Reports of Special Assistant Poor Law Commissioners on the Employment of Women Children in Agriculture (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1843 edition. Excerpt: ...latter end of May or beginning of June, when the hoeing and pulling of weeds comes on; all farmers do not practise this, but it is generally done by women and boys. Boys do this from 8 years old to 14, and get, according to their ages, from 3d to 6rf. a-day. The women have 10rf. a-day; this kind of labour lasts for a month. At corn-harvest the boys, as well as women, reap with the men. The man contracts to reap at so much an acre, at from 10. to 12s according to the crop, and gets his wife and children to help him. The boys begin to do this at about 12 years of age; a boy at this time of life will reap about a quarter of an acre in two days, while a man would be reaping three-quarters of an acre in the same time, and a woman half an acre, if she worked as many hours as the man, but this is seldom the case. The man and boy go to work generally about five o'clock, and leave off at dark. The common rule is, you should not leave off reaping till you could see a star; but the woman goes a-field about seven or eight in the morning and works till about six. It is hard work for men and boys. Boys do not use the bagging-hook, for which the man gets about 2s. or 2s. 6rf. more by the acre than for reaping it. In this case the women bind the corn, and the boys bind, or, if not old enough, they make the band; a boy ought to be 13 or 14 years old to bind. Boys whose fathers are not employed to reap are sometimes hired by others; they may get, at 12 years old, about 10rf. a-day, but it is seldom that a boy does not work under his father. Boys do not help to carry the corn, but they help at stacking it in the yard, or mowing in the barn. Women do not assist at either. Boys at 12 years of age may get 6rf. a-day carrying. Boys are also employed at...