1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



51 



is rendered for a day's work than six months 

 ago. In our eastern cities more men have 

 been seeking employment during the past half 

 year than for a like period for the last ten 

 years. Unless the prospects of trade and 

 manufacturers brighten before spring, a large 

 surplus of labor will be sent out from every 

 city and village, and farmers will find a larger 

 number of applicants than usual from which to 

 make selections. If the present rate of immi- 

 gration continues from the old world, from 

 the Provinces, and the Canadas, this genera- 

 tion, at least, will never witness another so 

 great a scarcity. 



But allowing the supply sufficient, how can 

 the quality be improved? It is true the 

 change from the farm help of thirty years ago 

 is great. Since farmers cannot keep their 

 own sons and daughters at home, they are, 

 from necessity, dependent upon hirelings. The 

 class which Providence has thrown in our midst 

 constitute a much better material than is gen- 

 erally admitted. It is customary to condemn 

 them for some glaring faults, while their ex- 

 cellencies are seldom enumerated. Now, be- 

 fore there can be rapid improvement, they 

 must be better apppeciated, and a thorough 

 knowledge of their characteristics is necessary 

 to their appreciation. The Irish have many 

 qualities essential in farm laborers ; they have 

 usually followed out-door pursuits at home, 

 and come here with a natural fondness for the 

 country and for the farmer's life, and always 

 prefer it to the shop or factory. They are 

 strong in muscle, and possess great endurance ; 

 they are patient and persevering under hard 

 work. They have a love for pleasantry, enjoy 

 a good joke, and are generally cheerful and 

 resigned to things they cannot control, and 

 hence are less inclined to worry and fret than 

 some of their more active and nervous employ- 

 ers ; nor does the somewhat monotonous rou- 

 tine of the farm appear to them so irksome. 

 They are willing to hire out and serve others, 

 and we see them performing the drudgery in 

 our houses and in every place where hard and 

 disagreeable work is required. They are fond 

 of animals and are naturally good judges of 

 stock. If they own a cow, she is almost inva- 

 riably a good one ; and as for pigs, they are 

 ashamed to keep a poor one. Many of the 

 best teamsters, coachmen, and grooms in and 

 around our cities are Irishmen. Their gar- 

 dens testify that they understand clean and 

 thorough culture. Irish gardeners may claim 

 some of the finest displays of flowers and 

 choicest collections of vegetables at our horti- 

 cultural exhibitions as specimens of their skill. 

 They take hold with good courage and work 

 out fair crops from land usually considered 

 not worth tilling, and I think it safe to say 

 they understand the management of wet lands 

 better than the majority of New England 

 farmers. 



The great desire of this long oppressed race 

 is to possess what was denied them in their 



native country, — a bit of land. Bank, manu- 

 facturing and railroad stocks, and even gov- 

 ernment bonds, have little attraction for them ; 

 land is first, and if means increase, it is more 

 land and more houses. Hence in cities we see 

 them rapidly coming into possession of whole 

 blocks, squares and streets, and establishing 

 homesteads all around the suburbs, and push- 

 ing out into the country to buy up our smaller 

 and cheaper farms. Thus, while performing 

 our drudgery, they are accumulating wealth, 

 and gaining a social and political power, the 

 precise effect of which it is difficult to foretel. 

 In one sense, this foreign element cannot be 

 said to drive out or crowd our native sons and 

 daughters, for they willingly accept positions 

 which we decline, and occupy land we refuse 

 to cultivate. Having minds more plastic than 

 the Germans or French, they are easily influ- 

 enced, and more readily lay aside their old 

 habits and customs to imitate our ideas and 

 ways of living. 



And what shall be said of their failings ? 

 Are they not too well known, and too often 

 portrayed to be delineated here? Many of 

 them are directly traceable to the peculiar cir- 

 cumstances under which for generations they 

 have struggled. Under the inspiring and ex- 

 panding influences of our institutions these 

 fade away; others, as the lack of "the edu- 

 cated conscience," the feeling of individual 

 responsibility, decision and stability of char- 

 acter are of a more serious nature and their 

 correction. is the work of time. It cannot be 

 expected that people of mature life will ad- 

 vance much from long established habits. The 

 greatest improvement is to be looked for in 

 the youth. There is abundant evidence to 

 prove that those born in this country, of the 

 second and third generation, will give our sons 

 and daughters a hard chase in whatever pur- 

 suit they compete. 



But to give the question a more practical 

 turn, how can this help be managed with their 

 present attainments, without the continual re- 

 currence of those unplea.sant jars which have 

 brought them into such disrepute ? A few 

 suggestions may be briefly stated. Besides 

 patience and forbearance, tact is necessary ; 

 which here means judgment and plain, strait- 

 forward dealing. Let the period of contract 

 for labor be as short as possible, never engag- 

 ing any one for the season who has not, to your 

 personal knowledge, established a reputation 

 for fidelity. Hire strangers and those inclined 

 to disregard the rights of employers by the 

 month, or what is better, by the week or day. 

 Make a brief and concise contract, unincum- 

 bered with provisos or conditions, and barter 

 trades for recompense. Pay in cash, at stated 

 times of brief intervals, — when pay-day ar- 

 rives fulfil your agreement, if you borrow the 

 money. In a quiet and courteous way, show 

 your independence and their dependence. 

 Much flattery is as unwise as constant chiding. 

 If disposed to exhibit a hasty temper or mor- 



