SOME PROBLEMS OF AGRICULTURAL LABOR 839 



show us that what is new and sporadic in America has become the 

 established order in older agricultural communities. England has 

 seriously considered the issue of minimum wage legislation for farm 

 laborers. Since it is evident that the future trend of our development 

 will be toward more industrialized conditions hi agriculture rather 

 than less, it behooves us to recognize these problems early, investi- 

 gate them carefully, and attempt to take preventive measures now 

 rather than wait for a day of drastic remedies. 



A. Hours and Conditions of Labor 



268. THE LONG DAY 1 

 BY CARL W. THOMPSON AND G. P. WARBER 



Even the best farm manager of today finds that there are certain 

 seasons of the year when work has to be rushed. Even today at harvest 

 time the best of farmers are obliged to put in longer hours per day. A 

 field of early oats ripens at the same tune that barley is dead ripe, and 

 the farmer dares not put off until tomorrow what can be done today. 



Some years a late spring or a prolonged rainy season will put the 

 best farm manager away behind with his work. So it was hi the 

 southeastern part of the state in the spring of 1912. Many farmers 

 could not begin to seed until a month later than the usual time. In 

 order to get any crop at all in such cases it is necessary to keep horses 

 and labor going as long as they can stand it. In this way a man with 

 ample help for ordinary seasons may be obliged to rush work all 

 summer long, for the growing season is limited. Thus, when a field 

 of new-mown hay is nicely cured, an impending storm necessitates 

 keeping on hauling until darkness stops the field work for the day. 

 It is not uncommon for town people, returning from an evening's 

 automobile spin hi the country, to see lights hi barns at ten o'clock 

 at night. If they were to stop to listen, they might hear the hum 

 of the cream separator, the goodnight refrain for the sweat-drenched, 

 fatigued lad, who is turning the machine as the last job of the day. 



True it is that such late hours are no longer the rule. The average 

 working day is about ten hours in the field. But, as already alluded 

 to, there are several hours required for chores. The thrifty, well-to-^ ^ 

 do farmer rises at four-thirty or four-forty-five in the morning during! 

 the season of field work. The chores are done by six or six-thirty, 

 depending upon the number of cows, and the number of hands to 



1 Adapted from " Social and Economic Survey of a Rural Township in Southern 

 Minnesota," University of Minnesota Studies in Economics, No. i, 9-10. 



