COUNTRY VARIATIONS 49 



particular counties the rates are lower and 

 also higher than the averages. For instance, 

 in Oxfordshire the rate is 14s. iid. ; in 

 Norfolk, 15s. 4d. ; and in Suffolk, 15s. gd. 

 in the Board of Trade's return. On the other 

 hand, the figure for Derbyshire is 20s. 5d. ; 

 for Middlesex, 20s. 3d. ; and for the West 

 Riding 20s. It must also be remembered that 

 all these are averages, and that individual 

 labourers earn both less and more. Wages 

 are noticeably high in the principal mining 

 counties, namely-^Durham, Derbyshire, 

 Northumberland, Lancashire, the West 

 Riding of Yorkshire, Glamorganshire in 

 Wales, and Lanarkshire in Scotland. This 

 has suggested the explanation that the local 

 competition of mining and other industries is 

 the cause of the higher rates. But it by no 

 means accounts for all cases, and another 

 factor deserving of attention is the relative 

 proportions of arable and pasture land. Where 

 the latter predominates the wages paid per 

 man are higher, but fewer are employed and 

 the wages paid per acre are lower. This has 

 an important bearing on the question of 

 raising wages, to which reference is made 

 further on. In all parts the wages paid to 

 men in charge of animals are higher than 

 those in the table, which refer to the lowest- 

 paid class of permanently-employed men. 



