562 Somersetshire Farm-Prize Competition, 1875. 
time his labourers have declined accepting it. The wages of » 
shepherd or carter are : — 
Cash 12s. dd. 
Cider (valued) . . . Is. 6tf. 
Rent Is. Or/. 
Potatoes acre) . . Is. Od. = 15s. 6c?. per week. 
Shepherd's payment by results in the lambing season, are 6c?. for 
each double lamb, and Is. per score on singles living June 1st. 
This would add to his wages an average of Is. per week per 
annum. Carters get also in addition to the above, if they work 
through the summer : — 1 ton of coal and 1/. ; being equal to an 
average of Is. per week per annum. The above makes an average 
of 16s. 6c?. per week ; but the lowness of the estimate of rent of 
cottages would further augment the value of the weekly earnings. 
Then the potato-ground, well cultivated and manured, and the 
potatoes carted home, producing a result equivalent to 10/. a-year, 
must be a valuable return to a working man for his seed and 
labour. The system of piece-work is carried out as far as it 
practicably can be : thus, winter hedging, ditching, and reed- 
making are performed on this principle ; and in summer, 
mangold-hoeing twice by hand (the whole of the ground being 
cut between the rows, and setting out from 10 to 12 inches apart) 
is worked on the same system, and costs 13s. per acre ; swede and 
turnip singling, and afterwards cleaning once, costs 9s. ; pulling 
mangolds, cutting off tops, and filling carts, 8s. per acre. This 
last seems remarkably low considering the huge crops grown. 
Hay-mowing was formerly contracted for at 3s. 6rf. per acre, but 
now is done with a grass-mower. The plan hitherto adopted for 
securing the harvest has been to reap half the wheat (that laid, 
or the heaviest being selected) with hooks at 8s. to 9s. per acre, 
for cutting, binding, and stocking. The remaining portion has 
been cut by day-work with a 1-horse manual-delivery reaper, 
the carters and odd men and boys assisting ; the men having an 
allowance of Is., and the boys 6c?., extra per day. This year a self- 
raker will be used, and 6s. per acre given for cutting and stooking. 
Ordinary labourers are paid Is. per week less than the stock- 
men. 1 J quart of cider is allowed for each man per day in the 
winter months, and 2 quarts in the summer, the quantity being 
doubled in the hay and corn harvests. The hours of labour are 
from 7 A.M. till 5 P.M. for the winter, and from 6 A.M. to 6 P.M. 
for the summer, with 1^ hour's interval for meals. The annual 
outlay on the farm in labour, inclusive of perquisites, may be 
estimated at 600/., or 33s. per acre. 
The cider is made on the premises. The two orchards produce 
an average return of 100 hogsheads, and half this quantity is re- 
