From the March 27, 1907 NYT:

Laborers employed at Golf House, John D. Rockefeller's country estate here, have had their wages increased 15 cents a day. They now receive $1.65 for ten hours' work instead of $1.50.

Mr. Rockefeller is having difficulty in obtaining laborers to carry on the extensive improvements he has planned...His Superintendent, William Forrester, has scoured the country-side about Lakewood [New Jersey] for laborers during the last month, but he has not been able to get enough men.

The usual wage paid to laborers by George J. Gould and other wealthy cottagers of Lakewood has been $1.50 a day. Now that Mr. Rockefeller has given his employees an increase of 10 per cent, it is expected that other employers will be compelled to do likewise.

Thank goodness the government wasn't involved with the wage increase or it might have only kept up with inflation, 2.47% in 1906 and 4.7% in 1907.

From eh.net, $1.50 and $1.65 in 1907 would be $32.16 and $35.37, respectively, in 2005 dollars. Not too shabby for planting trees on a big-wig's estate.

[Update (3/28/2007, 10:34 CDT): Colleague Mike Ward points out that I implicitly acted as if laborers on Rockefeller's estate were paid $32.16 per hour, which of course is not true. The workers were paid approximately $3.21 per hour in 2005 dollars, slightly more than half of today's minimum wage. However, the folks at EH.net put the per-capita income at $391 per year in 1907 ($5649 in 2005 dollars). Assuming a 300 day work year, this would put daily wages in the area of $1.30 in 1907 dollars or $18.83 in 2005 dollars. I would maintain that landscaping and trail-blazing are relatively low-skill chores, so the fact that Rockefeller paid his workers well above the national average seems consistent with my previous comments.

Thanks to Mike for his persistent vigilance over my words.]