
Without seeing the man himself, though he may he
well known if were difficult to identify hh by
these utterances. No doubt The similarity Of tone
and pronunciation s attained by imitation, yet is It
a remarkable instance Of TIN, faculty.
As with plou-hman and wlrgoncT. 30 with COW.
man and shepherd these two being commonly one
and the same man. OF course there are exceptions
on pasture farms where many n.lcI COW, are kept.
Chen they are acparat. cal'ngs; the cow man hay
Ing fall employment IN milking and tending the
cattle. Bat on the ordinary illage farm. where
these are few he becomes MERGED IN Tn" >hcPh"I J..
In the individuals who follow this calling. ag in
a difference needs to he noted. Tier, axe Shepherds
and shepherds, some more skilled .n their craft -
for it is craft AMI better pail thln others. from
havirg more important charrc. w.th larger flock
to look after. Many of tines" mrn receive even
higher wages than p.oushman. and there are
often perquistcs given Them. when lambs and
cams have been safely earned through te ycaHing
season. and their owners think this IS part dHc -
the watchiul care Of the shepherd. On most farms,
however. shaep-.ocping. though one o. The in
dustries, IS not the chief ONE AMI i,oci Of from
30 TO lHn is al that Will hc maintained. In these
cases the shepherds wagoS are no mio than those OF
any other laborcr, ana often les ior be- D., often