AGRICULTURE AXD THE WAR 89 



Wcif Office Circular, 4 October 1916. ~ In the circular sent out by the 

 Army Council on 4 October igi6 it had been decided that, subject 

 to certain conditions, "no more men from amongst those now employed 

 in agriculture will until January ist, 1917, and in the case of men whose 

 whole time employment on a holding is necessary for maintaining milk pro- 

 duction, till the 1st of April 1917, be called to the colours, except in return 

 for men released from the colours for work in agriculture ". This was so 

 much gained, and so much time in hand wliich was valuable time for hus- 

 bandry. For every acre of wheat sown in the spring in the country as a 

 whole, fifteen acres were sown in the winter. The ploughman was indeed 

 as necessary after as before i January, but wherever it could be shown that 

 he was necessary and within the scale for the cultivation of the land the Board 

 was anxious that he should be retained. 



War Office Census. — The War Office was going to take a census of male 

 and female workers employed on agricultural holdings ; and the returns 

 were to be received about 15 November. The object was to enable the 

 military authorities to survey the whole position of agricultural labour and 

 ascertain whether the available labour were sufficient, excessive or defi- 

 cient. It was the speaker's impression that the census would show that not 

 only were few men emplo3'ed over the so-called I^abour Scale but that also 

 in many districts the number of men employed was well below that scale. 

 It was not and never had been a fixed, rigid rule. It was intended to serve 

 as a general guide to the authorities, not necessarily • versed in agriculture 

 at all, as to what labour should be property left upon the farms in order to 

 ensure a reasonable scale of cultivation. 



The Labour Scale. — A question had been asked as to whether the La- 

 bour Scale were permanent. Nothing in time of war could be said to be 

 permanent, but the Labour Scale would not be altered unless the military 

 situation demanded its alteration. Its terms were set out in full in the 

 circular lately issued by the War Office on the subject. In the official book 

 on registration and recruiting issued by the War Office to their officers 

 the Labour Scale was also set out, and was preceded by this announcement : 

 The necessity of ]?rocuring food, if possible in excess of the usual 

 production, should be appreciated by all recruiting officers and military 

 representatives ". Elsewhere it was said : " The military representatives 

 are specially enjoined to watch the Hst of certified occupations, and to carry 

 out the spirit of the instructions laid down by the various departments con- 

 cerned ". In the same way the Local Government Board had said in their 

 recent communication to the tribunals: " Particular attention should be 

 paid to the official list of certified occupations, which states the classes or 

 bodies of men engaged in agriculture whose work has been certified after 

 consultation with the Army Council as being of national importance ". The 

 Labour Scale was a rough and ready guide but it represented the minimum 

 amount of labour necessary- for proper husbandry in time of war. The War 

 Office could not give i guarantee that the Labour Scale would be maintain- 

 ed intact, but the quotations from their own circulars showed that, they 

 understood how necessary the Labour Scale of employment on that stan- 



