462 A FARMER'S YEAR 



will be of no use on the land when they grow up." Another said he 

 did not know a man under 50 years of age who knew how to lay a 

 fence or underdrain. Another said that in his district (North-east 

 Norfolk) the first prize in a thatching competition was awarded to a 

 man 70 years of age.' 



In his report on the county of Suffolk published in 1895, the 

 Assistant Commissioner, Mr. Hugh Fox, on page 75 points out that 

 between 1871 and 1891 the number of male agricultural labourers in 

 the county has fallen from 40,751 to 36,202. In his report, published 

 in 1894, Mr. Hunter Pringle, the Assistant Commissioner for parts of 

 Lincolnshire and Essex, points out that between 1871 and 1891 there has 

 been a decrease of 17-2 per cent in the rural population. 



Now I will leave official records and come to those of a more private 

 character. To begin with, I may state that in my own neighbourhood 

 I am informed that in a single small parish 40 cottages are standing 

 empty. Next I quote from a letter written by a large estate agent in 

 Hertfordshire, in reply to queries made on my behalf. He says : 



' I do not know of any statistics as to the migration of labour from 

 Herts to London or elsewhere, but I believe it to be a fact that the 

 labour question is becoming very serious, and in order to induce men 

 to remain on the land, farmers have already raised their wages, in one 

 case 2s. a week and in others is., and I think that they will have to 

 make a still further rise ; and I fear that they will get very little, if 

 any, more work done. . . . There is a large well-to-do farmer in this 

 district who is giving up his holding this next Michaelmas, and he 

 assures me that the only reason for his doing so is the fact that he 

 cannot get labour. ... If any one attended our local markets at the 

 present time he would find that the " labour question is the chief topic 

 of conversation." ... I am afraid the true and serious facts of the 

 case are as follow : All the young men have or are quitting the land 

 for the Army, Navy, towns, railways, police and large nursery grounds 

 near London, leaving only the idle young men and those of weak 

 intellect (who are of no use anywhere), the middle-aged and old men, 

 to work the land, and as these die, or become incapacitated through 

 illness, there is no one to take their place, and, therefore, it is only a 

 matter of time and there will be a very few hands left for agricultural 

 work. I am afraid that nothing short of a very substantial rise in 

 wages will induce the young men to remain and work in the country, 

 but at present prices I do not see how the farmer can afford to meet 

 this extra call on his expenses. I fear that there is a good deal of 



