30 THE AGRICULTURAL BLOC 



from the farms were those who wanted to be 

 in the front of the fight and in most cases they 

 would not claim or accept exemption when it 

 was offered to them. 



While the efforts to stimulate the removal of 

 labor from cities to the farms were widespread, 

 the results were not extensive when counted in 

 numbers compared to the total number engaged 

 in farming. In fact, the Department of Agricul- 

 ture estimated that probably a total of around 

 100,000 boys whb had not before worked on 

 farms were employed at some time during the 

 season of 1917 while a somewhat larger number 

 helped with the harvest in 1918. 



The fact was that farmers continued and in- 

 creased their field of production without ask- 

 ing for outside help, largely by doing more work 

 themselves with the aid of their families. There 

 can be no measure of the sacrifices made by 

 fathers and mothers to replace the hands of sons 

 who went into the army. 



Farm wages began to increase considerably in 

 1917 and a year later were about double what 

 they were before the war. The fact that there 

 was no serious calamity due to labor shortage 

 on farms was due more to the increased efforts 

 of those who were left on the farms than to any 



