144 x^GRICULTURAL LABOUR IN ENGLAND. [MAY, 



compared with 66' 6 per cent, on May ist, 1908, and 71*5 per cent, in 

 1907. Of spring planting - 519 per cent, is reported as completed on 

 May ist, compared with 54-7 per cent, in 1908. 



The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries have been furnished by the 

 Board of Trade with the following report, based on about 210 returns 

 from correspondents in various districts, on 

 Agricultural Labour the demand for agricultural labour in April. 



in England Employment was generally regular through- 



during April. out April, rain causing little or no interruption 



to outdoor work in most districts. Hoeing and 

 other work provided much better employment for day labourers than 

 in March, and the supply and demand for this class of labour were on 

 the whole fairly equal. 



Northern Counties. — Employment was somewhat interrupted by 

 rain in Northumberland and Durham, and there was little demand for 

 extra labourers. In Cumberland, Westmorland, and Lancashire potato 

 planting, manure spreading, and other work caused a moderate 

 demand for extra labourers ; some time was lost through rain. Sowing 

 corn, potato planting, &c, provided a fair amount of employment in 

 Yorkshire, and the supply of and demand for labour were generally 

 about equal. Some difficulty in obtaining- cattlemen was mentioned by 

 a correspondent in the Driffield Union. 



Midland Counties. — Agricultural employment was generally regular 

 in Cheshire, where sowing spring corn, manuring, and planting potatoes 

 and mang-olds afforded fairly good employment for extra men. Employ- 

 ment was fair in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, with an equal sup- 

 ply of and demand for labour. In Leicestershire employment was 

 generally regular, but a surplus of day labourers was reported in 

 certain districts. Carting manure, preparing land for potatoes and root 

 crops, hedging, and ditching, &c, provided a fairly good demand for 

 day labourers in Staffordshire and Shropshire, rain causing only slight 

 interruption to employment. There was generally full and regular 

 employment in Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The supply of day 

 labourers was generally sufficient in Northamptonshire, but in the 

 Brixworth Union men were wanted for hoeing and potato planting. 

 In Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire hoeing, threshing, hedging, &c, 

 generally provided sufficient work for extra men, and there was a 

 fairly good demand for such men in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. 



Eastern Counties. — Employment was g-enerally regular in Hunting- 

 donshire. In Cambridgeshire hoeing - afforded a good deal of work for 

 extra labourers. The demand for this class of men was reported to 

 be greater than the supply in the Ely Union. Sowing spring corn, 

 hoeing, and preparing- land for potato crops, &C;, provided fairly plenti- 

 ful employment in Lincolnshire. There was a fair demand for extra 

 men in certain parts of Norfolk, but in several districts some surplus 

 was reported. A number of day labourers found employment in hoeing, 

 carting, and spreading manure, &c, in Suffolk, and the supply of 

 and demand for labour were generally about equal, but in several dis- 

 tricts, however, in this county and in Essex, some men were in irregular 

 employment after threshing was finished in the early part of the month. 



Southern and South-Western Counties. — Hoeing and other work on 

 the land provided fairly good employment for extra labourers in Kent 



