Agricultural Wages 119 



year, through the long, stormy winter as 

 well as the pleasant days of early summer, 

 I think there is no question that from the 

 point of view of the conditions of the 

 work — the disutility involved — the labour 

 in agriculture is harder — it involves more 

 disutility, e.g., the exposure doubles a man 

 up with rheumatism. Then, again, as 

 regards the skill required, Adam Smith, in 

 a famous passage, has shown how much 

 more mental strain is required for the 

 proper management of animals compared 

 with ordinary mechanical operations. The 

 first-class hand, then, in agriculture may 

 be well compared with the carpenter, and 

 whether we consider the hardship involved 

 in the work, or the skill and judgment, 

 the wages of the former (the agriculturalist) 

 ought to be at least as high as those of 

 the carpenter. 



Now, in fact, we find that the wages of 



