354 ON MEASURE-WORK. 



s. d. s. d. 

 Picking down and turning over compost- 



heajjs 2 score loads. 



Thrashing wheat 2 6 3 Oa quarter. 



barley 1 6 2 „ 



,, oats 1 1 4 ,, 



,, beans and peas 1 1 6 ,, 



Trussing hay 1 6 2 Oa ton. 



Picking stones 10 1 Oa load. 



Riving wood .3 6 5 a stack. 



Shearing sheep — ewes 3 6 a score. 



Ditto hoggets 4 6 ,, 



Ditto fat sheep and rams 5 ,, 



JVofe hy Lord Port man. 



There are two points in tlie ordinary nianag-ement of task- 

 work which require, I think, some further consideration : I 

 mean the practice of leaving- the price of ajoh to he fixed at 

 its conckision, and of drenching" tlie men with Hquor to 

 superinduce undue exertion. I have fotuid that measure- 

 work, if it he well reg'ulated, is an admirahle system ; hut 

 that the greatest evil results from a delay in fixing- the price 

 of the job. I am aware that it is often impossible for the 

 master or the man to make a bargain until one day of trial 

 has been fairly made ; and I am aware that sometimes acci- 

 dental circumstances are developed during- the progress of 

 the work which may render the best considered bargains 

 unfair, and therefore not to be insisted upon ; but as a 

 general nde, the price should be fixed before the work is 

 begtm, for any measure-work, in which both parties have 

 had sufficient experience to guide them ; and on the second 

 day after it is begun, when either party requires a trial to 

 giiide him in fixing- the price. The questions for the master 

 to determine are — What is the job worth to me ? — What 

 will it cost me at day-work? — What additional cost is it 

 worth if it is finished in a shorter time than men at day- 

 work will complete it in ? The questions for the labourer 

 are — How much can I earn in a day at day-work ? — How 

 much at this job, with my usual exertion ? — How much can 

 I better my income by some extra time, and some greater 

 exertion, if I take this job ? 



Turnip-hoeing, reaping, mowing, thrashing, turning ma- 

 nure-heaps, Ac, admit of some standard of value on every 

 farm ; but each job requires to be viewed before the actual 

 price is fixed to regulate any variation from the standard 

 that accidents in each year may create. Moving earth. 



