II. 



WINTER WORK. 



dearth of employment in "Winter for farm la- 

 borers is a great and growing evil. Thousands, be- 

 ing dismissed from work on the farms in November, 

 drift away to some city, under a vague, mistaken im- 

 pression that there must be work at some rate where 

 so much is being done and so many require service, 

 and squander their means and damage their morals in 

 fruitless quest of what is not there to be had. "When 

 Spring at length arrives, they sneak back to the rural 

 districts, ragged, penniless, debauched, often diseased, 

 and every way deteriorated, by their "Winter plunge. 

 For their sakes not only, but for the sakes also of 

 those who will employ and those who must work 

 with them hereafter, this drifting to the cities should 

 be stopped. 



In its. present magnitude, it is a very modern evil. 

 Far within my recollection, there was timber to cut 

 and haul to the saw-mill, wood to cut, draw, and pre- 

 pare for the year's fuel, with forest-land to be cleared 

 and fitted for future cultivation, even in New-Eng- 



(303) 



