CHAPTER IV 
THE HIRED MAN 
MoperN farming is greatly handicapped by 
the difficulty of getting good help. I need not 
go into the causes which have operated to bring 
about this condition; it exists, and it has to be 
met. I cannot hope to solve the problem for 
others, but I can tell how I solved it for myself. 
I determined that the men who worked for me 
should find in me a considerate friend who would 
look after their interests in a reasonable and 
neighborly fashion. They should be well housed 
and well fed, and should have clean beds, clean 
table linen and an attractively set table, papers, 
magazines, and books, and a comfortable room 
in which to read them. There should be reason- 
able work hours and hours for recreation, and 
abundant bathing facilities; and everything at 
Four Oaks should proclaim the dignity of labor. 
From the men I expected cleanliness, sobriety, 
uniform kindness to all animals, cheerful obedi- 
- ence, industry, and a disposition to save their 
_ wages. These demands seemed to me reason- 
_ able, and I made up my mind to adhere to them 
if I had to try a hundred men. 
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San cae lp gd Sinai ae Ag a ee al ee Se ee ee Oe ee N 
