318 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ Oc'obfr 8, 1891. 
LABOUR MIGRATION. 
Perhaps one of the most remarkable results of the agricultural 
depression is the steady migration of farm labourers from their 
native villages to the already overcrowded centres of population, in 
search of employment for the means of bare subsistence denied to 
them in the country from stress of circumstances and nothing else. 
Certain of our legislators affect to be puzzled by this state of things, 
and we have heard of proposed commissions and special inquiries, 
but surely no sensible man giving heed to what is going on around 
him can long be at a loss for a cause which is so apparent and 
so very real ? 
It is simply a case of supply and demand. One of the first 
laws of Nature is self-protection, and the farmer who from the 
low prices of farm produce becomes straitened in means cannot 
afford to employ so much labour as of yore, and so the young men 
have to go ; aye, and the middle-aged men too in many an instance. 
In the instance given a week or two ago of the reclamation of a 
farm of 400 acres, all the labourers, except those required for 
tending live stock, were discharged. There was a terrible outcry 
at the next meeting of the local board of guardians about so many 
able-bodied men coming upon the union for means of subsistence, 
but we were prepared for that, and most of the' men went away 
eventually. All this may sound very cruel and heartless, but we repeat 
self-preservation is the first law of Nature, and for a farmer to go on 
paying for labour with money which he cannot afford is positively 
dishonest ; because in the end it will land him in bankruptcy, and 
others will have to suffer loss through his sentimental folly. 
Really ! to read some of the advice given to farmers about their 
duties to the labourer one would suppose the farmer to be a large 
hearted philanthropist, whose duty it is to sacrifice himself for the 
good of his workmen. 
Take the other side if you will, the workman’s side, and see 
if there is much to tempt him to cling to the land. In the great 
corn-growing district of East Anglia his ordinary rate of pay 
is 9s. per week, of which Is. has to be left as rent of the cottage 
he and his family occupy. Can one wonder that the underfed 
man is a poor workman ? Can we wonder at the pallid pinched 
face of his wife, or the ricketty appearance of his children ? Of 
course there is haysel and harvest to afford a little extra money. 
Our remedy in that district has been to place as much piece-work 
in the men’s hands as we could, so as to give them a chance to 
earn a fair wage. Hodge’s weak point, when he finds himself 
earning more money than hitherto, is beer. There are some good, 
thrifty men who do not give way, we have some in our employ 
at the present time, but the majority will have the beer, and with 
them nothing short of drunkenness is enough. Publicans are for¬ 
bidden to draw beer for a man who has evidently more than is 
good for him ; but it comes within our recent experience that in 
the inns of quiet country villages men habitually become roaring 
drunk without any interference whatever. 
If under the scheme of technical education teachers appointed 
by county councils can induce habits of self-respect, self-denial, 
and thrift, by showing the working man how to turn his spare 
time to profitable account a great work will be done. It will 
have to be done chiefly at the centres of population, for nothing 
can check the steady flow of the labourer to the towns. But a 
glance at the suburbs of such towns as Nottingham and Leicester 
will show how highly such information will be appreciated by 
the hundreds and thousands of holders of allotments and garden 
plots. 
When the depression fell upon agriculture great was the outcry 
about the burdens of lithes, ratt s, and iaxes ujon the land ; the 
hardship of the cv=e was so pa’pable that the question was often 
asked, Ought not commercial men to share our burden ? They 
met tie p-oposal with scorn, but what h s happened? The 
labourers have gone to the towns, and have not only to be kept 
going somehow, but the town and suburban po rs tafes have 
mounted up lid what with most exorbitant poors rates, 
highways rates, sanitary rates, and free education, a mm has to 
pay precious dear for the privilege of residing in or near a British 
town. That is all right. There is a hidden law of Nature always 
working quietly to set right all great wrongs. There may be, 
there generally is, much suffering before right is done, but the end 
is inevitable. 
What, we would ask, would anyone do with the people if they 
could get them back upon the land ? A sj stem of petite, cu’ture ? 
No, thank you. The British workman of the future is not to be 
brought down to ths level o p a gr vel iog French pay sail ; he 
would not submit to it. Arain we say the matter long ago 
resolved itself into a question of supply and demand, and depend 
upon it it will remain so. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Glorious weather as we write, a brisk wind from the west, bright 
sunshine, and dust flyiirg plentifully btfore the traffic on the public 
roads. Do not waste a day, do not waste an hour of the golden oppor¬ 
tunity to clean and prepare the soil for winter corn or winter weather. 
It is our local market to-day, and sorry indeed we are to see the road 
alive with traffic. How heartily do w*e wish the worthy farmers could 
afford to keep at home, to stick to the land, and bide their time for a 
sale. No farmer having a small farm of say 100 to 200 acres ought to 
look on at the p’oughing or any work, but he ought to play first fiddle 
in all of it: mind that. It is the looking-on so much that has brought 
ruin to so many farmers. One of the kindest-hearted, best-natured men 
we know, was a yeoman farmer of some 150 acres to whom the de¬ 
pression brought ruin, yet it never appeared to enter his head to hold a 
plough or do any regular labour which might tend to help him, and so 
he went under. The masters’ eye and hand tell always, but now 
especially should they be upon the work early and late. 
Next spring will come the usual complaint of arrears of work, of wet 
seed beds and so forth, simply because the fine weather for autumn 
tillage which we have now was not turned to account. Our readers 
can have no excuse, for they have had a weekly reminder lately, and 
we hope they have acted upon it. 
Look closely to the live stock. The nights grow cold, October is here, 
soon we may have heavy rainfall, and all stock exposed to it will suffer 
more or less from exhaustion. Have the yards and hovels ready, with 
an ample store of p'enty of dry litter, and let the stock have the full 
benefit of it. Have you got the young stock quite free from hoose ? If 
not, pray do not suffer the poor animals to continue suffering from a 
disease which is so exhaustive, and for which the remedy is so simple 
and so sure. If our warning to keep in the calves has not had attention, 
see that this is done forthwith. Have your live stock thoroughly in 
hand, and let no disease or loss arise through any inattention on your 
part. Let prevention be your policy as regards every form of disease. 
Be very cautious about any new purchases, and keep them quite apart 
from other stock till they prove to be quite sound. If this were only 
done generally, we have no doubt at all about infectious diseases being 
stamped out. Carelessness and filth unfortunately still prevail, so does 
swine fever. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDdtN SQUARE, LONDON. 
Lat. 61° 32' 40" N.; Long. 0° 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
1891. 
• Ql> c3 
Hygrome- 
£3 . 
o-g • 
Shade Tem- 
Radiation 
0 
September and 
ter. 
S a 
d- S 
perature. 
Temperature 
35 
tf 
October. 
| 
a o«~ 
1 iQ 
On 
03“ uj 
Dry. Wet. 
Qo 
H 
Max 
Min. 
| sun. 
gras; 
Inches. 
deg | deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
1 deg' 
deg 
In. 
Sunday ...... 27 
29.9 5 
53.8 5 .8 
w. 
55.5 
04.0 
49.6 
103.4 
44.7 
_ 
Monday.28 
30.195 
58.6 | 54.2 
s.w. 
54.8 
67.9 
45.8 
110.5 
40.6 
_ 
Tuesday .... 29 
SO.018 
58.3 55.9 
s. 
54.7 
60.7 
49.9 
109.2 
41.9 
o.oto 
Wednesday.. 30 
£9.938 
55.9 52.3 
s.w. 
55.8 
67.2 
52.1 
1(9.2 
46.4 
0.041 
Thursday.... 1 
29.020 
61.6 ; 58.9 
s. 
58.1 
64.6 
53.1 
1 92.2 
53.’ 
0.454 
Friday . 2 
29.886 
49.9 47.3 
s.w. 
55.4 
61.6 
43.1 
104.0 
39.2 
Saturday .... 8 
30.249 
49.1 47.2 
s.s.w. 
53.8 
62.0 
40.0 
94.6 
35.9 
— 
£9.982 
55.5 52.3 
55.2 
65.3 
48.1 
103.7 
41 1 
0.605 
REMARKS. 
£7th.—Bright till 11A.M., cloudy at times after. 
2-th.—Bright and warm. 
29th.—Generally bright and warm, but frequently cloudy a'ter 4 P.M. 
30th.—Bright fine dhy; cloudy ei eu ins ; rain at night. 
1st— Dull and showery eirlv : fini lr. m 8.30 A.M. to 2.31 P.M., then continual s heavy 
rain till 8 P.M., and fair a'ter. 
2nd.—R'illian’ and fresh. 
3rd.—Clear and cool. 
moderately fine week. Temperature slightly above the ave age.—G. J. 8YYON3. 
