1906.] 



Harvest 



Earnings in 1906. 



Fen districts. In parts of Norfolk and in Suffolk and Essex the 

 usual system of payment is for the labourer to contract with the 

 farmer to perform the harvest work for a fixed sum, irrespective 

 of the number of days occupied. A short harvest, as in 1905 

 and this year, is thus a profitable one for the labourer, as he gets 

 back to ordinary farm work at weekly wages sooner than in 

 years such as 1902 and 1903, when the harvest was lengthened 

 by unfavourable weather. 



In the Midland and in the Southern and South- Western 



• counties the systems of payment are frequently on a time-work 

 basis, so that harvest earnings fluctuate from year to year 

 according to the duration of the harvest, and the longer harvests 

 of 1902 and 1903 would be more favourable to the labourer than 

 the shorter harvests of 1905 and 1906. 



The various methods of payment are as follows (apart from 

 that already described for certain Eastern counties) : — To give 

 the work in separate portions as piecework ; to give the ordinary 

 weekly wages and, in addition, a bonus of a pound or two at the 



■ end of harvest; to give extra time wages for a month certain, 

 and then to pay the ordinary weekly wages ; to pay double the 

 ordinary weekly wages during harvest; to pay a certain rate 

 per day as long as harvest lasts. Occasionally the ordinary 

 weekly wage is paid and overtime money given. 



In addition to cash payments, beer or cider is frequently given, 



.and in some cases light refreshments such as tea, bread, butter 

 and cheese. 



The Northern counties have been excluded from the above 

 Table, as the majority of the farm servants in the North are hired 

 by the year or half-year, and paid a regular wage with free board 

 and lodging duriiig the whole of the period for which they are 

 hired, and are given no extra money for harvest, though they are 

 ■often given extra food and drink. Except in Northumberland 

 and Durham, where the system of engagement closely resembles 

 that in the Border counties of Scotland, the married men 

 attached to the staff of a farm generally get from about ^4 to £6 

 for a month at harvest, some food and drink being frequently 

 given in addition. Extra hands, both English and Irish, in these 

 districts sometimes get rather higher payments than the regular 

 men, and often more food. The Irishmen are usually provided 

 with lodging in barns or outhouses on the farms. 



