FIFTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART VI. 565 



HIRING FARM HELP. 



Breeders ' Gazette . 



A formidable difficulty confronts the farmer who seeks to employ com- 

 petent farm help. If he be fortunate enough to secure competency he stil 

 is without assurance that he has chosen wisely. Industry, sobriety and 

 reliability in the prosecution of the work of a well ordered farm are certainly 

 entitled to eminent consideration in the selection of men to carry on farming 

 operations according to the reasonable requirements of landowners, but 

 many an employer of farm hands possessing all these qualifications has 

 been disappointed to find after a brief trial that these rare elements of 

 character do not constitute a satisfactory farm laborer. Disposition, in 

 many instances, is more important than any of the characteristics named. 

 A quick, hot, undisciplined temper nullifies the entire list of desirable traits 

 in a farm hand and renders unfounded any hope he may have of securing a 

 permanent position. A disagreeable disposition, which is an instinct to 

 search for trouble and to magnify unpleasant trivialities, also incapacitates 

 a man otherwise entirely acceptable for work on the farm of a considerate 

 employer who is intent upon developing a profitable enterprise. 



Some men are temperamentally adapted to certain occupations; others, 

 unfortunately, are not suited on account of their unusual temperaments to 

 any kind of work performed for employers. To every farm hand certain 

 chores are extremely distasteful and the demands of exigencies, such as fre- 

 quently occur on the farm, quite galling. But the farm wage-earner 

 blessed with an equable dispositioa does not rebel when called on to do dis- 

 agreeable tasks. He reasons that he has contracted to serve his employer in 

 whatever capacity the latter may place him. Wheth'er he milks cows, makes 

 garden, sets hens, cleans the stable, cuts weeds, oils a windmill, repairs a 

 tile drain or what not is immaterial to him. Undoubtedly he will have pref- 

 erences as to his work, but these are not to be. arrogantly made known to 

 the man who has hired him not for special jobs, enumerated and limited, 

 but for general farm work. These terms comprehend the regular farming 

 operations which begin early in the morning, continue until such time in 

 the evening as the case may require, and sometimes culminate in a number 

 of minor chores after nightfall. Farm hands are not employed according 

 to the schedules which trades unions have adopted; the number of hours 

 they are to work each day is not stipulated, as no farmer can aflford to recog- 

 nize arbitrary limitations of a day, particularly at certain seasons of the 

 year. No reasonable employer will overwork his help simply because the 

 latter good-naturedly submits to the infrequent prolongation of his day's 

 work as it may cften be necessary for him to perform light jobs about the 

 house or barn after he has eaten supper and prepared for a coveted repose. 

 He may be asked occasionally to hitch up or unhitch a horse, drive a breachy 

 cow out of the cornfield or ascertain the cause of suspicious cackling in the 

 henhouse. Under these circumstances he should be prompt and willing to 

 ofifer his assistance, as he can not be exempt from emergency calls. The 



