[509] The Merino was largely imported into England by the efforts of George III, and a Merino Society was formed in 1811; but many circumstances made it of such little profit to cultivate it in preference to native breeds, that it was diverted to Australia.--Burnley, _History of Wool_, p. 17. [510] The first, the Bath and West of England, was established in 1777. [511] _R.A.S.E. Journal_, 1899, p. 7. [512] Higher prices had been realized for the improved Longhorns; in 1791, at the sale of Mr. Fowler of Little Rollright, Sultan a two-year-old bull fetched 210 guineas, and a cow 260 guineas; and at Mr. Paget's sale in 1793, a bull of the same breed sold for 400 guineas.--_Culley on Live Stock_, p. 59. [513] _R.A.S.E. Journal_, 1899, p. 28. [514] _Culley on Live Stock_ (1807), pp. 46-7. [515] _Culley on Live Stock_, p. vi. [516] _R.A.S.E. Journal_, 1892, p. 27. [517] Morton, _Cyclopaedia of Agriculture_, ii. 964. [518] _Northern Tour_, iii. 49. Clarke also experimented on the effect of electricity on vegetables, electrifying turnips in boxes with the result that growth was quickened and weight increased. [519] _R.A.S.E. Journal_, 1896, p, 93. [520] Tooke, _History of Prices_, p. 182. [521] _Autobiography of A. Young_, p. 256. [522] _State of the Poor_, i. 565 et seq.; Thorold Rogers, _Work and Wages_, p. 487. It is difficult to calculate the exact income of the labourer; besides extras in harvest, and relief from the parish, he might have a small holding, or common rights, also payments in kind and the earnings of his wife and children. [523] Hasbach, _op. cit._ p. 181; Eden, _op. cit._ li. 27. [524] Imports of wheat and flour in 1796 were 879,200 quarters. [525] Yet imports were comparatively large; 1,264,520 quarters of wheat, against 463,185 quarters in 1799. [526] Tooke, _History of Prices_, p. 219. [527] _Farmer's Magazine_, 1817, p. 60. [528] Thorold Rogers, _Work and Wages_, c. 18. [529] _Annals of Agriculture_, xxxvii. 265. In 1805, in Herefordshire, the labourer was getting about 6s. 6d. a week--See Duncumb, _General View of Agriculture of Herefordshire_. Those who lived in the farm-house often fared best: in 1808 the diet of a Hampshire farm servant was, for breakfast, bacon, bread, and skim milk; for lunch, bread and cheese and small beer; for dinner, between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., pickled pork or bacon with potatoes, cabbages, turnips, or greens, and broths of wheat-flour and garden stuff. Supper consisted of bread and cheese and a pint of ale. His bread was usually made of wheat, which, considering the price, is remarkable. On Sundays he had fresh meat. The farmers lived in many cases little better; a statement which must be compared with others ascribing great extravagance to them.--Vancouver, _General View of the Agriculture of Hants_ (1808), p. 383. [530] Tooke, _History of Prices_, i. 236.