The plague lasted
from 1745 to 1756.

[435] _The Compleat Cyderman_, p. 46.

[436] _Rural Economy of Gloucestershire_ (1788), ii. 206.

[437] Blundell's _Diary_, p. 55.

[438] MS. accounts of Mr. Chevallier, of Aspall Hall.

[439] _The Case with the County of Devon with respect to the New
Excise Duty on Cider_ (1763). The duty was 4s. a hogshead, but the
opposition was so strong it was taken off.

CHAPTER XVI

1765-1793

ARTHUR YOUNG.--CROPS AND THEIR COST.--THE LABOURERS' WAGES AND DIET.--THE
PROSPERITY OF FARMERS.--THE COUNTRY SQUIRE.--ELKINGTON.--BAKEWELL.--THE
ROADS.--COKE OF HOLKHAM.

The history of English agriculture in the latter half of the
eighteenth century has been so well described by Arthur Young that any
account of it at that time must largely be an epitome of his writings.
The greatest of English writers on agriculture was born in 1741, and
began farming early; but, as he confesses himself, was a complete
failure. When he was twenty-six he took a farm of 300 acres at Samford
Hall in Essex, and after five years of it paid a farmer L100 to take
it off his hands, who thereupon made a fortune out of it. He had
already begun writing on agriculture, and it must be confessed that he
began to advise people concerning the art of agriculture on a very
limited experience. It paid him, however, much better than farming,
for between 1766 and 1775 he realized L3,000 on his works, among which
were _The Farmer's Letters_, _The Southern_, _Northern_, and _Eastern
Tours_. These are his qualifications for writing on agriculture, from
his own pen: 'I have been a farmer these many years' (he was not yet
thirty), 'and that not in a single field or two but upon a tract of
near 300 acres most part of the time. I have cultivated on various
soils most of the vegetables common in England and many never
introduced into field husbandry. I have always kept a minute register
of my business in every detail of culture, expenses, and produce, and
an accurate comparison of the old and new husbandry.'[440] It is said
that though he really understood the theory and practice of farming he
failed utterly in small economies. He was also far too vivacious and
fond of society for the monotonous work of the plain farmer. At the
same time his failures gave his observant mind a clear insight into
the principles of agriculture. He was indefatigable in inquiries,
researches, and experiments; and the best proof of the value of his