CLASSIFICATION OF LABOUR n 



statements later on as to its general decline, and as to 

 the reasons for the decline. He says : 



" It may be stated generally, that, with the exception 

 of Northumberland and Durham, there are no counties 

 in England where the employment for wages of women at 

 ordinary work in the fields is a general custom. The practice 

 of employing women and children on the land largely 

 declined in the early ' seventies/ and in the early ' eighties ' 

 it had almost entirely ceased in many districts. But on 

 small farms, particularly in the northern districts, the 

 wives and daughters of the owners or tenants frequently 

 assist in the fields, particularly at busy times. There are, 

 however, districts, besides those in the north, where women 

 are engaged for wages at certain outdoor work, such as 

 hoeing and weeding and picking stones, potato-lifting, and 

 during hay and corn harvest. The practice is, however, 

 becoming less common every year, owing to the difficulty 

 of getting them to undertake such work. In the fruit and 

 flower growing districts, and also in the hop districts, they 

 are often employed at certain seasons. Unmarried women 

 are frequently engaged for farmhouse work and dairy work. 

 In the butter-making and cheese-making districts it is stated 

 that they are becoming more difficult to procure. In some 

 districts, particularly in the north, the women engaged for 

 farmhouse work frequently feed calves, pigs, and fowls, 

 and are often also expected to help at haytime and harvest 

 if necessary. By the loss of the assistance of women, and 

 also of children in recent years, the resident casual labourer, 

 who could be secured for hoeing, and weeding, hay and 

 corn harvest, and potato-lifting, etc., has also almost 

 entirely disappeared in many districts. The farmers have 

 tried to meet this difficulty by keeping more land in grass, 

 and by using more machinery." 



We may say, in generally commenting on these state- 

 ments, that the evident falling off in the employment 

 of women and children in agriculture is a very satis- 

 factory " sign of the times." 



