Now I think you can understand something of the country life of England. The village generally consists of the Squire, the Vicar, the Schoolmaster, the Farmers, and the Labourers. The Squire owns most of the land. He was educated at a great school. His sons become officers in the Army and in the Navy. He is the unpaid magistrate of the district, and lives in the great house in the park. Beside him, and living in a smaller home, is the Vicar, who ministers on Sundays in the church and visits the people in their homes to help them in illness or trouble. In addition there are often Ministers of the Free Churches, for religion is a matter for each man’s conscience, notwithstanding the existence of a State Church. Beside the Vicar and the Ministers is the Schoolmaster, to whom by law the children must be sent to learn to read and write. Then there come the farmers, who rent pieces of land from the Squire, and farm them with the help of the labourers. The farmers live in farmhouses surrounded by cattle sheds and corn barns, and the labourers occupy cottages such as we have seen. [Sidenote: 21. A Farmhouse.] All these dwellers in the country--squires, vicars, schoolmasters, farmers, and labourers, and also the tradesmen of the market towns, depend for their livelihood on the crops of the field. In one way or another they all receive a share of the harvests. Let us therefore spend a few moments in considering the operations of British agriculture. They are very different from those of a tropical country, and it is impossible to understand the writings of British authors unless you know something of the aspects of British agriculture. The centre of the farm is the farmhouse, such as we have here, with its outhouses for the farm implements, and for the young animals which require protection against the weather. In the centre of the picture you see the poultry, which are fed by the farmer’s wife and daughters, while the farmer and his sons are away in the fields. Close by the house a heap of firewood is laid ready for the winter, and there is also the farmer’s gig, in which he drives to sell his corn at the weekly market in the nearest town. [Sidenote: 22. Hay Cutting: old style.] A great change has taken place of late in the methods of farming, for the steam engine has been applied to agriculture as well as to the industries. Let us look for a moment at the old style of farming which is now rapidly going out. Here, in a field surrounded by a hedge, are three men mowing grass with scythes. The grass will be left to dry in the sun; it will turn brown, and will then be heaped into a hay stack for the winter food of the farm horses. [Sidenote: 23. Thrashing: old style.] Next we see the old method of thrashing corn. The man in the picture holds a flail, or rod jointed in the centre, with which he beats the corn, and so separates the grain from the straw. [Sidenote: 24. Old Man Digging.]