CHAPTER XV 

 FARM LABOR AND WAGES 



THE farm labor problem presents different aspects in the 

 different parts of the United States. On the general farm in 

 the northern part of the country the typical wage worker on 

 the farm is a young man who is temporarily a member of the 

 farmer's family as well as a part of the farm crew. He eats 

 at the family table, reads the paper in the family living room 

 after supper, puts his soiled clothes into the family washing, 

 and in general shares the life of the farm home. If he is a good 

 hand he will soon become interested in the work of the farm and 

 attached to the farm by many ties other than the wages he 

 draws. This young man is a part of the farm family, and 

 whether he is contented with the life and interested in the work 

 depends largely upon the success of the farmer and his wife 

 in developing sympathetic and happy relations. There are 

 no class distinctions. The young man expects to become an 

 independent farmer and feels that he is gaining skill, money, 

 and credit which will enable him to establish a home of his own 

 in a few years. His life and his motives tend to make him a 

 fine workman and a good citizen. 



The farm with a separate boarding house for the hired men 

 has problems of its own. Much of the personal touch is lost. 

 The spirit of the group about the boarding table is not that of 

 a family group. The interests of the farm are secondary in 

 the minds of the men. The wage is the one important motive 

 for remaining on the job. On the wheat farm, transient laborers 

 surround this boarding house table for a short time during the 

 harvest period and are soon gone. On the large dairy farm the 

 table is occupied the year around, but there is a constant shift- 

 ing of men. Men are going and new men are coming every few 



168 



