On  the  Farming  of  Somerset. 
754 
welfare  of  the  lalxiurer,  as  secretary  to  an  association  founded 
exclusively  for  the  encouragement  of  the  labourer.  Agricultural 
Societies,  for  giving  prizes  to  labourers,  show  at  least  some  sym- 
pathy for  the  working  man,  and  help  to  remind  others  of  his 
needs.  But  what  is  a “ coat,  buttons,  and  framed  testimonial  of 
merit”  in  return  for  a life  of  labour  ? 
After  all  that  palliatives  can  do,  the  question  remains,  why  are 
wages  so  low7,  and  how  are  they  to  be  raised  ? I know'  of  only 
one  answer — wages  will  rise  when  there  is  more  work  to  be  done 
or  fewer  hands  in  proportion  to  the  work. 
In  order  to  cure  the  evil,  we  must  look  it  fully  in  the  face,  and 
know  what  is  the  present  disproportion  between  the  number  of 
the  labourers  and  the  land  under  cultivation.  Let  us  compare 
the  population  of  some  of  the  best  arable  land  in  Somerset  with 
that  of  other  districts  less  fertile  by  nature,  in  which  farming  is 
carried  to  a far  higher  pitch.  For  instance,  in  the  hundred  of 
South  Petherton  w e find  46  persons  on  1 00  acres ; in  the  large 
parish  of  South  Petherton  itself  80  persons  on  100  acres,  and  in 
three  neighbouring  villages  there  are  as  many  persons  as  acres. 
Contrast  with  this  the  position  of  the  labourers  in  West  Norfolk 
and  on  the  heath  and  wolds  of  Lincolnshire.  In  the  hundred  of 
Freebridge  Lynn,  in  West  Norfolk  (containing  the  well-known 
farm  of  Castle  Acre),  there  are  only  17  persons  to  every  100 
acres,  or  about  6 acres  to  a person,  and  the  wages  till  lately  were 
1 Is.  a week.  In  Largo  Wappentake,  on  Lincoln  Heath,  there 
are  14  persons  to  every  100  acres,  and  in  the  hundred  of  Brockles- 
bury-on-the-Wolds,  II  persons  to  every  100  acres,  or  8 acres  to  a 
person,  and  the  w ages  12s.  a week.  The  consequence  is  that  the 
farmers  have  no  more  workmen  than  they  absolutely  want  all 
through  the  year,  and  strangers  are  in  request  in  harvest-time  and 
all  times  of  pressure. 
And  though  it  may  be  said  that  these  are  extreme  cases  in  each 
county,  still  if  we  take  the  average  over  the  whole  of  the  three 
counties,  there  are  for  every  100  acres  in  Somersetshire  41 
persons;  in  Norfolk,  32  ; and  in  Lincoln,  22 ; and  inasmuch  as 
very  much  more  than  half  the  land  in  Somersetshire  is  grass  land 
or  uninclosed,  the  disproportion  between  the  population  and  the 
amount  of  agricultural  employ  ment  is  greatly  increased. 
The  fact  is,  that  in  the  district  between  South  Petherton  and 
Yeovil,  unless  the  glove  trade  is  thriving,  the  people  suffer  the 
most  severe  privations,  and  although  the  earnings  of  the  women 
and  children  as  glove-sewers  in  the  villages  of  this  district  help  to 
eke  out  the  maintenance  of  the  families,  the  reliance  on  this  un- 
certain trade  causes  the  farm-labourers  to  accept  in  ordinary  tunes 
a rate  of  wages  almost  below  the  minimum  of  human  subsistence. 
The  earnings  of  the  glove  trade,  even  ac  the  best,  are  cruelly  cut 
