SHORTNESS OF LABOUR 307 



stockman would get i B. week or its equivalent; and 

 whereas on the larger farms the living-in system has been 

 abandoned we heard several complaints about the lack 

 of cottages as a potent factor in keeping the industry 

 short of labour. 



The first farm we visited was typical of the small 

 holdings of the county. It was about 100 acres in 

 extent, undulating land of the usual rather heavy red 

 soil, by no means rich and somewhat remote from a 

 station, yet commanding a rental of about 1 an acre. 

 It was farmed by a widow and her son, with the 

 help of a single hired man, and even with this small 

 amount of labour about twenty acres were kept under the 

 plough. No very strict rotation was followed, but the 

 custom here, as throughout the greater part of Wales, 

 was to keep down the land in grass for some years and 

 then take three or four arable crops before laying it 

 down once more. Wheat and oats, turnips and man- 

 golds were the crops grown, the only thing unusual 

 seen being a breadth of peas. The grassland was not 

 of very high character, the hay in particular did not 

 look promising because of the drought earlier in the 

 year ; but there we saw a very good example of the 

 extraordinary result which basic slag gives on some of 

 these poor heavy soils where the rainfall is abundant, 

 for in one of the fields the agricultural instructor of the 

 county had laid out some plots to which basic slag had 

 been applied. To the eye the vegetation on these 

 manured plots appeared to be trebled ; indeed, they 

 were the only parts of the field that were sufficiently 

 covered to hide the bare soil between the scattered 

 plants, and there was a great profusion of white clover. 

 We should imagine that a systematic use of basic slag 

 on the farm might easily double the production of the 

 grassland. Despite the heavy nature of the soil and 



