THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



, xtent, and in the best possible manner. The whole of the 

 work, as far as possible, is done by the piece. The prices 

 are regulated by the value of day labour in the district, and 

 by the nature of the ground. The drains average 4 ft. to 

 4i ft. In good free soils this work is done at from Bd. to 

 Sd. per pole, and the men will earn 13s., 14s., and los. a- 

 week. The land belonghig to the Duke, in the northern 

 part of the county, is of a much stifler nature — a blue clay, 

 mixed with chalk stones and gravel. Here the draining 

 costs from 9d. to Is. per pole. The men expect to earn 

 more money, as it costs them more for tools. They earn 

 from 2s. 6d. to 2s. 8d. per day, and this in the winter 

 months. The men are allowed to draw the usual day's 

 pay of the neighbourhood, and are generally settled witli 

 once a month. The gentleman to whom I am indebted 

 for this information, and whose opinion is worth having, 

 tlius closes his letter; " If a man works honestly and fairly, 

 I think he is well entitled to the 6d. oi' 8d. a-day more than 

 tlie ordinary day's wages ; and if he has 2s. 6d. or 3s. per 

 week clear after paying for his tools, it is a great help to 

 the labourer, and costs the employer no more, and perhaps 

 less, tlian if done by the day." On the estate of the late 

 Earl de Grey, now Lady Cowper's, under the very able 

 management of our friend I\Ir. Ti-ethewy, a great deal of 

 draining has also been carried out. Mr. Trethewy has 

 favoured us with the prices, and he states: " For draining 

 I give from 5d. to 9d. per pole, for 4 ft. work, and provide 

 a man to lay the pipes. I pay the latter by the day, and 

 give him the control of the work, after it is set out. For 3 

 feet deep I give about 4d. per pole, with a foreman, as in 

 the other case ; main drains from 9d. to Is. per pole, ac- 

 cording to circumstances. For planting new quick, form- 

 ing table atad ditch with single row of quick, and fencing, 

 OS. per chain; with double row of fencing, Is. more; for 

 laying fences, 6d. to 8d. per pole, according to ditch, &c. ; 

 trimming or ' swabbing ' quick fences, when kept under 

 tlio hook, Id, per pole." From Norfolk I have been fa- 

 voured witli letters from Mr. Hudson, of Castle Acre ; Mr. 

 Clare SeweU Read, of Plumstead; and one other gentle- 

 man, in another jsart of the county. Mr. Hudson says : 

 " There is not so much piece work done on the farms in 

 this district as in former times ; but we prefer that system 

 when the men will take the woi'k. The drilling is done by 

 the acre. The man who leads the horse, and the man who 

 guides the drill, are paid each 3d. an acre, if the work is 

 done well ; they earn about 3s. a-day each. Fencing is 

 paid for by the rod of 7 yards, at from 9d. to Is. a rod. The 

 manure is filled by the load, at l^d. per load; manure 

 heaps turned over at Id. per load. Turnips are hoed out 

 at 2s. per acre, and singled by hand at Is. 6d., and hoed 

 round each plant at 3s. an acre, besides being horse-hoed 

 three or four timBs between the ridges. Clover is mown 

 at from 2s. to 3s. 6d. and 4s. an acre. The harvest work is 

 taken by the men on the farm, who cut the barley and oats, 

 and pitch, load, and stack the whole of the crop, including 

 wheat, at from ^£0 to £6 10s. per man, the wheat being cut 

 by machines, and tied up by women, at from 2s. 6d. to 3s. 

 an acre, according to crop. Eix's gathering rake is of great 

 use in getting the wheat into sheaves, ready to tie up. Bai-- 

 ley is gathered and heaped at 6d. an acre. In the autumn 

 the swedes are placed in rows of from sis to eight drills 

 together, at 2s. 6d. an acre. If topped and tailed, and 

 loaded on carts, or heaped ready to cover up, 4s. an acre. 

 Stones are gathered from the clover layers, and 2^ut at once 

 on carts, instead of being laid on the ground in heaps, at 

 Is. per load of 24 bushels. Hay stacks are thatched at 4d. 

 a yard run at the eaves ; corn stacks, at 5d. per yard run. 



Thrashing is done by steam power, the di'essing by hand ; 

 The men earn from 1 Is. to 1.5s. a-week." Mr. C. S. Read 

 writes : " Piece work is not so common as formerly, because 

 it cannot be done so cheaply as it could a few years ago. 

 Not only do farmers pay more for mowing, lioeing, &c., 

 but the rate of wages is quite a shilling a-week higher 

 than it was ten years ago. Draining, ditching, and the like, 

 are generally piece work ; also, muck-filling and spreading- 

 in one way or anotlier. Harvest is invariably managed as 

 follows : a certain number of men and boys are hired, and 

 they get in the harvest: the harder they work, the sooner 

 it is done, and of course the more they earn. Wages have 

 been £6 for an able-bodied man lately, and the harvest 

 averages under a montli, being often ended in thi'ee weeks ; 

 but this year it was nearly five. Where reaping machines 

 are extensively used, I think an alteration may take place 

 in the mode of harvesting the corn. On some farms, already 

 tlie men are paid per acre for tying and carting the grain ; 

 and many farmers, to popularise the machines, have hired 

 their usual staft' for harvest, and given the men the use 

 of the machine. The harvest costs from 10s. to 14s. an 

 acre, including everything." In reply to my inquiry 

 about the letting of ploughing in Norfolk, Mr. Read adds : 

 " Very little ploughing is done by the piece, certainly not 

 with liorses ; but many farmers put out ploughing to tlieir 

 bulloclc men, the bullocks being changed four times a day, 

 and four bullocks being allotted to a plough, the price 

 varying from Is. 2d. to Is. 8d. per acre, the depth and 

 stitfness of the land, of course, regulating the price. I am 

 in favour of well-paid piece work, and a comparatively low 

 price for daily labour; if your day's pay is high, the men do 

 not like to take piece work, and having piece work is the only 

 vv^ay we can make the proper difi"erence between the good 

 and iudiflerent labourei-." In East Norfolk, the farms 

 being smaller than in the west, there is not so mucli piece 

 work done ; but where carried out, it is at about the same 

 prices as stated in the foregoing letters. It appears that 

 not so much work is let as formerly in Norfolk. I have 

 no doubt it is for very good and sulficient reasons. I have 

 received a number of other lists of prices paid in several 

 counties for the various descriptions of farm work. I shall 

 not burden the Club with a detail ; but I thought the 

 opportunity a favourable one for collecting such informa. 

 tion ; and, as it will appear in the Journal of the Club, an 

 opportunity will be aftbrded to those who feel interested to 

 compare the prices they pay with those paid in other dis- 

 tricts. The letters I have received are full of valuable 

 matter, but I purpose giving only such parts as appear to 

 me to bear directly on the subject of my paper. From 

 Lincolnshire I have been favoured with communications 

 from Mr. F. Sowerby, of Aylesby, near Grimsby; Mr. 

 Dring, of Claxby, near Spilsby ; and Mr. John Algernon 

 Clarke, of Long Sutton (all names well known throughout 

 Lincolnshire). Mr. Sowerby's is rather a long letter, but 

 it contains a great deal of information. I will condense it 

 as much as possible. He states: " I am quite in favour of 

 having work done by the piece where practicable. For the 

 last few years I have let my manure to fill at l^d. per one- 

 horse cart-load ; mowing seeds at about 2s. 6d., grass at 

 3s. per acre ; swede turnip and wurzel hoeing at 7s. per 

 acre twice over, and every subsequent time, if necessary, 

 Is. per acre extra; hoeing white turnips 6s., twice over — I 

 believe this is rather a higher price than is generally given 

 for hoeing, but I hold it is poor economy to give a low 

 price. Harvest work is always done by the piece, that is, 

 cutting and making ready for the waggons ; we reap very 

 little in this part of Lincolnshire, nor do we use many 



