WAGES. 55 



The following comments in the Board of Trade report 

 is in confirmation of what we have already said ; but 

 it will be interesting to quote them. The report says : 



" A comparison of this table with the corresponding one 

 relating to ordinary labourers shows that both the nominal 

 rates of wages and the actual earnings of men in charge 

 of animals are generally higher than in the case of the 

 ordinary labourers. The reasons for this are not far to 

 seek. A higher standard of skill is required of men in charge 

 of horses, cattle or sheep, than of the men whose chief 

 employment is raising and gathering crops, the hours of 

 work are generally longer, and Sunday work is frequently 

 necessary. The variations in the cash wages paid in the 

 different districts of each county are also wider than in 

 the case of the ordinary labourers, for not only do the men 

 who live near the big towns receive higher cash payments 

 than those in the more rural parts of the county, but the 

 men in charge of animals vary more as regards proficiency. 

 The older and more experienced men, who are usually 

 married men, generally get free cottages, potato ground, and 

 other allowances, while young unmarried men, working 

 under them, are paid a lower wage often entirely in money, 

 and their yearly earnings sometimes do not amount to as 

 much as those of ordinary labourers. The men employed 

 on large farms or estates, or where prize herds or flocks are 

 kept, are generally better paid men than those on the 

 smaller farms, and this naturally tends to create wide 

 differences in rates of wages even in a purely agricultural 

 county. These men usually get more allowances in kind than 

 ordinary labourers, though the practice of making such 

 payments varies considerably. Generally speaking, a free 

 cottage is given. Even in the same county the custom 

 varies in different districts, more especially as between the 

 areas in the neighbourhood of towns where the men 

 prefer to be paid in cash in the same way as are work- 

 men engaged in other callings and those more rural in 

 character/' 



