lead, in consequence of a quantity of the metal being melted and poured in between the stones when they are worn by the friction, to repair the trough of the mill. The smallest quantity of lead in the cider, if constantly drank, will produce colic, but a moderate quantity, occasionally, does not produce any perceptible effect. The perry produced in this neighbourhood, is of much finer quality than the cider, but it requires great care in the fermentation. The cider and perry which are sold by the merchants, are, generally, a mixture of the produce of different years, managed according to the nature of the different kinds produced.
Leases of farms are not generally granted for a longer term than seven years.
With the exception of the parish of Hartlebury, which is copyhold under the See of Worcester, the land is generally freehold. The poor-rates are moderate, and no part of the labourers' wages is paid from the poor-rate, and the tithes are rarely taken in kind.
Diseases, &c.
Formerly epidemic diseases were particularly severe in this parish; during the first part of the last century, typhus fever and small-pox were so fatal, that the farmers were deterred from going to Kidderminster market for fear of the contagion, and so recently as from thirty to forty years since, typhus was frequently epidemic in the neighbouring villages. In the memory of some persons now alive, intermittent were so general that, in the spring and autumn, labourers could not be got to do the necessary
