# 



LABOUR QUESTIONS 21 



be as low as one man and a boy per 100 acres. With 

 intensive cultivation, in which hand labour was chiefly 

 employed, it has risen to one man per acre, and with 

 glass houses added the permanent labour is enormously 

 increased. 



The rates of wages vary greatly in different districts, 

 and local customs must to some extent be followed ; but 

 it is a safe and sound policy to give good wages and 

 secure the most skilful and reliable men. They should 

 also be allowed special encouragement whenever possible 

 at busy times, by allotting them a share of piece-work, 

 or by paying for overtime. The stoppage of outdoor 

 labour by wet or frosty weather introduces a most 

 difficult question as regards men in receipt of regular 

 weekly wages. The best and fairest system is to keep 

 in reserve certain work that can be done under cover, in 

 sheds, etc., at such times. When long periods of severe 

 weather occur in winter, and wages are stopped, wholly 

 or partly, the men are subjected to great hardships, and 

 it often takes the largest part of their summer's work to 

 clear up the arrears of rent alone. At the same time a 

 commercial establishment cannot be run on a system of 

 paying wages without a return in labour. Where the 

 cultivation of plants or fruits under glass forms a part of 

 the business there is less difficulty in finding constant 

 work for a permanent staff, and that is one of the 

 advantages that accrue from a combination of the various 

 departments of market gardening. 



Temporary labour is always required at certain periods 

 wherever extensive cultivation of fruits or vegetables is 

 undertaken, and in rural districts at a distance from large 

 towns, with only small villages to depend upon, this often 

 occasions a great difficulty at critical periods. The 

 numbers of women, with girls and boys old enough to 

 leave school, that are obtainable under such circumstances 

 are very limited. In a farming district with four or five 



