252 ON MEASURE-WORK. 



4. Clorcr and other seeds. — The price paid for cobbing 

 (separating" the seed from the straw) and drawing- the seed 

 of red and white clover is from 3.?. M. to 4«. Qd. the bushel 

 of 5 stone of seed. Drawing- seed by the flail is a tedious 

 and expensive process, and is much better performed by 

 mills constructed on purpose for the work. From \s. to 

 Is. 4:d. is paid per quarter for cobbing- trefoil ; the drawing- is 

 usually done by mills. 



V. Task-worh performed hy various Mnds of measurement. 



1. Trussing hay for the London market is chiefly done by 

 men who make a business of it, and by practice become 

 exceedingly expert. In Hertfordshire the price for trussing 

 and weighing- ready for market is 1^. a truss ; a good hand, 

 with the assistance of a boy, will in summer make 100 

 trusses in a long- day. In Suffolk the hay-trusser is neither 

 so skilful nor so well remunerated ; the charge for trussing 

 is about \d. a truss, or from Is. Gd. to 2*'. a ton. 



2. Piehhig stones is paid for by the load of 20 bushels, 

 at about \0d. a load. A woman will generally manage to 

 pick a load in a day. 



3. Riving wood is done by the stack, at 3.?. 6^/. for long- 

 lengths suited for kiln burning, and at 5s. for short 

 lengths. 



4. Shearing sheep is done by men who form themselves 

 into a company, and engage to shear the sheep belonging to 

 the surroimding flock-masters. The following are the prices 

 for Down and Leicester sheep : — ewes, 3-*;. 6d. a score, of 

 which one man will on an average shear twenty-five in a 

 day of 12 hours' labour; hoggets or yearlings, 4.s. 6d., of 

 which a man will shear twenty ; large fat sheep and rams, 

 5s. a score. Sometimes the employer agrees to board the 

 shearers ; he then pays 3-*;. a score for hoggets, and 2x. for 

 ewes, 



5. In hiring shepherds an agreement is sometimes entered 

 into, by which they receive, in addition to their weekly 

 wages of 10.S. to 126'., about (jd. for each lamb brought up, 

 and out of this money to be received pay 9c/. for every sheep 

 that dies. 



6. There are other kinds of agricultural labour which ad- 

 mit of being paid for by measure-work, which have not been 

 mentioned; among- these are burning lime, cutting- chafl", 

 planting cabbages and potatoes; taking- iip potatoes: the 



