494 



Earnings at Corn Harvest in 1907. [nov., 



the eastern, midland, and southern and south-western counties 

 of England respectively for the corn harvest of 1907 : — 



District. 



Number of 



Men 

 employed 

 at Harvest on 

 Farms 

 included in 

 Table. 



Average 

 duration of 

 Harvest from 

 start to finish 

 (including 

 Sundays). 



Average 

 Number 

 of Days 

 on which 

 Harvesting 

 was done. 



• 



Average 



Cash 

 Earnings 

 for Harvest 

 per Man. 







Days. 



Days. 



£ s. d. 



Eastern Counties 



745 



33 



26 



7 13 5 



Midland Counties 



247 



34 



27 



5 18 7 



Southern and South- 









Western Counties 



333 



32 



22 ■ 



4 18 3 



It will be seen that the earnings were highest in the eastern 

 counties, which comprise the great corn-growing counties of 

 Huntingdon, Cambridge, Lincoln, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex. 

 The payments in these counties ranged from about £6 10s. 

 to £8 1 os., though more was earned by some men on piecework 

 in the 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 is thus a profitable one for the labourer, as he 

 gets back to ordinary farm work at weekly wages sooner than 

 in a year when the harvest is 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. The various 

 methods of payment are as follows : — 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 the 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. 



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 



