WAGES. 53 



207, 8s. per annum. But, in another family, in the case 

 of a married man, having only one son and one daughter, 

 the total " annual value " of the earnings were con- 

 siderably less, only amounting to 131, i6s. 6d. One 

 other general note is all that need be given here in 

 reference to the earnings of ordinary agricultural 

 labourers. It says : 



" In some counties the earnings of the labourers are fairly 

 uniform throughout, and in these cases the averages given 

 represent more faithfully the earnings most generally made 

 by the men, than in counties where earnings vary in different 

 districts. Such variations may sometimes be accounted 

 for to some extent by the great opportunities for piecework 

 in one district compared with another, but they chiefly 

 depend on the differences in the rates of wages due to the 



Eroximity of towns or mines in counties like Northumber- 

 ind, Warwickshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Kent, and Surrey. 

 On the other hand, in almost purely agricultural counties, 

 such as Norfolk and Suffolk, there is a great degree of 

 uniformity in wages and earnings. The rate of weekly 

 wages of ordinary labourers in most cases in those counties 

 is i2s. or 133., and the harvest payments are usually 

 between j and 8. The average weekly earnings amount 

 to 155. 3d. in Norfolk, and in Suffolk to 153. 6d., the differ- 

 ence between wages and earnings in Norfolk being 23. nd., 

 and in Suffolk 2s. 9d." 



It will now be interesting to turn to a different class 

 of labourers, namely, men in charge of horses, cattlemen, 

 and shepherds ; and for the amounts of their earnings, 

 both in cash and in kind, we turn to the Board of Trade 

 report already referred to, and quoted from. The 

 information included in this report was chiefly furnished 

 by Rural District Councils and farmers. The returns 

 from farmers gave, for horsemen, cattlemen, and shep- 

 herds respectively, the number employed on the farm, 

 the rate of weekly wages, the total amount of cash 

 received in wages by the men, together with particulars 

 of their allowances in kind, and also the value of the 

 beer or cider given to them. We shall arrange these 

 in three separate columns, with two columns under each 

 grade, to show in one the cash payments, and in the 

 other the total earnings, including payments in kind. 



