394 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 11, 1882. 
give you about 2000, but this rule only applies to rectangular hives. For flat- 
topped skeps you may calculate thus :—Multiply the internal diameter in inches 
by itself, and take three-quarters of the product, which now multiply by the in¬ 
ternal height; this should also give you about the same amount— e.g., if the 
diameter be 17 inches, 17 by 17 = 289. Three-fourths of this (217) multiplied 
by 9 the height gives 1953, which may be taken as a good size ; but all hives to 
really admit of management should be capable of expansion and contraction, 
and this the skep does not. The shallower the hive the more super honey may 
it yield, but the difficulty of successful wintering increases if you decrease the 
depth unduly. Supers are fast giving place to sections, but if you adhere to the 
former no rule can be given you. The larger you choose to make your super the 
less probability of its being filled, but the greater its weight and value if you 
succeed. A thin bottom board for a super over a straw hive is an advantage. 
The size of the hole in the feeding stage may be 2 inches in diameter. If this 
hole is intended to give access to the supers it is usually made 3 inches in dia¬ 
meter, but the plan is primitive, and quite likely to cause your super to be spoilt 
by brood. Your fourth question cannot be answered ; you must consult your 
taste in the matter. The ring of straw would secure a larger harvest than a 
second super. Unquestionably Ligurian bees would do well if properly handled. 
We have known of bees being kept near to you with the greatest success. We 
believe your district is much above the average in suitability to apiary work. 
COYENT GARDEN MARKET.— MAY 10. 
The improvement of last week has not been maintained, and prices have 
generally received a check. 
FRUIT. 
8. 
d. 
8. 
d. 
9. 
d. 
9. 
d 
o 
Otnft 
0 
5 
o 
Apricots. 
doz. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Melons . 
6 
0 
8 
0 
^ tt>. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Nectarines.. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Chestnuts. 
bushel 
16 
0 
0 
0 
Oranges .... 
4 
0 
6 
0 
Currants, Black.. 
$ sieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Beaches .... 
0 
20 
0 
„ Red.... 
i sieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Bears,kitchen .. dozen 
0 
0 
0 
0 
FiffP 
dozen 
8 
0 
10 
0 
dessert .... 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Filberts. 
ip-lb. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Bine Apples 
.... V It 
1 
6 
2 
0 
Cobs. 
V mo It-. 
45 
0 
to 
0 
Strawberries 
.... peril). 
o 
0 
G 
0 
Gooseberries .... 
4 sieve 
G 
0 
7 
0 
Walnuts ... 
7 
0 
8 
0 
Grapes . 
it 
3 
0 
G 
0 
VEGETABLES. 
8. 
d. 
9. 
d. 
9. 
d. 
8. 
d. 
Artichokes. 
dozen 
2 
0 to 4 
0 
Mushrooms 
1 
0 to 1 
6 
Asparagus. 
bundle 
3 
G 
6 
0 
Mustard* Cress .. punnet 
0 
2 
0 
3 
Beans,Kidney... 
V 100 
1 
3 
1 
G 
Onions. 
3 
6 
0 
0 
Beet, Red. 
dozen 
1 
0 
2 
0 
pickling .. 
0 
0 
0 
5 
Broccoli. 
bundle 
0 
9 
i 
6 
Barsley. 
doz.bunches 
3 
0 
4 
0 
Brussels Sprouts. 
$ sieve 
1 
3 
i 
6 
Barsnips .... 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Cabbage . 
dozen 
0 
6 
1 
0 
Potatoes .... 
2 
6 
3 
6 
Carrots. 
bunch 
0 
4 
0 
6 
K idney.... 
3 
0 
3 
0 
Capsicums. 
too 
1 
6 
2 
0 
Radishes.... 
doz .bunches 
1 
0 
0 
6 
Cauliflowers. 
dozen 
1 
0 
3 
6 
Rhubarb .... 
0 
4 
0 
6 
Celery . 
bund le 
1 
6 
2 
0 
Salsafy. 
i 
0 
0 
0 
Coleworts_doz. bunches 
2 
0 
4 
0 
Scorzonera 
1 
6 
0 
0 
Cucumbers. 
each 
0 
4 
0 
6 
Seakale .... 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Endive. 
dozen 
1 
0 
2 
u 
Shallots .... 
0 
3 
0 
O 
Fennel. 
bunch 
0 
3 
0 
0 
Spinach .... 
3 
0 
0 
0 
G rlie . 
. f It. 
0 
6 
0 
0 
Tomatoes .. 
1 
0 
2 
G 
Herbs. 
bunch 
0 
2 
0 
c 
Turnips. 
4 
0 
0 
Leeks. 
. bunch 
0 
s 
0 
4 
Vegetable Marrows each 
0 
0 
0 
0 
SSI 
(If HOME FARM ' H 
ka 
IB 
POULTRY AND PIGEON CHRONICLE. 
MANUAL LABOUR IN FARMING. 
(Continued from page 375.) 
It is bad policy to continue paying men of different capabilities 
and knowledge of their labour on the same work at the same rate, 
for although it is common amongst farmers to do this we consider 
it not only unjustifiable and inexpedient to follow such a practice, 
but is calculated to render the workmen extremely dissatisfied with 
their position. The fact of men being thus placed in their daily 
employment is a source of dissatisfaction to both employer and 
employed, and the only means we can see of avoiding this is to 
adopt the system of piece work, in which every man is paid accord¬ 
ing to his earnings and the quality of his work. 
Let us now consider in the interest of the home farmer the rela¬ 
tive cost of labour in various parts of the kingdom, for this will, 
of course, vary much. One thing is, however, certain—that the 
value or cost of labour will not be affected as formerly by the price 
of corn or other produce. It is also difficult to arrive at any satis¬ 
factory conclusion upon the comparative cost of labour upon large 
or small farms ; we must, therefore, look only to the practical re¬ 
sult in the actual payments made in the various districts of the 
kingdom. It is difficult to conceive how this can be fairly stated 
without its assisting the home farmer to some extent in arranging 
the labour question upon whatever soil or climate he may be 
managing, or whether the occupation may consist of varying pro¬ 
portions of arable and pasture. If we take the cost of manual 
labour during the past fifteen or sixteen years in the midland 
counties it may be stated thus:—Wages have risen from 25 to up¬ 
wards of 30 per cent., for in 1864 a good able-bodied labourer would 
earn 12*. per week, besides beer and other perquisites, and in many 
cases have a cottage and half a rood of ground rent free in addi¬ 
tion, worth 2*. 6<7. or 3.?. per week. This, however, only states 
part of the case, for notwithstanding the extra cost of labour the 
farmer does not get above two-thirds of the work which used to 
be done, although for some years past the men have been receiving 
pay varying from 15*. to 17*. per week, with the same perquisites 
of beer, &c., as in 1864. Boys fit for driving the plough formerly 
received 2*. and 2*. Gd. per week ; women 10<Z. per day. At the 
present time, however, this kind of labour is scarce until lads are 
old enough or have had sufficient learning to leave school under 
the Education Act, for a lad is now getting 6*. per week at eleven 
years of age, if fourteen or fifteen years old 9*. a week, and if 
seventeen years old 12*. per week. The women at day work get 
from 1*. 3d. to 1*. Gd. per day, with the opportunity of piece work, 
by which the strongest and most willing hands can earn as much 
as the men. The chief difficulty is, however, to obtain women to 
work in the fields at all. This is very unfortunate for the home 
farmer, as it is positively impossible to have various kinds of work 
done which would contribute not only to profit but to the ordinary 
decency of the farm premises in the absence of female labour, 
except at a cost which renders it difficult to secure the advantages 
which were formerly obtained through this source. 
As a matter of course, the increase of wages tells adversely by 
diminishing profits. But it must be noticed that the use of 
machinery and the progress of the systems of agriculture gene¬ 
rally (until within the past few years of depression) had given a 
fillip to wages, and has tended to increase the difficulties of the 
home farmer in his competition with foreign corn importations and 
the simultaneous increase of local rates. In referring to wages 
given in the different paitsof the kingdom we must not omit Scot¬ 
land, and we fiud that in Forfarshire and in Aberdeenshire the 
wages of farm labourers have risen rapidly. One informant tells 
us of the contrast between the cost of labour now and formerly. 
Thirty years ago the money wages in the bothy system were £12 a 
year, twenty years ago £18, four years ago £24, and lately the 
money wages were £34 a year. The men are usually engaged by 
the year, but sometimes half-yearly. Payments in kind, however, 
are common, and consist of an allowance of two pecks of meal per 
week, one pint of new milk a day, with fire and light in the bothy. 
These items and bothy accommodation are estimated at 6*. Gd. per 
week, the money wages lately paid 13*.; total weekly wages of 
Scotch able-bodied labourer under the bothy system, 19*. 6rZ. per 
week. 
In the labour reports from Scotland we find that the Scotch hind 
works harder than the southern labourer, which is illustrated by 
the smallness of the staff of labourers upon the Scotch farms. We 
are informed the southern farmers have not secured from the in¬ 
troduction of machinery the same saving in manual labour which 
has been effected in the best managed Scotch districts. Now we 
should hesitate to suggest the better management and supervision 
of labour in Scotland and some northern counties of England but 
for the fact stated by the farmers in the eastern counties during 
the strikes and lock-out of 1874, that they were able to dispense 
with much labour which they had hitherto been accustomed to re¬ 
gard as indispensable, and thus a discovery was forced upon the 
eastern counties which Scotchmen had made for themselves a long 
time previous. In the remarks we have made relating to the bothy 
system and yearling system we do not mean to say that it repre¬ 
sents the rate of wages generally paid either in Scotland or north 
of England, for we find an important comparison drawn by Mr. 
C. S. Read of Norfolk in his letter to the Times in October 17th, 
1874, as regards his payments for labour, and that of Mr. Barclay, 
a tenant farmer of Forfarshire. He says, “ I find that the average 
weekly pay of a common day labourer in Norfolk to be about 
17*. Gd., whereas in Scotland and Northumberland he was assured 
it came to nearly 25*., yet the cost of manual labour upon the two 
farms being nearly equal in their requirements show that the 
highest total labour bill was paid in the case of the lowest rate of 
wages.” This confirms to a great extent our previous observation 
—that the causes contributing to the smaller labour account in 
Scotch farming were a better quality of labour, and keener super¬ 
vision and regulation of it by the farmer. 
The next point is earnings by piece work, not including harvest. 
Gang work, which is peculiar to some of the eastern counties, 
