At the end of this week the clock is to be put on another hour, and double summer-time will continue until August 8th. In a world bound by the clock, agriculture is still ruled by the sun (writes "The Times" agricultural correspondent), but the farming community cannot divorce itself entirely from the timetable of the rest of the country. School hours and the timing of trains and other services raise difficulties which cannot be ignored.
Last year when double summer-time came into force many farmers tried to carry on regardless of the altered clock. The normal working day was started at 8 a.m. and finished at 6 p.m. instead of being from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. But the men objected when they found that others in the neighbourhood were working to the new time, and the school hours caused difficulties over the family man's meal hours. After a week or two some farmers agreed with their men to work to double summer-time, sacrificing a useful working hour in the afternoon for an extra early hour which often could not be used to advantage because of heavy dews and mists.
Officially the same arrangements have been made again this year. These are that farmers and farm workers remain on single summer-time unless they agree together to "contract in" to work double summer-time. That is to say, if hours of work have been 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., they will legally become 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. by the clock unless farmers and farm workers agree otherwise. It is also stated that the railway companies have agreed to retime the milk trains, excluding passenger trains, and road haulers have been asked to call for the milk an hour later by the clock.
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