A man working with two horses on a farm in Kintyre harrowing the fields prior to sowing in the Springtime. Harrowing helped to break up the clods and prepare a good seed bed. Clydesdales were the main breed of working horse. Farm labouring was hard work. The men were up well before dawn and 'yoked'. They first had to feed and groom their 'pair o'horse' before breakfast, which was generally brose. They worked on till dark apart from a stop for lunch around 11.30 in the morning, when they had brose. At 'lousing time' around 6.00 at night they had to feed and groom the horses before they went home to have brose again. The size of a farm was counted on the number of pairs of horses worked, with a man to a pair.
Click to enlarge the image, read the text then answer the following questions.
Questions
- Why was the ground harrowed?
- What was the main breed of horse used on farms?
- What did their diet consist of?
- Complete the sentences :-
- 'Yoking time' was when the farm labourers .....................
- 'Lousing time' was when the farm labourers .....................
- How was the size of a farm calculated at one time?