June 1895.] 



GENERAL AGRICULTUEAL NOTES. 



57 



farms, and it seems that the higher wages are chiefly paid to 

 the men employed upon them, on account of their having to 

 commence work earlier in the morning. In all cases in 

 Northumberland, labourers are provided with a house and 

 garden, and 1,000 to 1,200 yards of potatoes. Their coals are 

 carted, and they sometimes receive manure for the garden or 

 straw for pigs. At Alnwick, boys received from 10s. to 12s,, 

 and at Rothbury, up to 14<s. per week. Women got from Is. 6d. 

 to Is. 8d. a day in summer and Is. Be?, to Is. 4^d. in winter, or 

 Is. 6d. all the year round, with 2s. 6d. or 3s. a day for 20 days 

 during harvest. At Newcastle and Hexham, they got Is. 3d to 

 Is. 4c?. per day, and 2s. 6d. per day during the harvest. 



At the Durham Hiring at Darlington, hinds are reported to 

 have obtained 16s. a week, with an additional Is. a week in the 

 case of those who could stack. Their perquisites consisted of a 

 house and garden and 40 stones of potatoes, and the cartage of 

 their coals. Women were usually hired at the rate of Is. a day, 

 and 2s. a day at harvest, with 3c?. an hour overtime. 



At the half-yearly hirings in Scotland, the wages paid include 

 in each case board and lodging. The wages offered for best 

 ploughmen at the Lanarkshire Hiring were from 14?. to 17?., 

 and from 8?. to 12?. for second-class ploughmen. Lads got from 

 5?. to 7?. Best dairymaids received from 8?. 10s. to 10?. 10s., 

 second-class from 7?. to 8?., whilst girls obtained from 3?. to 4?. 

 At the Stirlingshire Hiring, the same rate of wages for best 

 ploughmen prevailed, but second ])loughmen got from 10?. to 

 13?. Boys from ]?. 10s. to 4?. The best dairymaids received 

 from 9?. to 10?., and the second class from 7?. to 8?. ; girls got 

 from 1?. 10s. to 51. At both these hirings, married ploughmen 

 engaged by the year received from 18s. to 20s. a week, with 

 house, garden, and coals carted. At the Selkirk Hiring, single 

 ploughmen obtained from 9?. 10s. to 11?.; lads, 7?. ; boys, from 

 3?. 10s. Women for outdoor work got from 9?. to 10?., and 8?. 

 for indoor work. ? 



Agricultural Labour in April. 



The Labour Gazette for May contains the usual monthly 

 report of the agricultural correspondent of the Labour Depart- 

 ment of the Board of Trade on the condition of agricultural 

 labour during April. It is stated, on the basis of information 

 relating to 202 parishes in England and a report from an 

 Agricultural Labourers' Union, that employment was, generally 

 speaking, regular throughout England, farm work having be^n 

 backward in a number of districts and the weather fine. Extra 

 labour had been difficult to obtain in some localities, especially 

 in potato growing districts, but reports of irregularity of 

 employment were exceptional. A seasonal rise in wages was 

 reported in April from certain districts in Cumberland, Lan- 



