ENGLISH AGRICULTURE. 221 



students at 2s. Qd. a day. Then, I remember in days of 

 greater prosperity some people were inclined to put it at 3s. 

 a day. That is too high, and 2s. 6d. a day is too high ; but 

 at the same time many persons would assume that figure, 

 and I do not see there is any great harm in assuming 2s. 6d. 

 except that it is too high. 



Next we proceed as follows. Ploughing is a very typical 

 agricultural operation, and the unit by which you should 

 measure ploughing is this 



2 horses and 1 man or lad will plough 1J acres of light 

 loose land in 1 day. I have known more. I have known a 

 Yorkshire lad plough 2 acres in a day. American farmers 

 look for 2 and 2 acres to be ploughed in a day. 



2 horses and 1 man or lad will plough 1 acre in 1 day of 

 average land. 



3 horses, 1 man, and 1 boy will plough from f to 1 acre of 

 stubble in a day. 



4 horses, 1 man, 1 lad will plough j to f acre in a day of 

 the stiffest land. 



The cost, therefore, of ploughing depends on the stiffness 

 of the land. It is not necessary, and I do not think it is 

 advisable, for me at the present time to take each of these as 

 an arithmetical sum. I leave that to you, or you can vary 

 according to the requirements ; but we will take the average 

 two horses and a man. Taking the horses at 2s. each, 

 there is 4s. ; take the wear and tear of the plough at Is. 

 which is quite sufficient, and take the wages of the man at 

 2s., that makes 7s. I consider that the average cost of 

 ploughing when you can do an acre a day is 7s. an acre, and 

 you will find that the price will rise with the stiffness of the 

 ground and with the number of horses which may be required 

 to draw the plough. If then you can get labour and I 

 think you can at 2s. a day, you have 7s. an acre as the 

 standard cost of ploughing. 



