Part I.] REPORT OF SECRETARY. 15 



It would seem that the effect of these new regulations would 

 be to restrict agricultural work even more than during the past 

 year, in that it takes the laborers first, leaving the highly- 

 skilled managers or owners without assistants. But in this 

 relation the farmers must realize that we have a very serious 

 war upon our hands, and not only must we produce more food, 

 but we must do it with an entirely different type of assistance 

 than we have ever used before. Canada has undergone the 

 most severe reduction in her agricultural laborers, yet has 

 adapted herself to the changing conditions to such an extent 

 that not only has she kept up to her normal production, but 

 has increased it to a large degree, and this by the work of men 

 above military age, women, boys and girls. England had, on 

 the other hand, after two years of war, practically permanently 

 exempted agricultural labor and managers, but her position is 

 not analogous to ours. 



Your secretary has had the honor to serve on one of the 

 draft boards, and while he realizes more clearly than ever the 

 necessity of raising an army, and of all doing their utmost to 

 bring this about, he feels that the large reduction of agricultural 

 labor has not been entirely due to the war, but rather to the 

 fact that this labor has been attracted to other industries which 

 are willing to pay more than the farmer can afford. We have 

 probably got to face at least three more drafts with a possible 

 change in the ages both upward and downward. It therefore 

 behooves us to make such adjustments as we can in our work, 

 confining our efforts largely to the production of such crops as 

 require less labor, and, by the use of all labor-saving devices, 

 reduce to a minimum all human effort. 



The campaign last season to place boys on farms, which 

 originated late in the season, was -one of the most promising 

 sources of labor yet devised. Over 1,500 boys were placed on 

 farms from camp centers, which were under the supervision of 

 men trained to handle boys. While at first farmers were de- 

 cidedly adverse to the scheme, the success of the experiment 

 was assured by the increased demand for this labor all over the 

 State, some farmers stating that if it were not for the boys they 

 could not have conducted their farms. Your secretary had a 



