JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 375 
result of the establishment of the National Labourers’ Union, which 
for some years put the farmers to serious inconvenience, especially 
in some districts cf the kingdom, and at the same time agitated 
the minds and conduct of the farm labourers, and by combination 
in that way a fund was raised which enabled many labourers to 
emigrate ; but with respect to the rate of wages it had but little 
influence, for the cause of a variation of wages which has occurred 
may still be traced to other circumstances than combination 
amongst the men. To illustrate this, let us take the rate of daily 
wages of able men employed of which we have a record in the 
county of Suffolk upon a light land farm in the month of May in 
the years commencing with 1847 and ending with 1874, which 
varied from 2.?. to 1.?. id. per day for the first seven years of that 
period. During the next seven years the price varied from 2s. to 
1.?. 8 d. per day. For the next seven years the variation was from 
1.?. lOrZ. to Is. 8 d. per day. In the last seven years, however, the 
daily wage was from 2s. to 2s. 2d. per day. This statement repre¬ 
sents the actual payment upon an important occupation of 367 acres, 
and but one thing is clear—that contracts between the masters and 
men decided the rate of wages, and that alone. This fact, how¬ 
ever, leads us to a point at which it becomes impossible to state 
ihe influences at work during the whole of this long period. It is, 
however, sufficient to say that they were many and various, and 
we should be departing from the object of this paper if we were to 
attempt a description of them. We will now endeavour to define 
as nearly as possible what we think may fairly be included in the 
labour bill in farming. 
The nominal rate of wages paid in a given district represents as 
a rule neither the labourer’s full gain nor the farmer’s entire outlay 
in this branch of expenditure. The items which really contribute 
to this expenditure may be classed as follows :—Weekly wages 
for manual labour ; labourers’ extra earnings from piecework, not 
including harvest; extra wages at harvest, whether paid by the 
week or in a lump sum for the job ; difference in the value of cot¬ 
tage and garden where these are let by the farmer to the labourer 
rent free or at rentals below actual value ; perquisites given directly 
or indirectly as a supplement to wages ; wages knowingly paid by 
the home farmer in excess of the value of the labour given in return, 
as in the case of old or infirm hands. 
We will first consider the question of weekly wages for manual 
labour, and for the regulation of which we have a practical guide, 
excepting the various customary payments recognised in the various 
districts of the kingdom, differing considerably in amount, arising 
chiefly from local circumstances and causes. For instance, in the 
case of farms near to large towns or mining districts, the price 
of hand labour of necessity on account of supply and demand is 
much higher than it is in various wide agricultural districts, where 
the people must either submit to the local value of their labour or 
migrate to other districts. 
The old-fashioned way of estimating the value of manual labour 
in the purely agricultural districts used to be calculated by the 
price of Wheat, and the price of one bushel of Wheat with 2s. 6d. 
added was the weekly wage paid for an adult labourer. Thus when 
Wheat was selling at Is. 6d. per bushel the wages would be 10.?. per 
week, and during the Crimean war Wheat rose to 10s. 6d. per 
bushel; the price of labour then advanced to 13f. per week. This 
mode of estimating the value of labour existed chiefly in the eastern 
and southern counties. In some of the western and south-western 
grazing districts, where but little corn was grown, no calculation 
regulated by the value of cereal produce affected the estimate of 
labour value, and the wages were in various cases much lower than 
where it was based upon the price of corn. There was, however, 
one special feature in the value of labour at that period—the work¬ 
men always as a rule gave their strength and bodily prowess in 
exchange for the value received in the shape of weekly wages; and 
this point is extremely important as afEecting the labour bill, and 
compares more favourably with the present condition and value 
of the services of the farm labourer, because at the present time, 
although the value of labour is higher than it ever has been pre¬ 
viously as a rule, and that the money payment will command more 
of the necessaries of life than at any former period, yet it is very 
much against the home farmer of the present when in truth he is 
obliged to state the now daily labourer as a rule gives his labour 
grudgingly, and often with ill temper likewise. 
If we search for the cause or causes of this difference in the 
labourer himself and the value of his labour given, it raises as it 
were a host of points to which we may refer by affecting the posi¬ 
tion generally as between the labourer and his employer. The in¬ 
troduction of machinery has set free some hands, but generally to 
offer them employment only in other ways. For instance, forty 
years ago we threshed all our corn by the flail; now we thresh it 
all by machinery, although we grow no more corn ; indeed, the 
acreage is rather less than it was then. It will be observed, there¬ 
fore, that machinery does not, as was supposed it would, lessen the 
demand for manual labour, but diverts it into other channels, and 
we find that the cost of labour is regulated (in the labour bill) by 
the system of farming and the rotation of crops pursued upon the 
various occupations. Some forty years ago the farmer depended 
almost entirely upon home-made manure ; now the use of arti¬ 
ficial manure prevails, which affects the number of hands employed 
somewhat, and rules the demand for labour. 
(To be continued.) 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Horse Labour .—There has lately been a little hindrance of the 
work for horses upon the arable land; at the same time, however, 
labour has been saved upon some of the fallows in preparation for 
root crops. The carting of manure from the yards has proceeded 
where it has been applied on land just cleared of a green crop, such 
as Rye or Trifolium fed off by sheep. The next work on this land 
will be to plough in the manure, followed by the presser, and as the 
land is moist it will work down fine with a little labour, so that 
drilling may be done immediately; but as the season for drilling 
Mangold is somewhat far advanced the work should all he done 
simultaneously with the ploughing, not only to gain time but to 
prevent delay in the event of the weather continuing showery. When 
it is too wet to work the horses on arable land they can be employed 
to fetch artificial manures from the station or town as the case may 
be, also earth-carting may be done and taken to heap there to be 
preserved until it becomes mellow and fit for earthing the cart horse 
stables, cattle boxes, dairy stalls, and pig pens. In fact, wherever 
animals are accommodated the earth floors will be found not only 
healthy for them to lie upon when properly and carefully managed, 
but prove a great saving of straw for litter—a matter of great import¬ 
ance in the pasture districts where but little arable land is held on 
the home farm, and also in gentlemen’s establishments where straw 
for litter must now be purchased at a high price. 
Hand Labour will now be various—filling and spreading dung on 
land before planting with Cabbage plants, the late rains having 
proved highly favourable for planting in the fields, especially if done 
with the spade, with women and boys to assist in setting and carry¬ 
ing of the plants. In showery weather both men and women may 
retire to the manure house, and be engaged in the breaking of manure, 
screening and mixing with ashes in readiness for the drill. The 
Yellow Tankard Mangold seems to be gaining in favour with the 
home farmer in consequence of its rich feeding quality. As, however, 
the bulbs do not come so large as the Globe variety they should be 
left thicker and closer in the lines at hoeing time to obtain the full 
weight per acre. The preparation of the Carrot seed may be done by 
the women when at work under cover, for we always like to have the 
seed hand-rubbed with the leather harvest gloves to take off the burr 
or husk, in order that the seed may be drilled with greater facility 
and more regularity. We know that it is a common practice to mix 
the seed without any preparation with the artificial manures, and 
drill them together ; but we much prefer to free the seed from the 
burr and drill it in the same way as Mangold or Swede seed. As the 
grass crops are very forward and also likely to prove an abundant 
produce both on the arable and pasture land, the period of hay-making 
should be anticipated ; and in doing so we ask the home farmer to 
seriously consider the avoidance of risk in hay-making offered by the 
use of Gibbs’ hay-drying machine, which, although a very costly 
article, but it in various instances has been paid for in one year upon 
farms where much hay is made, and in districts where the price rules 
high. Mr. Gibbs’ system of withdrawing the heat and moisture from 
hay and corn stacks by the use of his exhaust fan has proved also 
a great success, and is very simple in use and inexpensive in the first 
purchase. The home farmer will do well to visit the Bath and West 
of England Agricultural Society’s coming meeting at Cardiff, or 
otherwise the meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society of England 
to be held at Reading, Berks, where we are informed that Mr. Gibbs’ 
machinery will be shown in full work. The mowing machines, too, 
should now be overlooked and put into repair and condition ready 
for use. At the same time it will be well to overhaul any implements 
likely to be required during the haying season. 
Live Stock .—On purchasing some Channel Islandjcattle lately im¬ 
mediately on their arrival in port, we met with some very choice 
stock in heifers just ready to drop their first calf, and in making our 
selection we obtained very nice animals both of the Guernsey and 
Jersey breeds. But on visiting a ship which was just loading with 
Jersey cattle for New York, and consigned, we were informed, to a 
gentleman at Philadelphia who is taking one hundred of these, the 
very finest, best bred, and choicest that can be obtained, we were 
much surprised at the splendid appearance of these heifers, which 
are due to calve next month ; for although we have been constant 
observers of this breed of cattle not only on their first arrival in.tbis 
country, but also in the exhibitions at the Royal and other agricul¬ 
tural cattle shows, yet we had never seen so many superb specimens 
of the Channel Island breed together before, and especially as the 
animals were all under three years old. And to show their value, we 
were informed that many of these heifers were sold and consigned 
at prices varying from £100 up to £200 each. The shearing of fat 
tegs has been going on for some time, and as it is necessary to use 
great care at the time of washing, we advise the home farmer to make 
