ABSTRACT
There are no tenant farmers in Westrigg. Of the fourteen farms ten are occupied by the owner, while four are' led', i.e. the owner resides elsewhere and the farm is in the charge of a manager. Sizes are as follows:
The number of permanent employees per farm varies from eleven to one. Most of the farmers say they could employ more than they have and at periods of heavy work or in the course of improvement projects such as large-scale drain digging it is normal to hire extra casual labour. The main income is from sheep: several farmers have a secondary income from fattening hill cattle and from time to time a farmer may sell a small surplus crop of some kind. Formerly the farmer's wife made an income from eggs, from which she was expected to buy the groceries for the family. Some of the wives still make a small income in this way though whether it is spent on family groceries is doubtful. The techniques and implements used are in general use throughout the country and present no distinctive features: all the farms in varying degrees use tractors, trucks, modern threshing machines, etc.
