44 



from the rise iii wages 011 the one hand and the diminished 

 return from the cultivation of land on the other. Less land is 

 cultivated than formerly, and the farmer has been compelled 

 to reduce his labour bill. The lower range of prices of all kinds 

 of produce, coupled with the increase of local rates, have made 

 the profits from farming so small that the labour bill has had 

 to be cut down and machinery and mechanical implements sub- 

 stituted. The decay of the village industries has also resulted 

 in there being fewer chances for the agricultural labourer to 

 find employment when his assistance on the farms was not re- 

 quired." Higher wages in the towns, together with shorter 

 hours, and more amusements have also attracted men from the 

 rural districts. 



LANCASHIRE. The principal causes enumerated are as fol- 

 lows : 



(1) The inability of many farmers, owing to the depressed 

 state of agriculture, to employ as many men as they would like 

 to do, or to pay sufficiently high wages. 



(2) The laying of arable land to grass, due to the same cause. 



(3) The greater use made of up-to-date labour-saving 

 machinery. 



(4) The growing distaste for the work of an agricultural 

 labourer on the part of the now better educated children of 

 the labouring class. 



(5) The inducement to go to the towns for the sake of the 

 higher wages, the shorter hours, Saturday afternoon holiday, 

 and better means of recreation and education. 



(0) In some parishes, the scarcity of cottages. 



(7) The taking of agricultural land for building purposes. 



(8) Emigration. 



On the last point Mr. Nuttall writes : "The extremely favour- 

 able offers made by our Colonies, particularly Canada, whose 

 agents are constantly pointing out the advantages of absolute 

 security for the expenditure of money and labour by an easy 

 and cheap system of purchase, are attracting some of our best 

 and youngest men." 



CHESHIRE. Through the unprofitableness of agriculture 

 farmers have been forced to reduce the number of labourers 

 employed to the lowest possible point; work on the farm is 

 now done in a more rough and ready way ; the substitution of 

 machinery and the putting of tillage land to pasture have also 

 lessened the number of men required. The social attractions 

 of the towns, the better opportunities of advancement, and the 

 higher wages of industrial occupations cause many of the best 

 men to leave the country. The extension of the residential 

 area has had an indirect as well as a direct effect on the 

 numbers engaged in agriculture, by creating a demand for 

 gardeners, grooms, &c. 



