26 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Farm Labor — Employment Service. 



The unemployment situation which marked the season of 

 1921 was still keenly felt in 1922. Many skilled and hundreds 

 of unskilled men were seeking work. It is true that industry 

 was gradually picking up in various lines of production and 

 that unemployment was just as gradually being relieved. 

 The process was so gradual, however, that labor was seeking 

 employment of any kind during the transitional period. 



This state of affairs made it possible for the farmers to ob- 

 tain sufficient help for the work of the farms. The difficulty, 

 however, was to find efficient and permanent help from the 

 ranks of labor both available and cheap. Local labor, while 

 available, was frequently unskilled and more frequently unde- 

 pendable. 



The majority of calls coming to this office were for experi- 

 enced farm workers, — men who could milk and handle a 

 plow and who accepted the hours and wage of the farm without 

 protest. There were also a number of calls for young men with 

 little or no experience, to do the necessary but less important 

 chores at a low wage. Depending upon conditions, such calls 

 were frequently interesting to students, high school boys or to 

 young men without a trade, who felt the attraction of out-of- 

 door work and life. 



Owing to the general economic situation, there were few 

 opportunities this season for the highly trained and experi- 

 enced men in agricultural work. Superintendents, foremen 

 and specialists were not in demand. Employers continued to 

 keep expenses at the lowest possible mark by engaging only 

 the labor necessary to carry on the work. Such foremen and 

 managers as already held positions kept them, and there was 

 consequently little change and few vacancies created. There 

 were no calls for women to assist in garden or farm work. 

 While women have proved their adaptibility and skill in agri- 

 cultural work, and while their services are frequently obtained 

 cheaper than those of men, employers have found such labor 

 more difficult to accommodate and therefore dispensed with 

 it this season. 



The scale of wages offered by farmers in 1922 was much the 

 same as in 1921. There was a tendency downward, but farmers 

 were usually willing to pay an adequate rather than a cut 



