THE EFFICIENCY OF LABOUR 7 1 



formerly in summer, except during harvest, " when the 

 machinery does not give them as good a chance of 

 earning high wages as they used to have." " All through 

 the winter time in my early days, the labourers were 

 always on piecework, and earning much larger wages 

 than they do now." " We have a good supply of labour. 

 The actual labour has not deteriorated. Where men 

 have had good masters they are pretty good now. I 

 wish I could think it was not the other way, but I do 

 think the masters have deteriorated, and not the men." 



The advantages of the labourer consist, in Mr Latham's 

 opinion, in their greater spending power, and their im- 

 proved cottages and allotment gardens. 



In Scotland, Mr Black thinks the position and advan- 

 tages of labourers greatly improved — " half as well off 

 again." " A larger share of the produce goes to the 

 labourer and less to the landlord and tenant ; but the 

 labourers deserve it, and work well for it." 



Mr Dickie : " Their condition has very materially im- 

 proved." 



Mr Lockhart : " They are more attentive and keep 

 things in better order than they used to do." 



Mr Dun, on the other hand, doubts whether the work 

 is as good as it was. The best men go away. 



On the whole, there can be no doubt that the general 

 cost of labour has materially risen, and that where the 

 scale of wages is highest and advantages greatest, as in 

 the north of England and in Scotland, and on well 

 equipped and generously managed estates everywhere, 

 the efficiency of labour is as great, if not greater than ever. 

 Where the scale of pay has sunk, as in some counties, 

 the best men naturally seek employment elsewhere. 



The Cost of maintaining Fertility. 



As to the other main item in farming outgoings, 

 the expenditure on fertilisers and feeding stuffs, the 

 facts disclosed are highly significant. It is plain that 

 where the capital of farmers has been drained away to 



