15 
* 
men, so I have included board in the within estimate, except the price of thres 
ing wheat and oats, which would double if board is to be included.” 
Summit, Mississippi — As in this State all agricultural pursuits are subor- 
dinate to the cultivation of cotton, but few of the questions are applicable to 
the system of agriculture in the cotton region. The planter regulates the area 
of land planted by the labor he can command for the whole year, and it is onl 
. in a wet spring or a productive season that extra labor is wanted. Should the 
spring be wet the cotton cannot be worked, and the grass will get such hold 
that extra labor is required or a portion of the crop has to be abandoned. In 
productive seasons it is often necessary to employ extra labor to pick the cotton. 
Except in one or the other of these contingencies, extra labor is rarely employed 
on a cotton farm. During the past season the cotton farms were worked but 
upon two principles: One to hire labor, and the prices then assimilated to those 
appended to the questions; the other to give the laborer a share of the crop. 
The apportionment of the laborer’s interest depended much on his ability to 
labor, and the size of his family. Generally, where the landed proprietor fur- 
nishes the working stock and the plantation tools, and the laborer supports 
himself and family, they are equal partnerg in the crop. Where the proprietor 
furnishes the above and supports the laborer, the laborer gets from one-quarter 
to one-sixth of the crop, depending on his fimily. The experience of the last 
year is, that the freedman works well for a few months, but becomes restless 
and desires to change, and this season many have abandoned half a year’s work 
and gone off without saying a word. I think there is a growing disposition on 
the part of freedmen to work on shares, and a large number of planters have © 
abandoned the idea of working their places with hired labor, and will rent their 
places out. My own experience is, that the only way to benefit the freedman 
and make his labor available is to make him rely upon himself for his support.” 
Madison county, Virginia—“In some instances it has been found difticult 
to ascertain the true cost of labor, owing to the diversity of contracts entered 
into with colored liborers; for instance, a man with a wife and three or four 
children, boarded and clothed, receives no additional pay, while others, with 
families of same size, would command, without clothes, from thirty dollars to 
sixty dollars per annum. It is believed, from present indications, that for the 
ensuing year but few, if any, colored laborers will enter into any sort of contract 
for a year, evincing a total aversion to regular work. Many of them are now, 
busily engaged in building shanties, with a view to setting up for themselves, 
without'a dollar to begin. In my estimate of cost for cutting, curing, and stack- 
ing hay the aid of machinery has not been taken into account; in sheiling corn, 
however, ‘it has been.’’ 
Union county, South Carolina —* All laborers are included, from the best to 
those who are only able to earn their rations and clothing. Negroes constitute 
about nineteen-twentieths of the hired laber of the county.” 
— 
COMPARISON WITH EUROPEAN LABOR. 
The rates of labor in Europe are much less than in this country. Elaborate 
calculations by Professor Leone Levi make the total earnings of the laboring 
classes of Great Britain $2,091,500,000 in all industries; in agriculture, 
. $375,000,000. The average income of a working man in England is $5 62 
per week; in Scotland, $5 12; and in Ireland, $3 58. 
The agricultural laborer receives scarcely two-thirds as much as the general 
average. Mr. Levi does not give the average rate, but it can be readily approxi- 
mated. In England $1 75 to $2 per week may be considered the lowest rate, 
while few farm laborers obtain more than $4 or $4 50. The former rate, with 
the bonus of ‘a little cider,” is common in Devonshire; in South Shropshire, 
$2 75, with additions equal to seventy-five cenfs more, or $3 50 it all; in Dor- 
