DEPOPULATION OF RURAL ENGLAND 3S3 



The present writer has recently received a letter 

 from a farmer friend — a good cultivator and a liberal 

 employer — which dwells on the serious difficulty 

 farmers generally are in for want of these skilled men. 

 The letter states: "We cannot get labour enough, 

 and it is not efficient what we do get." He sends 

 a newspaper ("Stamford Mercury") which contains 

 eighty-three advertisements for waggoners, cowmen, 

 shepherds, labourers with good knowledge of farm 

 work, etc. Increased wages are offered, with cottages, 

 gardens, and other perquisites.^ 



The fact is, this class no longer exists in the country 

 districts in sufficient numbers, though they are to be 

 found in thousands in our towns and other industrial 

 centres. No mere wages, that the farmer can at 

 present afford to pay, will bring them back. These 

 country-bred men, on account of their special quali- 

 ties, generally get employment in towns if there is 

 any to be had, and begin to earn wages which they 

 regard as good when compared with what they had 

 been previously earning on the land. In spite of 

 their reputed dullness, they show a great aptitude in 

 adapting themselves to new conditions. They are 

 tractable, towardly, strong, and industrious — and, 

 generally, they demean themselves well. They almost 

 invariably "get on," and many of them become 

 thriving men and important citizens.^ 



1 In a Suffolk paper—" The Lowestoft Journal"— 23 September, 1905, 

 there were advertisements for 112 farm labourers — horsemen, shepherds, 

 milkmen, ploughmen, stockmen, all-round men, thatchers, etc. Good 

 wages were offered with continuous employment, and in many cases 

 cottages and gardens free. 



2 I was speaking a short time ago to a man of this type who was at 

 work on the roads in Birmingham. I told him of the great demand 

 which existed in the neighbouring counties for such men as he. His 

 reply was to the effect that he did not like the work he was at, but that 



