On Measure Work. 
125 
acre. Tlie hours of labour in mowing grass are from five in the 
morning to seven in the evening, stopping two hours in the mean- 
time ; they thus labour twelve hours in a day, during which an 
expert mower will cut 1^ acre ; the generality of men will earn 
in money about 35. a-day. The cost of cutting low meadow-grass 
b rather higher than of cutting upland. Mowing clover and rye- 
grass is generally more quickly performed, and consequently the 
rate per acre is lower. I find the average price per acre is 2s., 
or 20d. and half a gallon of beer ; the quantity mown in a day 
nearly 1^ acre ; the earnings of a man will thus vary from 2s. 6d. 
to 3s. The cutting seed-crops of clover and rye-grass does not 
greatly differ from the mowing for making into hay. Men 
engaged to mow grass by the day have 2*. and an allowance of 
beer ; but they cannot of course be fairly expected to work so hard 
if paid in this manner. The making grass into hay is occasionally 
put out by the job at the rate of 4s. an acre for mowing and 
making ; this gives ample employment to the wives and children 
of the mowers. But the farmer must not be guided in his opinion 
of the right time of carting by his men, for if he is he will in all 
probability have it carted before it is in a fit state for stacking. 
2. Mowing wheat is a practice coming into use in preference 
to reaping ; the rate paid per acre depends of course upon the 
bulk of the crop, and on the abundance of labourers during har- 
vest : for a light crop 6s., and for a heavy one 8s. are paid per 
acre ; this includes mowing, tying, shocking, and raking. The 
mowing constitutes barely half the labour, though the making and 
binding the sheaves may be done by boys ; a strong lad will make 
and bind sheaves as fast as one man mows. A man in a day of 
ten hours will mow upwards of an acre, and with the assistance of 
another man, or of two boys, he will be able to complete the 
other operations required in cutting an acre of an average crop of 
wheat. 
3. Reaping is also generally done by the acre, and in seasons 
when the crop is heavy or lodged by rain, it becomes a tedious 
labour ; the price per acre for a medium crop of wheat that stands 
upright is about 8s. ; but if the wheat is lodged, from 10s. to 12s. 
A good reaper will sometimes cut more than half an acre in a 
day, but the generality do not cut more than one- third. Reaping 
beans costs about 6s. an acre. Strangers are frequently employed 
to mow or reap wheat ; I consider it a good plan to supply them 
with beer at the rate of a gallon for each acre : this will greatly 
influence the workmen, as they then will have no occasion to go 
to the beer-shops for drink sold at a high price. The cost to the 
farmer will be but little, as he can brew beer for the purpose 
at about 6fZ. a gallon. 
4. Mowing Barley or Oats is usually included in the contract 
