CHAPTER VIII. 



THE FARM LABORER. 



HIKING, WAGES, RATIONS, AND THE MASTERS AND SERVANT'S ACT. 



The really capable farm laborer is not easy to procure in this 

 colony. The attractions offered by the goldfields are greater than 

 those of the farm, and the consequence is that most of the labor 

 that by right of training belongs to the rural districts, finds its way 

 to the fields. The -wages paid on the fields are higher than those 

 the farmer can afford to offer, though when the extra cost of living 

 is taken into consideration, the increase is more apparent than real. 

 The majority of men who are now working on the farms is made 

 up chiefly of those who have been to the goldfields and have come 

 back sadder and wiser, or of those who have not been through this 

 experience, and are working in the rural districts until they can save 

 enough money to take them eastward. The average colonial farm 

 laborer is undoubtedly below the average of his English compeer ; 

 and there is an opening for a good class of farm hand. The farm 

 laborer of the present day is not the Hodge of a century ago. 

 Agronomic science has developed, and in a lesser ratio he has 

 developed \vith it. The man \vith brains in the colonies finds so 

 many avenues of more congenial employment open to him, that he 

 is seldom found drudging on a farm as a laborer. If he is, it is 

 from causes which need not be mentioned. Again, the land laws of 

 the colony are so liberal that anyone who has an inclination to 

 follow rural pursuits may become the owner of his own farm. 



Farm hands are usually hired by the month, and the rate'of 

 pay varies from ^3 to ^5, with board and lodging, the lower rate 

 being for the laborer pure and simple, and the higher for the team- 

 sters and ploughmen. It costs about IDS. per week to keep a man. 

 The usual bare ration is 10 Ibs. flour, 12 Ibs. meat, 2 Ibs. sugar, and 

 J Ib. tea per man per week. Butter or jam are frequently added. 



There is a labor branch in connection with the Bureau of 

 Agriculture, and farmers requiring hands, or men requiring work in 

 the country, can register their names at the offices of the Bureau. 



The following extracts from the " Masters and Servant's Act, 

 1892," are of interest to both the employers of labor and the 

 employed : 



