Life on the Land Sixty Years Ago.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVIII, Issue 26, 25 December 1912, Page 36

Life on the Land Sixty Years Ago.

WHEN FARM I.ABOI’RERS WERE PAID 7 A WEEK. Lit.- in "the hungry forth--" iscribed in a letter which reache 1 th? London "Daily New-" from a correspondent who prefer- to he known as "G.G." "In ISt'.l.” he write-. "1 w.i- a Lox eight ‘ami a-half year- of age. and lixe.l at" Ke'.mseott. Oxen. My tii-t employ nient was -earing -mall bird- off a piceof tmnip -eed. and in dune and duly I worked from -unrise to -unset isixteen hour- a day i. ami wa- paid 1 li per w.ek of -ex on days. "The farm lalxmrer’- pax at that t ine ami place wa- 7 per week iday work-. For moxving and reaping hay and h irx .--t (piece work i he wa- |-aid 2 and 2•• per acre for flu- former and S to It* I>er acre for the latter, with an oe-a-sional 12 tor extra heavy crop. lot turnip and -xxede hoeing the pay xxa-: Setting out a . seconding 3 6 to 4 ]>er acre. Harvest and hay carting and -tacking were paid 2 per .lax, and thmen work—l from li a.m. till dark, with the u-ual potation of ls-er aim- six to eight pint- per day. When Food Was Cheap. "Bread at tlv.lt tin., wa- 4.1 the 41b l.uif. good tillage made fre-h butter wa--7d lb. egg- were 24 the -hilling in -urn liter ami 12 in winter. Cheese xva- from a penny to 3.1 per lb. Potato.--. el.-., were all grown in the gar-leu-. Ti:e rent Ot eottag- ami garden wa- I to 1 .6 p.-i "Four tear- later, at from 12 to 13. I was receiving 4 per week of seven diys with tree br-akta-t at the ma-t i’hou Sunday mornings, a- under sheplierd. The head shepherd received 10 pet week, with fr« cottage ami gar den ami bi aktast on Sunday. with I ' per -core extra for -hearing the foe’s aml a pound cxtri for tin- lambing « a son. which, ot course, demanded atten tion night and -lay. "Carters xx. re paid Id to 12 pel week, with free cottage ami garden, am

40 extra for hay and harvest, with probably 50 to 100 bavins of firewood worth Id to IJd each. "At this latter period (during the l rimean war) bread was 1 the 41b loaf. Meat to us was out of the question. -axe i very -mall quantity of American bacon, which began to arrive here in very poor condition indeed. It would not be loosed at now. When Food Was Dear. “The local miller Isnight Un some of

the best barley and dressed it as wheat flour, which we were glad to buy at 10/ per bushel for pudding-making. The flour was spread out. baeon, pepper, salt and sliced onions were placed on t< p. ami the pudding, a foot long, was ro'lel up in a doth and well boiled in a pot swung over a wood tire in the wide chimney-place. "11, the very severe winters of that time we use-1 at midday to run home cohl. and with an excellent appetite.-and partake of the pudding with thankful-

ness and joy. Hunger was appeased for that day far better than with bread, and indigestion was unknown to us. "The farm labourer's pay at this time was 10/, a rise of 3/ from the cheap period of 1549. with harvest and hay paymuch the same. . . . "Then there was much contentment and peace one among the other. Now. ala.-! discontent and dissatisfaction, with very little regard for Godliness and good living, seem to lie more than ever the rule of the day."