The Express.
London, England, 1852-08-27 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY, AUGUST 27.

TnE scarcity of labourers in the agricultural dis-
tricts is beginning to excite discussion among per-
sons of a speculative turn of mind. The fact that
there is at present en inadequate supply of labour
for farm work seems certain. It was owing to this
inadequate supply that the hay harvest was
still unfinished when the grain harvest begun.
It was owing to this inadequate supply that a
deal of corn which might otherwise have been
reaped and stacked before the weather broke, has
been exposed in an over-ripe state to the casualties
of the wind and rain. It was this inadequate
supply that lcd to the employment of regimental
reapers in some quarters. 'the fact seems beyond a
doubt : the causes and consequences are less Obvious.
The deficiency, it may be remarked, is not so great
as to affect the ordinary routine labours of the farm.
The embarrassment of our farmers has been confined

to the difficulty they have experienced in getting
their harvest work done. During harvest a number
of supernumerary hands are required to get through
the extra work which must be completed within a
certain time. In former years these supernumerary
hands were obtained from two different sources.
The manufacturing population contributed one—
the smaller quota. flier° were always some ma-
nufacturing operatives out of work and in search
of a job, or not very urgently needed, and
willing to exchange their sedentary toils in close
apartments, far a time, fur better remunerated labour
in the open air. But the far greater portion of these
supernumerary hands were temporary immigrants
from the sister island. This latter source of supply
has been nearly drained by emigration. Emigration
may have had some effect in diminishing the number
of harvest labourers obtained front the manufac-
turing districts, but the general good employment of
that class has done more.
In so far as the supernumerary labourers them-
selves are concerned, the change is decidedly
a change fur the better. The manufacturing
population, it is clear, are at present independent
of this precarious kind of employment. And those
who are aware how, in certain districts of Ireland, it
has been customary for whole families, on the ap-
proach of harvest, to evacuate their wretched dwell-
ings—lock the door, and hide the key in the thatch
—and separate, the husband to reap in England, the
wife and children to beg anywhere, in order that
among them enough of money might be scraped toge-
ther to pay their rack-rents, must rejoice that these
ill-fated beings have found new homes where industry
is sure to lead to competence.
The extensive drying up of these two sources of
supply, has made the farmers more dependent than
formerly upon what are called 4' tramps" for their
supernumerary hands in harvest. The number of
persons—families—in England who, at least for a
part of every year, lead what may literally be termed
a nomadic life is greater than most people imagine.
From the beginning of June till far in September
they may bo seen under every hedge and at the
corners of every green lane, cooking their meals
gitssy fashion, washing clothes, and so forth. At
night they find refuge in barns and outhouses This
class varies widely in respectability, orderly habits,
and intelligence; but, somehow or other, all contract
snore or less • taint from their scrambling mode of
life.

Circumstances have recently contributed to in- '
crease the number of these waifs and strays of '
society—these indigenous, supplementary, occasion- '
ally employed agricultural labourers. The number '
of hands constantly employed on any farm is com-
paratively smalL But formerly the chance jobs for '
such labourers as were Rot constantly employed, was
much greater, and more generally spread over all the '
seasons of the year than it is now. The introduc-
tion of machinery in sowing and thrashing has de-
prived them of a good deal of occasional employment.
Now it is only during the hay and grain harvests that
any considerable number of them are needed by the
farmers ; whereas in old times they were employed
with their flails after harvest, and in many odd jobs
during spring and winter. Now they must earn all
their yearly earnings during the summer and early
autumn months. During the rest of the year they
are regarded as mere cumberers of the soil, doomed to
idleness and want. Their condition has deteriorated,
while that of most other classes has been improving.
This leads to the consideration of the probable con-
sequences of the deficient supply of labour, which was
the starting point of these remarks. It has already
stimulated agriculturists in all parts of the kingdom
to make more earnest and persevering experiments
with reaping machines. If it continue for a few
years longer it will inevitably lead to the perfecting
of these machines and their general adoption. And
what must be the result of this is obvious. Super-
numerary hands will no longer be needed in harvest.
The ordinary staff of farm labourers, with the aid of
machinery, will suffice to cut and house the grain in
time. There will no longer be in the agricultural dis-
tricts two classes of labourers ; the one enjoying per
manent employment throughout the year; the other
run upon fur a few months, and regarded as au eye-
sore and an encumbrance during the remainder of the
twelve. The agricultural labourer will be as sure of
employment throughout the year as the manufactur-
ing labourer, and his habits of steady application,
and his general morality will be improved by the
change.
The extensive emigration, therefore, which has
well-nigh drained Ireland of its surplus population,
promises not only to benefit the emigrants them-
selves, but the whole agricultural class in all
the three kingdoms. It will compel the farmers to
set themselves in earnest to employ machinery in
all their operations; it will impart certainty and
continuity to the employment of agricultural labour-
ers. And the emigration which m bringing this to
pare mast be kept up until the transition epoch has
been passed through, is order that the precariously
employed, the supernumerary hands may continue to
be disked off as they came to be needed.