22 THE BOOK OF MARKET GARDENING 



villages within a radius of two or three miles and a total 

 population of about iooo, we have found it difficult to 

 secure fifty temporary workers for gathering small fruits, 

 etc., though the rates offered were in advance of those 

 prevailing in the neighbourhood. Where the villages 

 are still more distantly placed the difficulty is proportion- 

 ately greater, and in such cases it is compulsory to 

 import labour. If large towns can be reached by road, 

 it is usual in some places to engage the hands required 

 and bring the people out by vans, etc., returning them in 

 the same way, each day, at the week's end or when the 

 special work is finished. In the last two cases the 

 provision of sleeping accommodation is a serious matter, 

 as it rarely happens that villagers can provide lodgings 

 for such " visitors," and if they are able to do so they 

 are seldom willing. When temporary labour obtained 

 in the way indicated (or by train) is required regularly 

 every year, some market gardeners and farmers have 

 found it advisable or even necessary to build wooden or 

 corrugated iron sheds divided into cubicles, or small apart- 

 ments, each with a separate door, and such structures 

 can be put up in a simple way at a moderate cost. If 

 large barns or other buildings exist they can be sometimes 

 utilised in the same way, but tents might often be 

 substituted with advantage, under suitable arrangements. 

 Second-hand army tents are obtainable from some dealers 

 at a moderate rate, and with due care and proper storage 

 they may last for a considerable time. 



All temporary labour employed on established under- 

 takings should be paid by piece-work, or by the hour, 

 the former being preferable in the majority of instances, 

 and will necessitate a simple but exact method of check- 

 ing. For land work it is an advantage to pay by 

 measurement, which may be facilitated by having the 

 ground set out in plots of a known area and numbered. 

 In gathering, both weights and measures of capacity are 



