8 BRITISH RURAL LIFE AND LABOUR. 



in the business the alternating slack and busy times 

 making the work somewhat intermittent he can 

 generally command his own terms. Ploughing, too, is 

 something of a fine art, which is developed by ploughing 

 " matches " or competitions ; and an expert " plough er " 

 is worth much more than the " common or garden " 

 man, so to speak. There are many degrees of excellence, 

 too, in what is called the " hedging and ditching " man. 

 The bulk of the work is performed in the winter ; but 

 the banking up of hedges forming the boundaries of 

 cattle fields, the repairing of " breaks," and the confining 

 within moderate bounds of the exuberant growths which 

 revel in a hedge briars, nettles, docks, and so forth 

 involve a great deal of work often required all at once ; 

 so that the " hedgers and ditchers " are in great demand 

 in the winter season ; and sometimes the foremost 

 " expert " at this work cannot be got for " love or 

 money " by many farmers wanting his services. 



There is a temporary sub-assistant selected from the 

 ordinary labourers, sometimes as a sort of " ganger." 

 He delegated specially by the bailiff, foreman, or 

 steward looks after a certain number of the ordinary 

 men, when these are engaged upon a particular kind 

 of work : or he may be appointed by the men themselves 

 to arrange about piecework, or may act by the same 

 appointment as an intermediary to arrange as to work 

 with the foreman or the head the farmer himself, 

 and in that capacity may make contracts and settle 

 about payments for the labour. These are arrange- 

 ments that are made on some large farms in the eastern 

 counties of England and in some other districts. 



The " casual " man is another kind of individual 

 who must not be forgotten in this chapter on the classi- 

 fication of labour. In some counties it is frequently 

 the custom to employ casual men ; in others, it is 

 against the practice. For instance, they are not much 

 employed in the northern counties, as, there, most 



