Commissioner of Agriculture 315 



farm labor 



The work of securing and furnishing laborers has been satis- 

 factory both to the fanners and to the Department. As many 

 manufacturing plants were lying idle, industrial conditions at the 

 beginning of the year were somewhat discouraging ; and, in order 

 to secure work, thousands of their employees drifted into the 

 country from whence they originally came, and sought farm work. 

 The local supply in many sections of the State was sufficient, but 

 in other sections a large number was needed, and as before stated, 

 3,869 people were secured and shipped. The quality of help 

 secured was much better than it had been in many previous 

 years. This satisfactory condition may be attributed to a con- 

 siderable extent to the greater experience on the part of the em- 

 ployees of this Department, in making selections. 



The total of those secured during the ten years in which this 

 work has been carried on aggregate more than 50,000, and many 

 of the people sent out have remained in the sections to which 

 thev were sent and continue work along 1 agricultural lines. A 

 number of them have been able to save a sufficient amount of 

 their earnings to purchase farms, and those who have found satis- 

 factory positions have invariably written to friends and relatives, 

 who have often followed them, and in some sections sufficient help 

 for the community has been provided in this way. Since the out- 

 break of the war in Europe, immigration to this country has al- 

 most ceased; thus, with the large numbers who have returned to 

 their old homes to participate in the war, the scarcity of labor in 

 many lines is already being acutely felt. Manufacturing plants 

 of all kinds are again resuming their normal activities and wages 

 are being advanced, and such conditions invariably result in a 

 scarcity of farm labor. 



A recent session of the Legislature enacted a law creating em- 

 ployment agencies in the Department of Labor and Compensa- 

 tion. Offices of this character have been opened in ISTew York 

 City, Albany, and other cities, duplicating the work of this De- 

 partment in that line to a considerable extent. The Federal gov- 

 ernment has also created a Division of Distribution, for immi- 

 grants and laborers generally. The duplication of this service 

 creates an additional expense to the State which is unnecessary. 



