s. d.

20 miles from London they were per week      10   9
From 20 to 60       "       "       "              7   8
"   60 to 110      "       "       "              6   4
"  110 to 170      "       "       "              6   3

Giving an average of 7s. 9d. which, however, was often exceeded as there was much piece-work which enabled the men to earn more.

Young drew up a dietary for a labourer, his wife, and a family of three children, which he declared to be sufficient:—­

L s. d.

Food, 6s. per week[466]; per year 15 12 0
Rent 1 10 0
Clothes 2 10 0
Soap and candles 1 5 0
Loss of time through illness, and medicine 1 0 0
Fuel 2 0 0
----------
L23 17 0
==========

L s. d.

The man’s wages were, @ 1s. 3d. a day, for the year 19 10 0
The woman’s, @ 3-3/4d. a day, for the year 4 17 6
The boy of fifteen could earn 9 0 0
The boy of ten could earn 4 7 6
----------
L37 15 0
==========

Which would give the family a surplus of L13 18s. 0d. a year.

What the man’s food should consist of is shown by a list of ’seven days’ messes for a stout man’:—­

s. d.

1st day.  2 lb. of bread made of wheat, rye, and
potatoes—­’no bread exceeds it’                 2
Cheese, 2 oz. @ 4d. a lb                            1/2
Beer, 2 quarts                                    1
2nd day.   Three messes of soup                              2
3rd day.   Rice pudding                                      2-1/2
4th day.  1/4 lb. of fat meat and potatoes baked together   2-3/4
Beer                                              1
5th day.   Rice milk                                         2
6th day.   Same as first day                                 3-1/2
7th day.   Potatoes, fat meat, cheese, and beer              4
---------
1   9-1/4
=========

As Young was a man of large practical experience we may assume that this, though it seems a very insufficient diet, was not unlike the food of some labourers at that date.  However, the bread he recommends was not that eaten by a large number of them.  Eden[467] states that in 1764 about half the people of England were estimated to be using wheaten bread, and at the end of the century, although prices had risen greatly, he says that in the Home Counties wheaten bread was universal among the peasant class.  Young, indeed, acknowledges that many insisted on wheaten bread.[468] In Suffolk, according to Cullum,[469] pork and bacon were the labourer’s delicacies, bread and cheese his ordinary diet.