The hiring season
is at hand, when families must employ servants for the incoming year, and farmers and others needing labor must prepare to procure it. As most of the "hiring out" in this city is done by agents, prices will not become fixed till after new year's day, consequently many families will be deprived of assistants during the holidays. Servants rarely ever desire to retain the same home more than one year, and for that reason the annoyance to hirers is greatly increased. Despite the exorbitant prices of food and clothing, hiring will advance from 20 to 50 per cent., thus putting it out of the power of many families to obtain help for 1864.
