ON MEASURE-WORK. S39 



On a farm of 240 acres of arable land, cultivated on the 

 Norfolk rotation, six crop-men are sufficient. The following- 

 is a roug-h calculation of the work performed by each man, 

 and the cost per acre : — 



£ s. 



Cutting (mowing) 8 acres of wheat, at 7a' 2 16 



Mowing 10 acres of barley, at 2* 1 



Pitching and loading 10 acres of wheat, at Is 10 



,, ,, 10 acres of barley, at 1*. 6d 15 



Turning barley 3 



Twice hoeing 1 acre of turnips, at 6s 6 



£5 10 



Where beans are grown, the cost of cutting and tying is 

 about 6s. ; the cost of making peas is from 4.<f. to 5.s\ an 

 acre. 



6. Hoeing the many crops that are benefited by the free 

 use of the hoe, offers frequent opportunity for the employ- 

 ment of the labourer by measure-work. Turnip-hoeing will 

 first come under our notice. The average price we pay for 

 the first hoeing, or singling out drilled turnips, is 3.*;. per 

 acre ; that of the second hoeing, 2-^. 6d. : but when the seed 

 is broadcast, or the distance from drill to drill but small, the 

 cost of singling out will be more. Though turnips planted 

 on the ridge-system are at a greater distance than those 

 drilled on the flat, yet we find, from the necessity there is 

 of pulling the ridges down with the hoe, that the cost is 

 quite as much. In hoeing between the drills of turnips, 

 when the land is soft, the Dutch or thrust hoe may be used, 

 at a cost of about Is. 6d. per acre, where the distance be- 

 tween the drills is 18 inches. Turnip-hoeing is best done 

 by men accustomed to the work, with whom a bargain is 

 made from the completion of the work in a proper manner ; 

 the first and second (and third, if wanted) may be done on 

 our land by the same party, at a cost of from 56*. to 6s. an 

 acre. 



Beet-hoeing is paid at about the same rate as hoeing 

 turnips, viz., from 5^. to 6s. an acre, for twice going over : 

 a third hoeing is often required, at a cost of 2s. 6d. an acre. 

 More than half an acre of the first hoeing or singling of 

 turnips and beet is generally performed by a man in a day 

 of ten hours and a half; though, as the labour is not very 

 severe, women and men unable to do hard work are fre- 

 quently employed. The turnip-hoer may derive much assis- 



