ENGLISH FARMING-OLD AND NEW STYLE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2230, 23 October 1886, Page 1 (Supplement)

ENGLISH FARMING-OLD AND NEW STYLE.

Thk " Vagabond ' thus discourses on tho questiou ot farming in England " now and tlieu."' — It is the English farmer who very seldom lisca in the social scale. They are now, as they have been, in a dependent position. Many ot them may hold much laigor tanns than their torefatheis, w lio were only peasants; but they are stilt only tenants, and with a tenants lespect tor the opinions ot his landlord. Inure has been a great outcry ot lute yeats that the Biitish farmer is ruined. As tar as I remember, the same outcry evicted 100 years ago. It is their landlord who is tlie general mouthpiece ot the lanner, he himself being generally scant ot wouta, and only able to emphasise his opinions over his gia and water atter the market dinner, or in vocifcious applause at a meeting ot the county members. Still, ot late )ears thcic has been a great change m the m inner ot h\ing ot the Biitish tanner. I can lemember as a schoolboy, when tiding o\er the country m papei chases, or in holiday pedestrian touis round England, that in the farmhouses we visited theie was a remnant of the old style. The tanner's wite then tucked up her sleeves aud made butter and cheese, anil supei\i»ed the pickling of hams and bacon and the btevwug ot beur. ISur \\m\. tliuy ashamed to iio out into the I ivy tic Id, aud \soik iuwd and be ot it\d fsct'vic-e with the iako. I could then ace the lising of the new gsneration. The guls wcij sent to school and tiui;ht »S lakcspeaio and the mubical gl.isses, and "i-'icnch ot .Stratfordat Jiow,"' and who, by the ideas they inibiL-ed, became in the social scale neither " llfsi), tcwl, nor good led herliiig. ' The sons, owing to the extension ot communication, weie scat to metropolitan academics, and learnt a smartness which pieasod tliuir tathcis, but which was not ot much use to them in lainutig the old acies. J'he young yeoman w anted to tide to hounds as otteu as his landlord, and h" "lumblfddt being depmed of the shooting on his faun, lie would inn to the Dei by, or to New maiket, or to Doncaster,and tut hc.uii} on all the races. SVheieaa, in the old days, peihaps once a year at the countiy meeting tho sporting yeoman would enjoy himself, he now goes to ail the principil race meetings in England, and so, with the w;fe lolling ovci the pnno in the di iwiug loom, and tiie husb-iud away at the racecourse, the -noney w Inch our lathers saved is soon spent, and the mode of hung in the fashion of the day toon causes fcirmintf to become " unpiolitaiile.

Thk latest fashion among Ameiican bclksisto dnvu adoukey ui?t, the fa--hioii Ufor the lai^c w hue donkey, which is dillieult to get. Tri'Pfc.R said one thing that was perhaps woith remembering in his advice to a young fellow to pray foi the wolf-ire of the unknown s^irl who might some tune become his wife A I_)o\n..->iii \i."D Rook. — In a wood near mv h'Ui>c tnere i> .1 1 j i y i 1i 1 tonkeiy ; and the bjhav i«>ur of one of its mh.ib^.utt^ h.i> boon, and X so occontiic that 1 am inclined to recnid it. Fully tine*' years ago, a rook b'-jfan to frequent the office- ..t the back of my hon^e, anil my butler, being fond of anim.iK noticed him, and th night at hivt that lie was one <>t the wounded in the annual skui^bter of joun£ i«», »k> which take^ place in the l'» it I'C appealed tputt; sound m wind and limb, :uid his visits to the house wne evidently only made from choic.\ He !.<cuno e\hemely ttime, an-wtiiu^ to tlio mine of "Jack, 7 and co-ninp t> be fed when called. His 'tivounte titbit u.i> a b.mp of Miet, of which lie devoured as much a-> he could, and c-irefully biuied the 10-t. He pursued tln> hue of conduct for several month-*, but left u> at the appioach of spring, and presninibly in uned and ieued a youncf f.imillv. When the appointed day came for s.hootmg the )oung rooks, " Jack '' returned to the house, and thus wUely provided for his own safety. Shortly afterwaids, however, he wa-s i-een to carry off any tempting lump of fat which was bestowed on him to the lawn in front of the h «use. where, at a safe di>tu>ee, he was joined by two or three other rooks possibly in- wife and sut v iv ing childien, who helped him amicably to dispose of the dainty. Our rooks have a habit of nugiating in the summer. It is said that they visit the Highlands to feed on moorland berries; i but however th it may be, they go. "J.iek " dectinr- to accompany them, and remains about the house all summer ; but one day in the autumn of \<\*t year he disappeared. T'Mie went on, and we mourned him as do id ; when, about three months agi>, he returned as spontaneously as he cunt 1 at liis>t, and has renewed his domestic and familhr habits, to the gieat delight of my butler and the satisfaction of the family in general.— Fkvncis (tardev Campbell, Lient.-Ool; (Tore of Troup, Banff . )—Tho Fiejd.