The Labour Bill in Farntiii(/. 
99 
Teproduced here, if only to show that the plan now recommended 
is not a mere theoretical one, incapable of practical application. 
We mav begin with harvesting, which upon the Knettisliall 
Farm differs somewhat from similar work upon most other farms 
in the system of remuneration to the men. Elsewhere in the 
Eastern Counties the farmer generally treats separately with each 
labourer, who receives so much money for harvest, according to 
whether he is a " full man " or a " three-quarter man," irre- 
spective of the time occupied by the work. At Knettisliall the 
farmer contracts not with each labourer separately, but with the 
whole body of labourers, to whom a stipulated sum is paid, and 
the companionship then divide this money among themselves, 
not in equal proportions, but according to their own notions — 
generally pretty accurate — of what each has earned. The agree- 
ment is to this effect: — "Agreed for the sum of 170/., with the 
men whose names are herein written, to do all the harvesting of 
the corn in a proper and husbandlike manner, to include the 
thatching of the same, and also the seeing after the horses, cows, 
and pigs, littering the yards when necessarv, carting straw for 
thatching, and any other work incidental to the securing the 
-corn and attending to the stock. There being 32 acres of corn 
more than last year, it is further agreed that a sum per acre 
■equal to the payment of 170/. for the same quantity of acres as 
was done last vear shall be paid in excess of the above sum 
of 170/." 
The names follow this simple form of contract, which answers 
its purpose in being easily understood, and in binding both the 
farmer and his men. The acreage of corn covered by this 
agreement was — wheat, 114; barley, 138; oats, 38; rye, 32. 
Before the corn-harvest, 34 acres of peas were cut by hand, and 
<:"ost 7s. Qd. an acre, which included cutting, carting, stacking, 
and thatching. Twenty acres of sainfoin and 10 acres of clover 
were cut with the machine, and cost 45. an acre. The corn- 
harvest worked out at about 125. an acre, including everything. 
No difficulty or dispute arose among the men in the division of 
the lump sum earned by them. They know better than any- 
Future of Farming," refers to the letters of tlie special correspoudent of ' Tlie 
Times,' for the example of " a Suftblk farmer who has led the way in introducing 
])iccc-work into almost every department of his business." Mr. Little strong!}' 
advocates the general adoption of this sy stem, and gives the following instance of 
wasteful labour "whicli must have occuiTed to anyone having tlie management 
of a farm. It is a matter of the simplest calcuLuioii that a pair of horses, walking 
the rate of two miles an hour, and ploughing a 9-inch furrow, wiU, in 5i hours, 
accomplish an acre. Add to this the necessarj' time for turning at end, and 
going to and from work, and it will seem a matter of surprise that, uidess closely- 
watched, the ordinary ploughman will scarcely perform his acre of avei-age soil 
in an eight-hours' bout. ' Here not only the miin's but the horses' time is wasted 
•under the day-work system. 
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