One forewoman considered that three years' training was much too long, and stated that there was a tendency in certain houses to do work cheap by means of apprentices. She said that the girls in such houses get disheartened and sick of work, and when they were out of their time it was no use staying on, for all the work got given to the learners. Some learners are quite quick by the end of three weeks. We often found that when a girl came in to learn stamping she was set to run about the warehouse or to do gumming for the first year. This, it was urged by one employer, was done purely from humane motives. Since the girls were often delicate when they came in, it was far better for them to do odd jobs for a year than to be stuck down at once at some sedentary occupation. Learners are taken at thirteen or fourteen years of age. Sometimes they are left to "pick things up." Sometimes they are taught by a forewoman or experienced hand. The relief stamper belongs to the upper class of factory girl. REGULARITY.--Trade is tolerably steady. A few weeks in summer are generally slack, and where there is Christmas card work the six weeks before Christmas are extremely busy. HEALTH.--We were told almost unanimously that stamping was healthy work, and undoubtedly, where the presses are light, it is so. Some of the presses, however, are very heavy, and the girls who work them acknowledged that the work was extremely tiring. Most houses have men to work their heaviest presses. We heard of three cases in two different houses of internal strain to girls working at these presses, and we heard of one house where the girls in the packing room were recruited from those who could not stand the stamping. SKILL.--Skill is required for illuminating. PROSPECTS.--In some cases it is possible to rise to forewoman, or from plain to relief and cameo stamping and occasionally illuminating. WAGES.--Wages vary from 13_s._ to 25_s._ or 30_s._, mostly piece work. Some of the piece work rates were 9_d._ per 1,000 impressions, 2_d._ per 1,000 plain (2,000 can be done per hour); 10_d._ per ream one die (takes two hours to do one ream), 1_s._ 8_d._ per 1,000 impressions. MARRIED AND UNMARRIED.--Very few relief stampers are married. In some houses married women are not allowed, in some they "come back to oblige" at busy times. In one house only we heard "that many stampers marry, though they might as well not, as they come back to work." DISPLACEMENT.--Men used to do relief stamping, but women, owing to the cheapness of their labour, have superseded them in all but the heaviest work. For the heavy presses men are still employed, "but it is a poor trade for them."