2 1 8 A Walk from 



longed from the middle of July to the middle of Sep- 

 tember. This is the period of great expectation as well 

 as toil for the agricultural laborers. Every man, woman, 

 and boy of them all is put under the stimulus of extra 

 earnings through these important weeks. Even the 

 laborers hired by the year have a full month given 

 them for harvesting forty or fifty extra shillings under 

 this stimulus. Nearly all the grain in England is cut 

 for a certain stipulated sum per acre ; and thousands 

 of all ages, with sickle or scythe in hand, see the sun 

 rise and set while they are at work in the field. In 

 the field they generally breakfast, lunch and dine ; 

 and when it is considered that there is daylight enough 

 for labor between half-past three in the morning to 

 half-past eight at night, one may easily see how many 

 of the twenty-four hours they may bend to their toil. 

 The price for cutting and binding wheat is from 10s. 

 to 14s., or from $2 40c. to $3 36c. per acre, and 8s., or 

 $1 92c. per acre for oats and barley. The men who 

 cut, bind and shock by the acre generally have to find 

 their own beer, and will earn from 24s. to 28s., or from 

 $5 76c. to $6 72c. per week. The regular laborers 

 frequently let themselves to their employers during the 

 harvest month at from 20s. to 24s. per week, which 

 is just about double their usual wages. In addition 

 to this pay, they are often allowed two quarts of ale and 



