236 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
September  6,  1900, 
Tlie  Wages  Question  Again. 
The  report  by  Mr.  Wilson  Fox  on  wages  and  earnings  of 
agricultural  labourers  has  just  been  published.  It  is  a  very  important 
one,  embodying  as  it  does  the  results  of  the  special  inquiries  which  he 
has  been  making  on  the  subject  over  the  whole  of  the  United  Kingdom. 
It  not  only  shows  the  earnings  of  the  servant,  but  at  the  same  time  we 
may  see  what  the  employer  has  to  pay  for  his  labour  bill,  and  realise 
more  fully  the  difEculty  which  besets  him  in  the  effort  to  keep  the 
ball  rolling. 
No  one  will  grudge  the  labourer  his  better  rate  of  hire,  for  that 
there  is  great  general  improvement  in  this  respect  admits  of  no  doubt, 
and  as  long  as  the  money  is  not  provided  at  the  expense  of  ill-advised 
economies  in  other  items  of  expenditure  or  out  of  capital  it  gives 
cause  for  congratulation,  and  is  a  distinct  benefit  to  the  nation.  The 
rise  in  agricultural  wages  is  not  the  result  of  special  prosperity  amongst 
farmers.  No  doubt  farming  pro-^pects  have  improved  a  little  during  the 
last  four  or  five  years,  but  the  revival  is  only  from  a  very  low  standard, 
and  amounts  merely  to  this:  that  times  are  less  depressed  than  they 
were  ;  the  balance  is  inclined  to  swing  to  the  right  side,  but  the  impetus 
in  that  direction  is  not  very  marked,  and  hardly  strong  enough  to  over¬ 
come  obstruction  caused  by  laoour  difficulties.  Wages  have  risen 
because  men  have  been  scarce.  The  competition  of  other  and  more 
thriving  industries  for  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  nation  is  responsible 
for  the  increase  in  the  weekly  pay-sheet  of  the  farm,  arid  there  is 
little  prospect,  at  any  rate  for  a  few  years,  of  any  alteration  in  this 
respect. 
The  chief  and  most  important  items  in  the  report  are  the  tables 
relating  to  the  wages  of  ordinary  day  labourers  or  men  not  employ'd 
in  attendance  on  live  stock.  The  averages  for  1898  for  the  four  counties 
were  England  16s.  10 J.  weekly,  Wales  16s.  .5d.,  Scotland  18s.  Id., 
Ireland  10s.  Id.  Surely  the  latter  item  does  not  represent  a  full 
weeks  work.  We  imagine  the  smallness  of  the  wage  is  affected  by 
considerable  periods  of  broken  time,  as  the  Iiish  labourer  who  comes 
to  this  country  always  wants  a  week’s  wage  for  a  week’s  work. 
Whether  the  northern  worker  is  stronger  or  more  intelligent  than  his 
southern  counterpart,  or  whether  he  is  more  naturally  industrious  or 
better  capable  of  obtaining  a  good  price  for  his  services,  at  any  rate  the 
fact  is  that  the  farther  we  travel  northward  the  higher  is  the  scale  of 
payment  to  labourers. 
The  highest  wages  are  paid  in  Renfrew,  where  they  show  an  average 
of  21s.  9d.  per  week,  the  counties  of  Lanark,  Stirling,  Dumbarton, 
Durham,  aud  Northumberland  following  closely  behind,  and  all 
averaging  over  20s.  As  all  these  counties  have  extensive  coal  mines 
or  manufactories  within  their  borders  high  wages  are  not  a  matter  for 
surprise,  farmers  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  large  manufacturing 
OT  mining  centres  always  having  to  pay  a  heavy  price  for  labour. 
They  should  have  fair  compensation  in  having  so  many  food  consumers, 
and  therefore  a  good  retail  market  so  near  their  own  doors. 
The  lowest  weekly  earnings  in  England  are  lls.  5d.  per  week 
average  of  the  county  of  Suffolk.  In  Wales  Cardigan  is  the  lowest. 
Ids.  9 1.  In  Scotland,  Caithness,  lls.,  which  is  too  far  north  for 
manufactures,  and  is  not  of  much  importance  agriculturally.  In  the 
Irish  county  Mayo  the  average  earnings  are  but  8s.  7d.  per  week,  or 
about  Is.  5d.  per  day  if  the  men  work  every  day,  but  as  there  aie  few 
labourers  pure  and  simple  in  the  wilds  of  Mayo,  but  many  small 
holders,  these  latter  may  work  three  or  four  days  a  week  for  wages 
and  spend  the  other  time  on  their  own  holdings. 
Payments  other  than  cash  vary  very  much  ;  they  include  free  house, 
bacon,  keep  of  a  cow,  potatoes  and  fuel,  also  free  board  during  harvest 
or  at  other  busy  times.  The  value  of  these  perquisites  vary  from  Is.  3d. 
per  week  to  3s.  2d.  per  week  average  per  man.  In  individual  cases 
with  which  we  are  acquainted  the  allowances  would  come  to  much 
more  than  this,  bacon  and  house  rent  alone  amounting  to  5s.  6d.  per 
we'k.  Valuable  and  interesting  information  has  been  obtained  from  a 
large  number  of  farms  as  to  the  rate  of  wages  which  have  been  paid 
for  a  great  many  years.  The  year  1850  has  been  taken  as  one  to 
compare  with  present  times,  and  we  find  an  average  increase  of  48  per 
cent,  in  wages  of  1898  compared  with  those  of  1850  on  the  same  farms, 
but  as  farming  and  wages  were  much  depressed  in  1850  the  48  per 
cent,  increase  will  require  discounting  a  little. 
In  1855,  when  prices  had  risen  owing  to  the  Crimean  war,  wages 
had  risen  too,  being  25  per  cent,  above  those  of  1850,  and  the  average 
increase  since  1855  is  only  22  per  cent.  We  imagine  farmers  would 
be  very  willing  to  submit  to  this  22  per  cent,  tax  if  they  could  realise 
the  prices  for  corn  which  in  1855  prevailed ;  80  per  cent,  for  Wheat 
and  50  per  cent,  for  Barley  would  make  the  mare  fairly  gallop. 
During  the  trade  boom  of  the  seventies  wages  rose  very  conslder- 
ablv,  and  in  1877  reached  a  point  nearlv  as  high  as  they  reached  in 
1898.  After  the  disastrous  .'^eason  of  1879  wages  began  to  lall,  and 
following  closely  on  the  depression  in  agriculture  reached  their  lowest 
point  in  1893  and  1894,  when  prices  of  Wheat  and  Brrley  were 
22s.  lOd.  and  24s.  6d.  per  quarter  respectively.  To  quote  the  report, 
*■  In  1894-95  wages  in  certain  counties  were  lower  than  they  had 
been  since  the  sixties,  but  since  1895  an  upward  movement  has 
been  taking  place,  and  th's  is  attributed  in  a  great  measure  to  the 
scarcity  of  labour,  which  has  been  felt  in  many  agricultural  districts, 
owing  to  the  competition  ot  the  manufacturing  centres,  the  collieries, 
and  the  budding  trades.  But  in  addition  farmers  have  been  in  rather 
better  circumstances  during  the  last  two  or  three  years,  owing  to 
several  favo  rable  seasons  in  succession.”  We  must  object  to  the 
word  several  here,  for  the  season  of  1896,  when  thousands  of  farmers 
had  their  harvest  practically  destroyed  by  continuous  rain  during 
harvest,  could  hardly  be  called  a  favourable  one.  Other  statistics  show 
that  wages  showed  a  rise  of  4d.  per  week  in  1899  over  1898,  and  8Jd. 
per  week  further  in  1900.  This  would  be  equivalent  to  another 
per  cent. 
Mr.  Fox  compares  agricultural  wages  with  those  of  other  industries* 
and  shows  that  the  earnings  per  head  of  the  farm  labourers  have 
increased  more  than  have  those  of  most  other  workers,  mining  being 
the  exception ;  so  if  we  compare  them  proportionately  we  shall  find 
the  increase  per  cent,  greater  still,  as  farm  wages  were  so  much  lower 
than  the  others  to  sta't  with. 
It  is  evident  that  the  old  range  of  wages  will  not  again  be  seen, 
for  with  the  spread  of  knowledge  men  look  further  for  employment,  if 
such  as  they  consider  profitable  is  not  near  at  hand,  and  only  good 
wages  will  retain  on  the  land  labour  worth  retaining.  Farmers  will 
have  to  depend  more  and  more  on  machinery,  the  men  in  charge  being 
much  more  skilled  and  better  qualified  to  act  the  part  of  mechanics, 
aud  they  will  have  to  be  well  paid  accordingly. 
Work  on  tl|e  Home  Farm. 
Cooler  weather,  with  bright  sunny  days  and  strong  breezes,  have 
done  much  to  rejoice  the  farmer’s  heart.  The  depression  caused  by  the 
heavy  rains,  which  began  to  remind  him  too  much  of  1896,  has  passed 
away  and  is  forgotten.  Many  fields  have  been  cleared ;  that  which 
remains  is  nowin  fine  condition,  and  the  rumble  of  the  waggons  is 
continuous.  The  Barley  which  stood  the  rain  in  stook  has  benefited 
by  the  soaking.  It  has  lost  a  little  in  colour,  but  it  has  gained 
considerably  in  quality.  Ic  has  lost  the  steeliness  which  characterised 
so  much  of  this  year’s  Barley,  and  will  no  doubt  malt  much  better. 
It  will  require  at  least  two  months  in  stack  before  being  thrashed, 
so  as  to  get  well  over  the  sweating  process  through  which  it  is  sure 
to  pass. 
Part  thatching  was  done  whilst  waiting  for  the  grain  to  dry.  There 
is  nothing  pleasanter  to  look  upon  than  a  well-made  and  well-thatched 
stack,  and  such  are  great  additions  to  rustic  scenery,  but  pretty  is  that 
pretty  does,  and  thatch  must  be  put  on  to  turn  rain  and  resist  wind. 
The  first  string  above  the  eaves  must  be  well  pegged,  the  pegs  must 
be  sound  as  well  as  of  good  length,  and  they  should  be  not  more 
than  8  inches  apart.  For  the  rows  shorter  and  much  fewer  pegs  will 
do,  for  the  lowest  string  has  all  the  pressure  to  bear.  For  very  exposed 
corners  two  or  three  strong  pegs  may  be  driven  into  the  stack,  pointing 
a  little  upwards,  just  under  the  eaves,  and  if  a  string  be  tied  from 
each  of  them  to  a  peg  above  in  the  first  row  it  will  be  a  big  wind  that 
will  move  them. 
The  cooler  weather  is  grand  for  Potatoes,  and  may  check  the  disease, 
which  had  put  in  a  very  threatening  appearance.  The  black  spot 
attacked  the  leaves,  and  was  spreading  very  rapidly.  Reports  as  to  the 
efficacy  of  spraying  vary  much,  and  it  is  too  early  to  give  judgment, 
but  in  one  or  two  cases  where  great  pains  have  been  taken  to  carry  out 
the  operation  properly  two  and  three  times  over  not  the  slightest 
difference  in  the  appearance  of  the  haulm  of  the  sprayed  and  unsprayed 
can  be  seen. 
We  see  that  inventors  are  turning  their  attention  to  the  manufacture 
of  a  stooking  machine.  One  which  would  gather  up  and  load  loose  com 
would  be  more  useful.  If  we  could  cut  the  crops  and  let  them  lie  in 
loose  sheaf  till  thoroughly  dry,  then  gather  them  up  by  machinery  and 
convey  them  to  the  stack  without  manual  labour,  a  great  boon  would  be 
conferred  on  us.  There  are  machines  for  loading  loose  hay.  Why  not 
load  loose  corn  ? 
