304 ENGLISH AGRICULTURAL LABOURER. 



for customary hours, or hours ranging from sixty to seventy 

 or more, now submitted to the new Order for fifty or forty- 

 eight hours. 



On March 3, 1919, the farm workers were granted their 

 iirst great charter of leisure. 1 After this date no farmer 

 could insist upon any of his employees working for more 

 than 6| hours on one working day of the week without 

 payment of overtime. This became popularly known as 

 the Saturday half-holiday. 



The Press, including The Times, and even papers written 

 for the country gentleman, displayed a lamentable ignor- 

 ance over this new Order. Without troubling to read it 

 with any care, or at any rate with any intelligence, they 

 jumped to the conclusion that all farm workers would down 

 tools on Saturday at about I o'clock and the cows would 

 remain unmilked and the horses unfed. In reality the 

 Order did not stipulate that the half-holiday should fall 

 on one particular day, nor that overtime could not be 

 worked on that day. 



In practice, of course, Saturday was the day generally 

 chosen by the workers, and the milking of cows and tending 

 of stock went on just the same by mutual agreement be- 

 tween the workers and the farmers. It meant that fewer 

 men were engaged on Saturday afternoon, the workers 

 taking turns alternately to do the necessary work. Where 

 a farmer employed one man only, that farmer would either 

 milk his own cows on, say, Saturday afternoon or the 

 cowman would agree to work every Saturday afternoon at 

 overtime rates. 



A modification was made which affected the position 

 of special classes of workers whose weekly wages were 

 based on customary hours. In these cases time spent in 

 feeding and cleaning stock did not rank as overtime em- 

 ployment. In some counties arrangements were made 

 between farmers and men for a fortnight's holiday at special 

 overtime rates of payment, in lieu of the weekly half-holiday. 



1 When the Wages Board was set up the workers hoped that the half- 

 ru'li.'nv wnuld be in-t,-in1lv instituted, but it was agreed to postpone it 

 u-itil three months after the cessation of hostilities. 



