In the harvest-field, also, tea is being substituted for beer. At a conference of the members of the Newbury Chamber of Agriculture, held in July, 1878, Mr. T. Bland Garland maintained that nothing can be more unsuitable as a thirst-quenching beverage during hard work in hot weather than beer, and stated that in 1871 he determined to supply no more beer to his labourers under any circumstances. He had agreed as an alternative, to pay the men 18_s._ instead of 14_s._, and the women 9_s._ instead of 7_s._; but reflecting that the people would probably find it impossible to supply themselves with a suitable substitute for the beer, and would, in a measure, be driven to the public-house, he determined to supply them with tea. He thus describes his method of brewing tea,-- "I purchased a common flat-bottomed 8-1/2-gallon iron boiler, with a lid, long spout, and tap; this is taken in a cart to the field, with a few bricks to form a temporary fireplace, a few sticks for the fire, some tea in 7-oz. packets, and sugar in 4-lb. packets. The first thing in the morning a woman lights the fire, boils the water, the bailiff puts on the 7 ozs. of tea in a small bag, to boil for ten to fifteen minutes, then removes it and puts in 4 lbs. of sugar; if skim milk can be spared, two to four quarts are added, but this is not a necessity, although desirable. All the labourers are then at liberty to take as much as they like at all times of the day, beginning at breakfast-time, and ending when they leave off work at night. If the field is large, they send large cans to the boiler for it; so soon as the quantity in the boiler is reduced to two gallons, it is drawn off in a pail for consumption, whilst another boilerful is being prepared. The knowledge that they have at their disposal as much good tea as they choose to drink during every minute of the day materially lessens their thirst. The cost of tea in my case is as follows:-- s. d. 7 ozs. of tea 1 0 4 lbs. of sugar 1 2 Skim milk about 0 2 ---- 2 4 or 8-1/2 gallons of tea, at 3-1/2_d._ per gallon. I had twenty-eight men and women employed in hay-making this year, and the consumption was,-- Gals. Generally, 2 boilers full per day 17 Occasionally, 2-1/2 " " 21-1/4 On one day, 3 " " 25-1/2 My calculation is, that they drink on the average two-thirds of a gallon each per day, at a cost of 2_d._ Thus I pay them, in lieu of beer, 8_d._ per day in money, and 2_d._ in tea, or 10_d._ in all. But if the change involved a much larger expenditure than the cost of the beer, employers would be amply remunerated in the better and larger amount of work done, the better disposition of their labourers, the decrease of pauperism, and the general well-being of the people."