WALES. 



CHAPTER XL 

 GENERAL SYSTEM OF LABOUR. 



BROADLY, the agricultural labouring population of 

 Wales are divisible into two classes the larger one 

 consisting of unmarried men, who are lodged and boarded 

 either in the houses of the farmers for whom they work, 

 or in adjacent outbuildings. These are engaged not 

 by the week, but usually for a year the hiring taking 

 place either in May or November. In some districts, 

 such as Anglesea, Carnarvon, and Glamorgan, the hiring 

 is half-yearly the term commencing in Mayor November 

 of each year. 



In the case of married men, cottages are rented, 

 and these cottages are either on the farms or in the 

 adjacent or the nearest village. The engagement of 

 these men is weekly, as a rule, and they are boarded 

 but on weekdays only at the farms where they work. 

 Sometimes the county of Anglesea furnishing instances 

 there is also a yearly arrangement of hiring for married 

 labourers. 



In parts of Wales, and the cases are pretty numerous, 

 the farms are small, and in that case all the work is 

 done by the farmer himself and his family. Where the 

 farms are rather larger, the farmer obtains some assist- 

 ance, employing one or two hired men. The latter help 

 in the general work of the farm, and take charge of any 



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