farms, and greater on mixed farms than on farms which are mainly pasture. This is especially the case in regard to permanent adult male workers. The total number of workers employed per 1,000 acres on holdings which are mainly arable is 36 6, against 23.1 on holdings which are mainly pasture. As regards regular male workers, the mainly arable farms employ 27.9 per 1,000 acres, against 16.2 on mainly pasture farms. Naturally enough, the greatest employment of labour is to be found upon fruit and vegetable holdings, and here temporary female labour bulks largely in the total.

There is a marked tendency to reduce the labour on holdings as farms increase in size, but it will also be observed that after a certain point the number of permanent male workers tends to increase, while the casual workers diminish throughout. This is no doubt largely due to the fact that the occupier is excluded from these figures and that on small farms no additional regular assistance is required in many cases, whereas as farms increase in size the occupier has to employ more regular workers.

As more labour is employed on arable land than on pasture, it is to be expected that those counties which retain the greatest proportion of their cultivated area under arable crops will show the greatest employment of labour. In Table 26 in the Appendix are shown for each county the numbers of each kind of worker per 1,000 acres of crops and grass in the year 1925. The figures show that the proportion of arable land is only one of the factors which govern the amount of labour used, and that the type of farming has also a good deal of influence. The high rate of employment in Middlesex is due both to the high proportion of vegetable holdings and also to the number of residential holdings employing abnormal quantities of outside labour. Kent and Worcester are high because of their fruit and vegetable farms; Lincoln (Holland) and the Isle of Ely owing to the extensive cultivation of potatoes. In some districts the labour bill is high owing to the predominance of dairy farming on the pasture lands-e.g., Cheshire. Considering the proportion of arable land to total cultivated area, the rate of employment in Yorkshire (East Riding) and in Lincoln (Kesteven and Lindsey) is abnormally low.

Wages. No special inquiries as to wages were made in connection with the Census inquiry in view of the fact that minimum rates of wages are now in operation throughout the country under the Agricultural Wages (Regulation) Act, 1924. In the Report made under this Act for the year ending 30th September, 1926, some information is given in regard to the average earnings of agricultural workers in England and Wales in 1925-26. The average of the minimum wages fixed in the various counties for ordinary agricultural labourers was about 31s. 6d. per week over the country as a whole. Workers engaged in tending animals, such as horsemen, cattlemen and shepherds, usually receive additional wages in payment mainly for the longer hours

their duties entail. In some counties a special inclusive minimum wage has been fixed for such workers, and in others they are simply paid the ordinary wage with extra payments at overtime rates for the additional time worked. Taking England and Wales as a whole, it is estimated that on the average the special classes of workers receive about 5s. per week above the wage paid to the ordinary labourer.

In many parts of the country, workers receive additional sums for overtime employment on seasonal work such as the hay and corn harvests, or have the opportunity of increasing their earnings by employment at piece rates on special jobs such as potato or sugar beet lifting, but there are no statistics available to enabl any precise calculation to be made of the average extra earnings over the country as a whole. In some districts the workers' opportunities for such additional earnings are practically negligible, but in some of the arable areas where crops are grown which require a good deal of extra seasonal labour, the extra earnings may be considerable and yield many of the workers sums which would represent an appreciable addition to their normal weekly wages.

Table 30 in the Appendix shows the average weekly wages of ordinary agricultural workers in England and Wales since 1914.

CHAPTER IX.-MOTIVE POWER ON FARMS.

The Agricultural Schedule for 1925 included questions regarding the use of motive power on farms, and replies were received from 144,000 occupiers in respect of 59 per cent. of the acreage of the country. A large proportion of the returns which gave no information on this point related to holdings under 20 acres where probably no motive power is employed, so that the returns are estimated to cover from 70 to 80 per cent. of the engines in use on farms.

The numbers of engines returned in England and Wales in the years 1908, 1913 and 1925 are shown in the table below. It should be noted that the returns in the earlier years represent a somewhat larger proportion of the cultivated area than those of 1925.

NUMBER OF AGRICULTURAL ENGINES RETURNED AS USED ON FARMS IN ENGLAND AND WALES IN 1908, 1913

This table shows the striking changes which have occurred in the character of the motive power employed on farms in this country. The use of steam engines, already declining before the war, has fallen off very considerably since 1913, while gas engines, which increased between 1908 and 1913, appear to have declined slightly since. Electric power has made some progress, although it is not yet used very extensively, while wind and water power appears in somewhat greater use now than in 1913. Wind and water power were not distinguished in 1908, and it is possible that the return of 663 "other engines" includes some of this class.

The most important change, however, is in regard to petrol or oil engines, which have increased from 6,911 in 1908 to 56,744

in 1925. The increase in engines of this type far outweighs in importance the changes in the use of other forms of fixed or portable engines.

The number of motor tractors is returned as nearly 16,700. The numbers were not ascertained in 1908 or 1913, but they were at that time very small, and practically the whole number may be regarded as additional and as marking a new development in the substitution of mechanical motive power for horse power on the farm.

The number of agricultural engines of each kind used per 10,000 acres of crops and grass in each agricultural division of the country presents a few interesting features. The following table shows the engines employed in relation to the aggregate area of the farms from which returns were received in each division:

The above figures refer to the number of engines of all sizes but do not give any indication of their horse power. It is not possible, therefore, to make accurate deductions as to the actual power consumption of the different agricultural divisions.

Steam power is used mainly on the arable farms of the eastern and midland counties, while the use of gas and electric engines is most widespread in the northern and north-western divisions. where rural supplies of gas and electricity are more readily available. Oil and petrol engines are more numerous in pasture than in arable counties, since the chief use of such engines is for preparing food for livestock. Wind power is fairly evenly utilised throughout the country, but water-power is used more extensively in Wales than in any other part of the country.

Motor tractors, both for field work and for stationary work, are found chiefly in the eastern and south-eastern divisions, and least in Wales and the south-west, where conditions as regards type of farming and size of farms are least favourable to their widespread use.

In connection with the inquiry regarding motive power an endeavour was made for the first time to ascertain the kind of machine driven by each type of motive power classified. About 15 per cent. of the farmers who stated the number of engines employed failed to indicate the uses to which they devoted them, but the replies given by the remaining 85 per cent. give an approximate indication of the uses of motive power on farms in England and Wales as a whole. Most engines on farms are, of course, used for more than one purpose.

In the following table are shown the kinds of machines driven by the different forms of fixed or portable engines expressed as a percentage of the number of engines employed. The table excludes all returns in which the machinery driven by the engines was not indicated.

PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL ENGINES OF DIFFERENT TYPES ON FARMS WHICH ARE USED FOR VARIOUS OPERATIONS.

* The fact that tho totals exceed 100 is due to the employment of the same engine for more than one purpose.

Engines driven by wind are chiefly used for pumping, and also to a lesser extent for grinding. Water power, where avail