For the most part, Chapter 6 describes daily life at the Hall Farm. The house itself is an old manor converted into a farmhouse in which Mr. and Mrs. Poyser, their three children, Mr. Poyser's niece Hetty Sorrel, and a couple of domestic servants live. It is the best run farm on the estate; Mr. Poyser is a very good farmer and Mrs. Poyser an excellent housewife and dairy manager.
The scene is busy as Arthur and the rector ride toward the farm; there is a conference going on in the barn, and Mrs. Poyser is indulging in her favorite occupation, scolding one of the maids. Mrs. Poyser's three-year-old daughter Totty, her mother's adored favorite, is playing, and Dinah, who is Mrs. Poyser's niece, is mending the household linen. Mrs. Poyser indicates that though she loves Dinah, she considers her hopelessly impractical, a religious dreamer. Arthur and Mr. Irwine arrive, and Mr. Irwine talks to Dinah while Mrs. Poyser complains to Arthur about the condition of the farm; Arthur's grandfather, Squire Donnithorne, is a stingy landlord and will not pay for improvements on his tenants' places.
Arthur asks to see the dairy and Mrs. Poyser leads him in. Hetty Sorrel, "a distractingly pretty girl of seventeen," is making butter; Arthur had noticed her beauty before and, indeed, had wanted to visit the dairy primarily to get an opportunity to talk with her. He flatters the girl, asking for two dances with her at the ball celebrating his coming of age. Hetty is overwhelmed by the rich gentleman's attentions. Arthur, who is kind to all his tenants and is justifiably popular among them, gives a present to the child Totty and then goes in search of Mr. Irwine.
