GENERAL SYSTEM OF LABOUR. 123 



too small to admit of special duties being assigned to 

 particular men. It is only on estates or large farms that 

 distinct classes, such as stewards, cattlemen, yardmen, 

 horsemen, carters, and ploughmen are to be found. 

 Stewards are generally only employed on estate farms. On 

 a number of farms the herds attend to the cattle, sheep, 

 and pigs. Frequently some of the ordinary labourers 

 plough or attend to the horses and cattle, and in such 

 cases they are sometimes paid rather higher wages on 

 account of Sunday work. In many districts in the counties 

 of Mayo, Roscommon, Galway, Kerry, Cork, and Donegal, 

 agricultural labourers as a class scarcely exist, except 

 on the larger estates, the work on the larger farms being 

 undertaken by the sons of the small farmers, who work 

 on their father's land, cut turf, and gather seaweed, if near 

 the shore, when not able to earn wages. A number of 

 small landowners and their sons go to work on farms in 

 England and Scotland for part of the year, and those 

 who live near the coast often do some fishing. In counties 

 where farms are large enough and have sufficient tillage 

 land to employ a staff of men, the terms of engagement 

 vary considerably in different districts. The men in 

 charge of animals are usually engaged for the largest periods 

 and have continuous work. In Ulster the greater number 

 of agricultural labourers of all classes, including ordinary 

 labourers, men in charge of horses and cattle, and also 

 boys and girls, are engaged half-yearly, those who are 

 unmarried being lodged and boarded in the farmhouses, 

 the married men living in cottages on the farms or in 

 villages. Generally speaking, it is on the smaller or 

 medium-sized farms which have no cottages, or only a short 

 supply, that hired men (unmarried men, generally called 

 ' boys ') are boarded and lodged. The majority of the 

 farm servants in Ulster are hired at hiring fairs, though 

 an increasing number of private agreements are now made, 

 especially in the case of married men and girls. The 

 term of service usually commences in May and November. 

 The greater number of married labourers in Ulster are 

 engaged by the half-year, ' wet and dry/ and paid weekly. 

 In some cases, however, the weekly payments form only 

 a part of the total wages, the balance being paid at the 

 end of the half-yearly term. Unmarried labourers are 

 given such sums as may be desired from time to time for 

 holidays and other special requirements, and the balance 

 is handed over at the end of the half-yearly term, when 

 payment is usually made of debts for clothing, etc. There 

 are also yearly and weekly engagements in Ulster. In 

 some districts, on estates and farms where there are cottages 

 attached, the engagements are by the year, but on farms 

 where there are none the engagements are half-yearly, the 

 men being paid weekly wages and sleeping at home, but 

 given their board in the farmhouses. In the case of the 



