Occupation Notes

The labouring work on the farm, as hay mowing, hedging, ditching, draining and the like, is performed by hired labourers upon day wages, or upon contracts by piecework.  When hired for the whole year round, from half a guinea to 12 shillings a week.  Upon the large farms there usually is one or two  such labourers, having cottages, for which their wives have to shear.  Such labourers may earn from £25 to £30 yearly, besides their harvest wages and food, and generally have extraordinary wages for mowing hay.  The hours of labour during eight months are from six in the morning till six in the evening, with one hour for breakfast and one for dinner, at nine and one respectively.  In the four winter months of November, December, January, and February, work continues during good light, when frost allows, and breakfast is taken before work begins.