772 



Agricultural Labour in November. 



[dec, 



pulling, &c. Employment was generally regular in Lancashire, but 

 some loss of time occurred in the case of men employed on the potato 

 crop. A downward tendency in wages was reported at the half-yearly 

 hirings for single men in Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire. 

 Little or no irregularity of employment was reported from Yorkshire, 

 where thrashing, pulling and storing roots, and manure carting provided 

 a large amount of work in many districts. There was a plentiful supply 

 of farm servants at the Martinmas hirings, and wages generally 

 remained about the same. 



Midland Counties. — Employment was fairly regular in Cheshire and 

 Derbyshire ; there was a good supply of day labourers, but the demand 

 for men for permanent situations was not always satisfied. Thrashing 

 and work on the potato and root crops generally provided regular work 

 in Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire, and the supply of and demand 

 for labour were about equal. A fairly good demand for extra labourers, 

 with a corresponding supply, was reported from Staffordshire and Shrop- 

 shire. There was some surplus in the supply of day labourers in 

 Worcestershire and Warwickshire ; a correspondent in the Shipston Union 

 (Worcestershire) refers to the sodden state of the land as the cause of 

 the small demand prevailing in his district, since much farm work was 

 thereby rendered impracticable. Thrashing and getting up potatoes and 

 the root crops provided a good deal of employment in Northamptonshire, 

 where the supply of labourers was generally equalled by the demand. 

 Day labourers were fairly well employed in Oxfordshire and 

 Buckinghamshire. There was generally full employment for extra men 

 in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, where thrashing and work on the 

 potato and root crops caused a good demand for labour ; an insufficient 

 supply of such men was reported from the Buntingford Union 

 (Hertfordshire). 



Eastern Counties. — The supply of day labourers was generally 

 equalled by the demand in Cambridgeshire, where few men were re- 

 ported in irregular work. There was a good demand for day labourers 

 in Lincolnshire, and there was some scarcity of men for securing roots ; 

 one correspondent, however, reports that this had been remedied in his 

 district by the retention of Irish labourers after finishing the potato 

 harvest. Some little interruption to outdoor work on account of wet 

 weather was reported in Norfolk and Suffolk, but, generally speaking, 

 work on the root crops (which were described as unusually large), and 

 clearing off arrears in other work from the previous month, provided 

 full and regular employment in these counties. The supply of extra 

 labourers was, however, usually sufficient. Similar reports come from 

 Essex. 



Southern and South-Western Counties. — Employment was fairly 

 regular in Kent, where raising potatoes and roots, thrashing, hedging 

 and ditching, and manure spreading caused a fairly good demad for 

 day labourers. The supply of these men was rather above the demand 

 in several districts, but a correspondent states that in the Bridge Union 

 there were not as many out of work as a year ago. According to 

 reports from Surrey there was some surplus in the supply of extra 

 labourers, one correspondent stating that the arrears of work had been 

 cleared off by the middle of the month. There was generally only a 



