12 JUNE 1920, Page 24

Grain and Chaff from an English Manor. By Arthur H.

Savory. (Oxford : Blackwell. 21s. net.)—In this charming book Mr. Savory sets down his reminiscences of a farmer's life at Aldington in the Vale of Evesham. It is a village chronicle of a most attractive kind. The author tells us about his farm ser- vants, the vicars, the school, the village institutions, the ways of cattle dealers, the rearing of animals, orchards, trees, the weather, the birds and the dialect, building up a complete picture of a farmer's life. Mr. Savory seems to be a tolerant man with a keen sense of humour, so that the many cares and worries that beset a fanner have left him unruffled. His remarks on labourers' wages are worth noting. " Throughout the whole of my time fifteen shillings a week was the recognized pay for six full summer days—' a very little to receive but a good deal to pay away,' as a neighbour once said." Mr. Savory points out that fixed wages or prices for piece-work will be hard to maintain because the conditions vary widely, even between one field and another. His labourers had a saying, " Go to a good farmer for wheat- hoeing and to a bad one for harvesting "—as the good farmer had few weeds to hoe, while the bad farmer had a light crop to cut.