LABOUR QUESTIONS AND 

 DIFFICULTIES 



The manual labour required upon market-garden land may 

 be divided into several classes, but the two principal which 

 demand consideration come under the heads, (i) Per- 

 manent, (2) Temporary. Both present certain difficulties, 

 and upon the way they are dealt with a large measure of 

 the success attainable in results will depend. As pointed 

 out elsewhere in this treatise, many labour difficulties are 

 reduced in districts where market gardening is an estab- 

 lished industry. Near towns also they are more easily 

 overcome ; but in rural districts, where farm land is being 

 devoted to intensive cultivation, several matters of serious 

 moment cannot be overlooked. The provision of cottages 

 is one of the subjects which must be attended to at the 

 outset. In many counties the depopulation is not due 

 alone to the attractions of towns or the lack of employ- 

 ment, it is partly owing to insufficient housing accommoda- 

 tion. When an industry is started which offers work to ten 

 times the number of hands upon the same area of land, it 

 is obvious the matter assumes a serious aspect. For 

 permanent workmen cottages must be provided, and thus 

 a heavy outlay has to be at once faced if there* be no 

 adequate existing erections. Upon freehold land it can 

 be regarded as a safe investment, and there would be 

 no difficulty in obtaining the requisite capital upon such 

 security. Suitable cottages can be erected at a cost of 

 £150 to £200, provided the plans are passed by the 

 local authorities, and the water-supply is sufficient in 

 quantity and quality. In the latter case analysis must 



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