28 



of a very small farm labours if he has insufficient 

 capital. 



Imjirortmrnt Potxiblt or> ; I'rmmt MI tlmilx <>/ t'liim 

 iny on mott Farms A good deal has been said 

 in the foregoing remarks in regard to th<> 

 superior methods of farming in most of the cases 

 cited. There are few farms, however, on which 

 further improvements to increase productiveness 

 could not still be made; and it is greatly to tho 

 credit of fanners in general that, in most l 

 the cues which hare come under review, the 

 farmers, as they recovered and increased their 

 capital and became financially more independent 

 than has been the case with them for very many 

 years past, have turned their attention to making 

 such improvement*. 



F. L. WALLACE. 

 Investigator to the Agricultural Wages Board. 



38th November, 1918. 



rSteiMIMif " A " show actual ascertained results upon 

 54 farms. They also show what would have been 

 the 1914 results if the wages paid to the 1914 

 staffs had been upon the official 1918 scales. 



In several counties, notably in the Border 

 Counties, the wages actually paid in 1918, and in 

 many cases in 1917, were above the official mini- 

 mum wages. 



In the event of prices for farm produce falling 

 to nearer the 1914 level than the present-day 

 level, and if wages, which are a chief item among 

 farming costs, do not fall in proportion, it is 

 useful to see to what extent pre-war as well as the 

 latest ascertained profits would have been affected 

 if the present (May, 1919) wages had been paid 

 in the respective years to the staffs actually em- 

 ployed in these years. 



Statement! " B " show this upon 46 farms out of the 

 above 54 farm*.* 



C " showh tlu> difference in percentages 

 between the ascertained profits and what the 

 profits would havo been if the same staffs had 

 been paid the latest wages. 



h-ment " D " shows in percentages the actual 

 ascertained increases in capital during tho war 

 years on the 36 farms. It is important to 

 differentiate between profit as shown by n balance 

 sheet which includes, of course, increase in 

 capital as well as cash profit and actual cash 

 profit. 



^tnii i'n nl K " gives the total proportion of arable 

 land, taking all the 54 farms dealt with together. 



Stnlt-inent " F gives the number of men per 100 

 acres employed on the 36 farms. 



The detailed statements from which the above- 

 mentioned summaries are compiled are appended.* 

 Except where otherwise 'especially mentioned, 

 these statements were made by myself, and were 

 based on figures extracted from the farmers' books 

 by myself, with the farmers' assistance, and if the 

 necessary clerical assistance and the time had 

 been available actual balance sheets would umn- 

 frequently have been submitted. In a few coses, 

 chiefly among the smaller men. the i/w iliril <>f 

 the farmers had to be accepted, but not before I 

 had satisfied myself by investigation and cross- 

 examination that the farmers' statements were 

 approximately correct. A good many more state- 

 ments of account could have been submitted if tin- 

 pre-war bank pa&s book could have been analysed ; 

 but, unfortunately, in too many cases the pre-war 

 balances were mixed up inextricably between 

 business and private transactions. 



* Not reprinted in this Appendix. 



"A." ACTUAL ASCERTAINED RESULTS. 

 TABLE No. 1. "A." SERIES I. OXON, BUCKS. NORTHANTS. 



