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31—1846.] 
523 
Orhe may be em 
selves allottees, but have constant work all the year 
round. In cases where this system has been tried, it 
has been found that a vast amount of labour is thus 
engrossed. Those that have regular work pay others 
to cultivate their land for them ; so that the common ob- 
jection, viz., that “the men would be always working on 
their own ground when wanted elsewhere,” becomes no 
Objection at all. Another benefit is, that the labourer, 
y occupying a little farm, would be brought to feel his 
Station as a man, and not as a slave. He would no 
longer be in entire dependence upon the fluctuating 
and uncertain patronage of his superiors; and the con- 
sciousness of being able to add to his own comforts 
without their assistance, and without being under obliga- 
tion, would evidently lead him to look with confidence 
and resolution upon the lowliness of his circumstances. 
he feeling of independ thus impl d in his 
breast would also bring him more contentment ;. it 
Would prevent him from yielding to despondeney, and 
fill his mind with brighter anticipations of the future, 
He would have the profits arising from his industry, 
which would enable him to procure many necessaries 
and comforts. The produce of his plot of land could 
Supply his family with much provisions for the winter, 
and food enough for a pig; and in growing this, he 
Would have all the advantages derived from spade-hus- 
bandry and good manure. The amount of happiness 
Which such an increase of his cottage comforts might 
Confer, none ean tell but those who have seen the ex- 
tremities (both in health and sickness) to which the 
labourer is often driven; and it is to be wished that 
every labourer possessed a means so congenial to his 
tastes, habits, and experience, of supplying his wants 
and relieving his anxieties. 
The merits of this system are well-known ; in every 
Case it has proved successful in improving the social 
and moral condition of this important class of our fel- 
low-beings. 'Phis may be regarded as the very best 
Method of immediately reducing the distress, and im- 
Proving the homes and lives of the agricultural labour- 
ers ; combining industry with carefulness ; good habits 
ployed by other men who are them- | 
THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 
ney periodically during the 
summer months, when work is plentiful and wages 
good, and giving him a quantity of coals at the be- 
ginning of winter. The payment of 6d. a week (for 
a certain number of weeks, according to the price of 
fuel where the club is formed) would enable each mem- 
ber to have a ton or more of coals purchased at the 
cheapest rate, brought to his door, the expense of car- 
riage being defrayed by honorary contributions. . 
“Clothing Funds” and “Rent Clubs” are also of 
the same kind ; and the great benefit derived is, that 
the labourer’s money is collected little by little, at re- 
gularintervals,insuchsumsas can be better spared at one 
time—instead of making a demand upon him all at 
once when hé is less prepared to meet it—and then re- 
turning it again in an accumulated mass, in the shape 
of clothes or other necessary articles; or else defraying 
expenses which otherwise he would be called upon to 
ay. 
E: V Savings! Banks” may also;be made available for 
taking care of the industrious workman's gains—pos- 
sessing this peculiar advantage, that they increase as 
well as save. They prove most useful, however, to 
yearly servants, for it is very rarely that a married 
labouring man has the opportunity of depositing any- 
thing in them. Servants might be much more economi- 
cal in their dress than they now are ; and the different 
sums they could thus save out of their wages might be 
advantageously placed in these banks.—J. 4. Clarke, 
Long Sutton, Lincolnshire. 
(To be continued.) 
ON MEASURE WORK. 
Harvest OprRATIONS.— We now come to harvest 
operations, which may be, and, in my opinion, ought 
all to be paid for by measure. Haymaking, however, 
as everybody knows, is generally done at day’s wages ; 
but the mowing is often let per acre, at from 2s. 6d. to 
3s., with beer or cider. The mowing of Clover hay will 
cost from 2s. to 3s., according to the weight of the crop. 
When the whole operation is let to a party as measure 
work, an ordinary crop may be mown, made, and 
With ingenuity ; peace with prosperity ; the increase of | placed in what are called wind ” cocks (i. e. of about 
Comforts with the attainment of knowledge ; and the 
augmentation of happiness with the spread of morality. 
a waggon load each), and it may remain there safely 
for weeks, until the farmer has leisure to remove them, 
Another mode of improvement is through the aid of | for 10s. an acre. 
agricultural societies. These societies are doing much 
good by exciting the labourer to diligence and endea- 
Vours to excel. A spirit of emulation is aroused by 
Prizes being offered for the execution of various manual 
Operations; for cleanliness and neatness in their cot- 
tages and gardens ; for good conduct, &e. Thus there 
are rewards for skill, industry, sobriety, and good order 
Mm their families. Now such associations as these can- 
not fail of producing beneficial results 5 and.as they are 
SO numerous, a vast improvement must be going on 
through their instrumentality alone. There are also 
the * Labourer’s Friend Societies,” which are accom- 
Plishing such useful effects as prove them to be in 
reality what their name denotes. These are establishing 
the allotment system in various parts of the kingdom ; 
Yewarding the labourers for the good cultivation or best 
produce of their plots ; constructing commodious dwell- 
ings ; establishing schools, &e. They are endeavouring 
to promote the adoption of spade-husbandry on a much 
larger scale than it is generally used at present ; and a 
great demand for labour will result from the more fre- 
quent substitution of sp r ploughi 
S of the highest imp to the l T poo: 
that it should be done as far as practicable ; and these 
Societies are urging the farmers to make the attempt, 
Showing them that it is profitable to themselves as well 
aS their labourers. They are breaking down the bar- 
Tiers between the farmers and their men ; calling upon 
them, through the medium of the press, to exert them- 
wees in the labourer’s behalf; to examine and ame- 
lorate his eondition ; and it is to be hoped that they 
May be extensively promoted and supported until every 
Yeoman in the land understands his duty, and fulfils it 
toward the labouring poor. There are many different 
Societies and institutions for aiding the poor man in his 
Omestie economy. ‘They direct and enable him to lay 
Sut his money to the greatest advantage, and may be 
Yegarded as the depositories of what he gains from 
Other sources. Agriculture is not subject to such vio- 
ie changes and revolutions as manufacture ; so that 
le farm.labourer's wages, though smaller, are more 
Tegular than those of the factory labourer. The latter, 
yang, a season of trading prosperity, often receives 
ery high wages; thus having the opportunity of aecu- 
boating a store against any depression that may occur; 
Ut the former has no such opportunity ; he cannot lay 
jy much at atime. He earns more in the summer than 
pea so all the saving he has to praetise is only 
eed the summer, and is very small. Now it is from 
very littleness that it is difficult to accomplish ; and 
Object of these institutions is to effect this for him ; 
ae 
the 
9 collect what small sums’ he ean spare, from week to 
nre 5 and either to provide him with various neces- 
js les purehased by that money in the winter, or find 
duy Subsistence in the time of illness. Among these 
ies he noticed, first the “benefit societies,” for the 
serip nance of sick members. ‘These receive the sub- 
i Ptions monthly, perhaps 6d., 8d., or 1s. a month,and 
dud he invalid member seven or eight shillings per week 
Xie the. general fand. They usually have honorary 
Sata, to manage their accounts, and a secretary or 
* coal to collect the subscriptions. Then there are 
clubs 3’ another kind of institution, but formed 
uj on ae 
Pon the same principle, viz, that of gathering a por- 
Of course the charge in the ease of the various corn 
crops for mowing, reaping, bagging, or hewing, as it is 
called, varies according to the weight of the crop, its 
freedom from weeds, and its position, whether standing 
or laid ; but I may just mention the ordinary prices— 
Barley, mowing 2s. to 3s., according to the crop ; 
reaping 7s. to 9s. Oats may be harvested at the same 
prices, though perhaps generally at a little more, as it 
frequently grows a heavier crop of straw. 
Wheat is reaped at from 8s: to 14s. per aere. This 
last price is certainly a very rare one, but we paid it 
this last season for a crop that had been very much 
laid. The average expense of reaping, tying, and 
stooking Wheat, may be put at 9s. Where beer is 
given, the prices are less than these, a greater deduc- 
tion is perhaps generally made than is justified by the 
value of the drink. 
Wheat may be mown, tied, and stooked at from 7s, 
to 9s. an aere. We do not name a higher price, be- 
cause when the crop is laid, and the harvesting of it is 
expensive, it is not proper work for the seythe, which 
needs a standing erop to make good work. 
Wheat may be bagged or hewed, as it is termed (this 
operation is done with a heavy hook in the one hand, 
and a short wooden crook in the other. The Wheat is 
cut at the root by successive blows, and is gathered in 
with the crook till the bulk of a sheaf has accumulated, 
when it is lifted aside, with the hook and crook on one 
side and the left foot on the other, and laid on the band 
which has been eut for it before commencing). Wheat, 
we say, may be harvested in this manner for from 8s, 
to 9s. an aere. It needs a standing crop to do this 
well We eut about 100 acres of Wheat every year, 
and have adopted all these plans. It is all done by 
people from the neighbourhood, and we make a written 
bargain with each party, before commencing, to do the 
work in the different fields in the manner and at the 
price specified, and reserve to ourselves the right of 
placing them where we choose. The work of pitching 
the corn to the waggons or harvest carts, building it 
thereon, and again pitching it to the man on the rick, 
is generally done at day’s wages; but we have for 
several years found the advantage of letting this opera- 
tion to (our own) men at so much an acre. (he man 
who builds the rick works at day’s wages, and so do the 
boys who lead the carts or waggons ; the two men out 
in the field, one engaged in pitching and the other 
building on the cart, and the one man in the rick-yard 
pitching from the cart, constitute a party, and to them 
the work is let at so much per acre. We give no beer 
nor dinner, nor anything of that kind during the har- 
vest, or at any other time of the year. The work is in 
every case paid for in money, and the advantage of 
getting quietly through the work is never more appa- 
rent than at harvest time. 
The price paid for this work varies from 10d. to 
1s. 3d, per aere, the lowest price being given for a light 
crop reaped, and the highest for a heavy crop mown, 
Where the grain crops are reaped, leaving a high 
stubble, as is sometimes the practice, the stubble must 
be mown ; where it is strong and thick, it may be done 
in swathes as Grass is mown ; but where it is straggling 
and thin, it must be mown to the foot. The man places 
a bit of the stubble on his foot to protect his shoe and 
| leg, and then he cuts up against this, always gathering 
as much as possible that which he cuts, until, it being a 
considerable heap, he drops it, and commences another. 
This costs from 1s. 3d. to 2s. an acre, and the raking, 
which is afterwards necessary, may be let at from 6d. 
to 9d. per acre. 
Beans cut with a heavy hook, and tied with straw 
supplied to men in the field, will cost about 8s. or 9s. an 
acre. Peas cut in little heaps on the ground with the 
scythe, and left there and turned till dry, may cost 
about 2s. 6d. per acre. 
When Rye grass is left to ripen its seed, it is cut in 
swathes at perhaps 2s. 6d. an acre, and left there till 
dry, and then carefully turned, and afterwards threshed 
out on a sheet in the field, the straw being carted away 
and ricked to be cut up into chaff for cattle ; and the 
seed sacked up and taken to the barn, to be riddled and 
fanned clean. All this, except the mowing, is best done 
at day’s wages. 
The work of harvesting the root erop is on some 
farms a laborious and important operation. The stall 
and yard.feeding of eattle, and the extending practice of 
shed-feeding of sheep, requires a large proportion of 
the Swedes and Turnips to be carted home. We have 
long been in the habit of earting home most of our 
Turnip crop, all of our Mangold Wurzel, and all our 
Carrots; and we may just detail here the method 
adopted. In carrying on the work all at once, five sets of 
people are employed :—1st, men pulling the roots and 
laying four drills together in rows ; 2nd, the women 
cutting off the tops (not the roots) and laying the bulbs. 
in rows (eight drills now being together) ; 3rd, a man, 
and two or three women, filling the carts as they sueces- 
sively arrive; 4th, boys leading the carts ; and, 5th, 
two men and a boy setting up the parallel rows of 
hurdles on a dry piece of land by the buildings, between 
which the roots are placed, piled up and thatehed over. 
The Ist, 2nd, and 3rd sets constitute one party under 
the direction of our two men, to whom we let the work 5 
the others ave at day work. Excepting those at day 
work, the operation costs for Swedes (a good crop) 8s., 
for Mangold Wurzel from 8s. to 10s., and for Carrots 
(they are forced to use the spade here) from 18s. to 
20s.an acre. In the case of the long red Mangold 
Wurzel, it is well to set the party of women first, and 
pull (not cut) off the leaves ; they are very brittle, and 
the two hands can easily twist and push down all the 
leaves off a root at once. The men then follow with 
the carts, and pull them, and throw them into the cart 
at once. I may just state, as illustrating this subject, 
the force employed on a Mangold Wurzel field at a dis- 
tance of about 1000 yards from the heap. The crop 
was very heavy, nearly 40 tons an acre ; the field was 
seven acres in extent, and contained, we will say, 280 
tons of roots ; they were harvested and thatched over 
in about two and three-quarters days. Eight carts 
were employed, requiring seven hands to go with them, 
as one was always filling in the field ; these 
AT Piece Wonx.|| Ar Day’s Wars. 
Men. | Wom.| Boys. 
Men. | Women. | 
Hands happened to be .. 
There were employed in 
pulling the roots E $ 
In cutting off the leaves.) .. 
In filling roots into carts| 1 | 
And in placing hurdles, 
piling up the roots, pre- | 
paring thatch, and put- | 
ting it on ae eli. em | 
i 
12 4 1 5 
s. d. 
Or gewascfe dO 2. oe ae cw v « 0 4 5 
The piece work should cost rather more than the two 
and three-quarters days’ wages ; if for five menand 
twelve women, we say 2s. for the one, and 1s. for 
the other per diem, it will amount on the whole to 
3I. 0s. 6d., or, per acre E e. E P OST 
(The work was let to them at about 9s., so that 
they make a pretty good job of it for themselves.) 
The whole cost thus amounted tò .. 013 1 
Or, if we add two and three-quarters days of four pair | 
of horses at 6s., equal to 31, 6s., or, per acre ef 
95 
Tt will amount in all to, per acre £12 6 
Or, putting the produce at 40 tons, it will amount, per 
ton, to about 7d. 
This does not, however, altogether represent the ex- 
pence of the ation, for it is ively, indeed dan- 
gerously, hard work for the horses, and the wear and 
tear of the carts is extreme also, This specimen will 
pretty fairly represent a good method of harvesting 
roots. I may mention that the number of cart loads 
off this field was 371, or 130 per day, or 16 per horse 
each day ; and the distance being 1000 yards, each 
horse must have travelled nearly 10 miles loaded, and 
so many back again empty; and comparing all this 
with the number of tons per acre, it will appear that 
each load must have averaged 15 ewt., which, with the 
weight of the cart, was 233 ewt. This shows the work to 
lave been very hard. I may mention that we have 
last autumn brought home in this manner upwards of 
1600 tons of roots, and our stock of horses is two per 
65 aeres of arable land ; and though we were certainly 
rather behind-hand that autumn with our work, that is 
attributable rather to the lateness of the corn harvest 
than anything else. 
There is only one item more to be mentioned under 
this head, and that is. Potato. harvesting. When done 
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