OiV MEASURE-WORK. • 243 



a good deal above day-wages ; the usual price is from ^6s. 

 to 30^. per acre. Cutting furze, should any grow on the 

 land, is an extra charge ; some men are able to pare a quarter 

 of an acre in a day ; but there is a great difference in the 

 quantity done in a given time. 



11. Plouf/lunri and other Jahour done Inj the aid of horses 

 or o,ren. — In some places, this description of work is paid 

 for by the acre, more particularly where oxen are used. In 

 Noi'folk, the ])loughing is sometimes done at the rate of 

 lid. or lod. per acre : the ploughman works two pairs of 

 oxen; by keeping at it all day, he is able to get over nearly 

 two acres. However, I think the paying for ploughing, 

 harrowing, or any other team-work, with the farmer's own 

 cattle, is inferior to the usual practice of hiring ploughmen 

 by the year, or paying- them by the day ; for, in general, the 

 greater numl^er of labourers who Avork with the teams are 

 young men, who, if they were employed by the piece, would 

 have too much inducement to slight their labour, and over- 

 work their cattle. Besides which, the labour of the teams 

 is constantly changing from one kind of work to another ; 

 this arises from the uncertainty of the weather, as well as 

 from other causes, and there would consequently be much 

 difficulty in keeping a correct account of the labour. Plough- 

 ing is occasionally done by the jobbing- farmer at from 7s. 

 to 8.s\ an acre ; this includes a pair of horses, plough, and 

 man. 



Drill-workers are men who gain a living by letting out 

 drills to the farmers, at a certain price per acre, or by the 

 day's work ; the charge for a corn-drill, with a man to follow, 

 is from 12^/. to Ibd. an acre ; for a corn-drill or seed and 

 manure-drill, 18d. an acre is the usual charge. 



12. D/f/ffinr/ and Trencldng. — Digging one spit deep 

 (from 9 to 12 inches) usually costs '2d. or 2^r/. the square 

 rod ; the quantity dug will vary with the nature of the soil, 

 from 8 to 12 rods in a day. In 1835, when day-wages 

 were but IQd., it took four men eight days to dig, in a 

 workmanlike manner, 2 acres of a clayey loam — each 

 man's work averaged 10 rods a day ; they were paid 2^/. 

 a rod. 



Trenching- two spits, or 18 inches deep, and loosening the 

 bottom ol the trench, costs about Qd. the rod ; a man will, on 

 an average, trench 4 rods in a day. 



Digging-in seed turnips : for small roots the ground does 

 not require diii'ging verv deep ; for laving in and covering- 



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