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^AGRICULTURAL AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 

 Agricultural Hirings in Scotland. 



The Labour Department of the Board of Trade has published 

 an the Labour Gazette information received by the Depart- 

 ment relating to the rates of wages obtained by farm servants 

 at the yearly and half-yearly hiring fairs which took place in 

 Scotland during the last six months of 1899 in the counties of 

 Aberdeen, Argyle, Ayr, Banff, Berwick, Caithness, Clack- 

 mannan, Dumbarton, Dumfries, Edinburgh, Elgin, Fife, 

 Forfar, Haddington, Inverness, Kincardine, Kirkcudbright, 

 Lanark, Linlithgow, Nairn, Peebles, Perth, Renfrew, Ross 

 and Cromarty, Roxburgh, Selkirk, Stirling, and Wigtown. 



Generally speaking, there was but little change in wages 

 compared with the corresponding period in the previous year. 

 At the earlier autumn fairs, notably in the counties of Forfar 

 and Perth, a rise of about 20s. for the year was paid, but as 

 the hiring season advanced wages are said to have returned 

 to their former level. As a rule, men who remained in their 

 places got their old wages. In a few cases men who changed 

 had to take from about 10s. to 20s. less for the half-year, and 

 this is said to have been due to the fine weather in the 

 autumn, which enabled farmers to get field work exception- 

 ally well advanced. 



Women servants were gfenerally scarce, and their wages 

 frequently increased from 10s. to 20s. for the half-year. 



The wages of first and second horsemen at the yearly hirings 

 in the counties of Fife and Kinross were from £26 to £33, 

 and of third horsemen from ^24 to £29. The half-yearly 

 wages of first and second horsemen were generally about £13 

 to £18 in the counties of Aberdeen, Banff, Elgin, Forfar, 

 .Inverness, Kincardine, Lanark, Nairn, and Stirling. Married 



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