CHAPTER IV 



THE HIRED MAN 



MODERN farming is greatly handicapped by 

 the difficulty of getting good help. I need not 

 go into the causes which have operated to bring 

 about this condition ; it exists, and it has to be 

 met. I cannot hope to solve the problem for 

 others, but I can tell how I solved it for myself. 

 I determined that the men who worked for me 

 should find in me a considerate friend who would 

 look after their interests in a reasonable and 

 neighborly fashion. They should be well housed 

 and well fed, and should have clean beds, clean 

 table linen and an attractively set table, papers, 

 magazines, and books, and a comfortable room 

 in which to read them. There should be reason- 

 able work hours and hours for recreation, and 

 abundant bathing facilities ; and everything at 

 Four Oaks should proclaim the dignity of labor. 



From the men I expected cleanliness, sobriety, 

 uniform kindness to all animals, cheerful obedi- 

 ence, industry, and a disposition to save their 

 wages. These demands seemed to me reason- 

 able, and I made up my mind to adhere to them 

 if I had to try a hundred men. 



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