226 Notes from Foreign Office Reports. [June, 



labourers in Essex, the weather being favourable for hoeing and 

 weeding, and work plentiful. 



Southern and South-Western Counties. — Agricultural labourers in 

 Kent have been, generally speaking, in regular employment. In Surrey 

 and Sussex work has been a little interrupted by rain, and in certain 

 districts a few day labourers lost time in consequence. The supply of 

 such men was in general quite equal to the demand. In Hampshire 

 employment was fairly regular, although hoeing was rather backward 

 through the cold weather at the beginning of the month. There was 

 no scarcity of day labourers. A report from the Droxford Union states 

 that men for permanent situations were difficult to get. Similar reports 

 come from Berkshire. Reports from Wiltshire and Dorsetshire state 

 that outdoor work was generally regular during May. The dry 

 weather at the beginning of the month, however, somewhat affected 

 the employment of day labourers, the root crops not being forward 

 enough for hoeing. In Somerset there was also some irregularity of 

 employment, owing to weeding and hoeing being delayed, and the 

 supply of day labourers was rather in excess of the demand. A scarcity 

 of skilled men for permanent situations is mentioned in the Taunton 

 Union. Employment was generally regular with farm labourers in 

 Herefordshire, where weeding the corn, hoeing roots and potatoes, 

 manure spreading and tending hops afforded a fair amount of work 

 for day labourers. In Gloucestershire day labourers were not in much 

 demand, farm work being reported as well forward. A scarcity of 

 men for milking is mentioned in the Dursley Union. Agricultural 

 labourers in Devon and Cornwall have been generally in full employ- 

 ment, the dry weather permitting outdoor work to be proceeded with 

 uninterruptedly. A demand for capable men for permanent situations 

 is reported from several districts. 



Expenditure of Danish Ministry of Agriculture. — The Report for 



1907-8 on the Finances of Denmark (F.O. Reports, Annual Series, 



No. 4,211) states that the ordinary expenditure 



- T , „ _ of the Ministry of Agriculture in that year was 



Notes from Foreign r 00 J , v , r OD ; t 



t» . X) 199,881, as compared with /, 188,704 in 



Office Reports. y\ ~, . , „ ' \ 



r 1906-7. Of this increase of ^11,177, about 



;£i,iio went to fisheries, and some ^1,660 to 



each of the following items : — Plant and seed culture, cattle and horse 



breeding, and suppression of sand drifts, and ^1,110 to marl transport. 



In addition an amount of ^30,278 was charged as extraordinary 

 expenditure, which included ^9,450 for the commutation of tithes, and 

 about ;£i 1,100 for buildings for the Copenhagen Agricultural and Veter- 

 inary High School. 



The estimates for 1908-9 and for 1909-10 provided for an expendi- 

 ture of ,£218,935 and £238,035, with an additional extraordinary expen- 

 diture of £24,672 and £18,661. 



The report contains a reference to M. Alberti's frauds. The magis- 

 terial investigation has not yet been concluded, but it is supposed that 



