Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1881-01-07
OLYMPIA WASHINGTON TERRITORY FRIDAY, JANUARY T. 1884,
AGRICULTURAL LABOR.

AGRICULTURAL LABOR.
Here it is necessary to distinguish
between the owner or tenant farmer
and the laborer who hires himself
out by the day, the week, or the
month. On Chinese farm every
member of the family must work; i;
even the children, when only six or
seven years of age, have already
some regular work assigned TO them.
Two and one-half acres of good ara
bic land, with house, the material
of which consists mostly of mud and
reeds, or bamboos, sometimes of
stone or brick, with roof of straw
or reeds-seldom of tiles, a bullock,
buffalo, or COW, couple Of pigs, a
few fowls or ducks, and finally
few primitive agricultural imple-
ments, constitute the property of a
well-to-do farmer. Say the family
consists of man, wife, and two chill
dren of seven to ten years of age.
They lived almost entirely on the
productions of their own soil; 200
copper cash, or about 20 cents, day
is about the marketable value of the
food consumed by such family.
The ordinary daily fare is rice, or,
as in the north, bread made out of
wheat-four and millet, also some
salted vegetables and light decoc.
ton OF the commonest tea. On fes-
tive occasions some pork, or salted
eggs, and q cup or two of Samshee
(wine) form all the extras" these
frugal people indulge in. The bud
get of a farmers family stands on
an average about thus:
Value Of 2ls acres of land ........S 500 90
a good animal of draft .......... 90 90
Manure ............. ........... 10 90
Irrigation Observation-Disclosures. 10 90
Seeds Observation-Disclosures. 3 90
Help at harvest time ......... 500
Taxes, 40 on the gross yield Of
rice OF wheat neutrality-suspicious.. ii 00
Total expenses Observation-Disclosures. 62 90
The q acres, which the two adults,
with the assistance of an animal of
draft and their children, can work,
will yield, if the land be of average
fertility, and under ordinary climatic
circumstances, in
Second crop. beans, cotton or barley 40 co
Or say in all about. t................. 160 90
Deduct from this the cost of living
of the family, $73, and the total of
other expenses as above, $62=$135,
and there will be- an income for the
year of $25. There are besides some
other small sources of income which
are under the control of the women,
such rs the raising of chickens, pigs,
the making of yarn and cloth, etc.
There must be set off against other
expenses for clothing, etc., not emu
merated in the foregoing budget.
When cotton is cultivated the yield
of q acres is about as follows:
Average yield about 1,G00 pounds
at cents=$64; actual outlay for cul-
tivation, $40; mandarin tax, 50; as
sistance, 50; leaving net profit of
$33. This yield can only be pro-
duced upon land adapted to the
growth of cotton. The cotton is
either sold lin this case it is with the
seed on) or so much is retained as
may be conveniently spun or woven
at home. A woman manages to
spin about one-third pound of yarn
(wooD Il day, which labor is worth
six cents. For the manufacture of
the warp process is adopted which
necessitates the assistance of two or
three persons, and for this the
neigEbors assist each other, just as
the loom for weaving is often the
property OF several families or of a
whole village. Two classes of cloth
are made in the country, viz: 1. \
heavy quality, 80 irches wide, in
pieces of st yards; .. y lighter
quality 4G inches wide, in pieces of
81 yards. A woman weaves one
piece per day; sometimes mo1e. To
convert raw cotton into one piece of
cloth involves an average of six
working days, and the weight of the
piece averages about l !, pounds, and
its worth about 60 cents. The farm
laborer hires himself out by the day,
the month, and, less frequently, by
the year The value Of his labor
varies according to the season of the
year. During harvest time he gets,
besides the meals, worth about 10
cents, from 10 to l5 cents per day,
or 70 cents to 81 O5 n week. Ii his
employment be by the month he gets
81 80 to 81 a month, besides board.
For permanent employment, or en-
ployment By the year, the wages are
lower, averaging about $l2 per an
mum, with board and lodging. When
working for snort terms, lodging is
10 great consideration with him, for
he always will find rough accommo-
dntiuMs with friend or relative. Men
of this class dolray their house rent
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