On Measure Work. 
133 
one man at 20c?. a day to dig 101 rods of drain, one man a day and 
three-quarters to lay in the tiles (tops and bottoms), and about eight 
days to fill up the drain ; making a total cost of nearly 8c?. a rod. 
The soil was very wet, stony, and hard. On a loamy soil drained 
to the depth of 4 feet with a clay subsoil, the upper 10 inches 
ploughed out, one man would on an average dig 3^ rods per day 
— throwing out about 10 cubic yards of soil — would lay in about 
60 rods of soles and tiles in a day, and fill in 13 rods in a day. 
3. Fencing. — All kinds of hedging, and the labour required in 
keeping live and dead fences in repair, and the pulling down old 
fences, readily admit of payment for task-work by lineal admea- 
surement. In the management of old fences, one of the practices 
in this part of the country is to cut down the old thorns even with 
the surface, and then to make good the loose soil which has 
washed away from the roots. The price per rod varies with the 
age and thickness of the hedge, and with the quantity of soil re- 
quired to make good the bank ; — from 6c?. to 8c?. a rod is usually 
paid, this includes topping the bank with the old thorns as a dead 
fence. Three or three and a half rods will be an average day's 
work ; from 20c?. to 12d. a day may be reckoned fair wages for 
hedging work ; as in addition to his wages the hedger has all the 
small and decayed pieces of firewood. Breasting over hedges 
will cost from 3c?. to Ad. a rod, but the price depends entirely 
upon the size of the hedge. Trimming hedges, or the cutting off 
the young shoots, with a light hook may be done for a \d. or |c?. 
a rod ; if shears are used, the cost will be rather more. Where 
fagots are made, they are paid for by the score ; 6<f. a score is 
paid for the most general size, but the price of course varies a 
little with the size and length. 
3. Task-work to which Solid or Cubic Measure is applicable. 
Cubic Measure. 
1728 cubic inches . . make 1 cubic foot. 
27 cubic feet . . . » 1 cubic yard. 
2218 cubic inches . . j, 1 bushel. 
^over'''*'^} bushels . . „ 1 cubic yard. 
This applies to the moving of soil, the filling into carts of ma- 
nure, clay, marl, or any other soil, the turning of compost and 
manure heaps ; it may also be used in measuring the quantity of 
peat ashes and burnt clay, should the labour of these operations 
be done by task-work. Though such work as digging ditches 
and draining is put out by lineal measure, yet we ought to cal- 
culate the quantity of soil to be dug in a given length, and by 
that means have something to guide us in fixing the price. 
1. Filling, Raising, Carting, and Spreading clay, marl, or chalk 
