The Labour Bill in Farmi'ng. 
89 
On grass land the cost of labour is very small, but the capital 
required is much larger per acre, and greater supervision is 
necessary on the part of the occupier." Another correspondent 
reckons that the cost of labour on grass land would be about a 
fourth of that on arable land, supposing half the grass were 
cut, and half fed off. 
" Of course the saving in labour upon grass lands," writes 
another farmer, " must be all the labour in ploughing, culti- 
vating, seeding, (S:c. ; and, where they are grazed, the cost of 
harvesting is also saved. The same calculation, however, must 
not be made with regard to all grass fields which may be attached 
to an arable farm. Upon such a farm a certain staff of horses 
and men will be required all the year round. If, therefore, the 
farmer in this case loses the opportunity of making the most of 
a piece of pasture by mowing it instead of grazing it, he will lose 
money, because his outgoings will be the same in labour whether 
he mows the field or grazes it. Upon a purely grass farm, on 
the other hand, manual labour is only necessary at hay harvest, 
when the occupier can avail himself of itinerant labour from 
neighbouring counties. To the grass farms around London, for 
example, men used to resort in June from all parts, sometimes 
obtaining high wages for a week or two. Mowing machines, 
however, with horse-rakes and haymakers, have supplanted much 
of this manual labour, enabling the farmer to secure his crop more 
quickly, and also more cheaply, without feeling so dependent 
upon casual hand-labour as he once was. From this neigh- 
bourhood (the border-land of Norfolk and Suffolk) during the 
last two years many men went ' into the shires ' as usual, but 
could have done better by remaining at home. It is highly 
necessary now-a-days for each farmer to calculate carefully 
whether he has a prospect, by grazing, of making a profit over 
rental and fixed charges per acre, instead of incurring a great 
outlay in labour, with the chance of a wet season, and a plentiful 
crop elsewhere, to reduce the value of his hay harvest, so that 
the balance of profit left after mowing is less than that left after 
grazing. To stock good grass land naturally requires the com- 
mand of more capital than is necessary for the cultivation of 
arable land. I have heard of 30/. an acre being required to 
purchase stock for good marsh land. Some marshes will carry 
a bullock and two or three sheep an acre. The grazing of light 
land, instead of tillage, would of course be for sheep-feed only, 
unless I may except sainfoin, which is the salvation of light 
lands, and ought to enter into the rotation of every light-land 
farm." 
It may be taken for granted that farmers in the Eastern Counties 
are not alone in their experiences of the increased cost of labour 
