ENGLISH AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS WAGES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2323, 31 May 1887, Page 2

ENGLISH AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS WAGES.

A writer in a teceup hubiJjsc <Qj: a wellknown monthly magazine arakva 'attention to the miserable condition of the farm labourer in South Lincolnshire, especially in those districts purely agricultHrgi i'.eir.oyecl ijQin.d dijjtaijc.e from large towns, fhs position liiqy stdtecl thus Average weekly income (Ave days work) may be taken as 10s sd. ' Deduct Is 5d for rent and 6s for flour for bread and puddings to keep his wife and, say, five children, which leaves 8s for the items of clothing, education, mcdical attendance, and other life necessaries ! There 0-re, doubtless, special cases where sligfitly more is earned for gkjlled work, ai "d where children are old enough to bii'ng in a little by harvesting and hoeing. Of course he has also his small garden plot >!> which he cultivates par»nip£, cabbages, onipns, and'other vegetables, ' .whiojr' form 'the staple sustenance of himself arid his family. But, after all, Hodge has a hard time of it, and if sickness or infirmity oyprtakep jiirr, tie generally to seek relief from the parish. Yet he bears his lot' with a wonderful buoyancy of spirits, ; and goes through his work with a cheery hopefulness and almost comical good nature,