1910.] Agricultural Labour during December. 863 



dilehing provided a fairly large amount of work for day labourers when 

 the weather permitted; frost and rain, however, caused some loss of 

 lime to men of this class, and the supply generally tended to be some- 

 what in excess of the demand. 



Midland Counties. — There was a fair demand for day labourers in 

 Cheshire, but not in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire ; in all three 

 counties outdoor work suffered some interruption from severe weather. 

 Threshing, root-lifting, hedging, and ditching provided fairly regular 

 employment for day labourers in Leicestershire. Outdoor employment 

 was frequently interrupted by wet and stormy weather in Staffordshire. 

 Correspondents in Shropshire state that day labourers were in fairly 

 constant employment during December. The demand for day labourers 

 was reported as greater than the supply in the Evesham Union of 

 Worcestershire, but elsewhere in this county there was but little demand 

 for their services. Hedging, ditching, spreading manure, threshing, 

 &c, caused a fair demand for day labourers in Warwickshire. There 

 was a moderate demand for men of this class in Northamptonshire. 

 Certain correspondents state that where corn had been carted in a damp 

 condition threshing had been delayed, and the demand for labour was 

 consequently affected. The supply and demand for day labourers were 

 generally about equal in Oxfordshire. A demand for shepherds, carters, 

 and stockmen was reported in the Banbury Union. There was some 

 surplus of casual labour in Buckinghamshire , where wet weather 

 hindered employment to a certain extent. Threshing, manure-carting, 

 &c, provided a good deal of work when the weather permitted in 

 Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, and employment was fairly regular on 

 the whole. 



Eastern Counties. — Bad weather caused some interruption to out- 

 door work in Huntingdonshire and Cambridgeshire, but no great irre- 

 gularity of employment was reported from these counties, the supply 

 of labour generally being equalled by the demand. Similar reports 

 come from Lincolnshire, where threshing and work on the root crops 

 provided a good deal of work. Day labourers were generally in fairly 

 regular employment in Norfolk and Suffolk, where farm work was in 

 arrear. The supply of such labour was equal to the demand in most of 

 the districts reported on. Outdoor work was a good deal interfered 

 with by wet weather in Essex, where day labourers were chiefly occu- 

 pied at threshing, hedging, and ditching, and draining the land. A 

 correspondent in the Braintree Union writes that there are more appli- 

 cants for permanent situations than two or three years ago. 



South and South-Western Counties. — Day labourers in Kent gener- 

 ally lost but little time through bad weather; the demand for their 

 services was, however, only moderate on the whole, and some men were 

 irregularly employed in consequence. There was a sufficient supply' of 

 day labourers in Surrey, and in the Guildford Union a surplus was 

 reported. Agricultural employment was fairly regular in Sussex, but 

 the supply of day labourers was somewhat in excess of the demand. Wet 

 weather caused some interruption to outdoor employment in Hampshire 

 and Berkshire. In these counties the supply of day labourers was 

 generally about equal to the demand. Threshing, storing roots, hedg- 

 ing, &c, provided a good deal of work, when the weather permitted, 

 for day labourers in certain districts in Wiltshire, but the supply of 



