HARVEST LABOR PROBLEMS IN WHEAT BELT. 19 



Table 7. — Age of 919 harvest laborers. 1 





Group 1.2 



Group 2.3 



Group 3. 4 



Total. 5 



Age group.. 



Num- 

 ber. 



Per cent. 



Num- 

 ber. 



Per cent. 



Num- 

 ber. 



Per cent. 



Num- 

 ber. 



Per cent. 



Years. 

 Under 20 



5 



25 



21 



17 



30 



15 



19 



18 



1 



1 



1 



3.3 

 16.3 

 13.7 

 11.1 



19.6 

 9.8 

 12.4 



11.7 



. 7 

 . 7 

 . 7 



22 



93 



43 



33 



11 



15 



9 



7 



4 



1 



9.2 



39.1 



18.1 



13.9 



4.6 



6.3 



3.8 



2.9 



1.7 



.4 



62 

 169 

 117 

 60 

 55 

 17 

 24 

 20 

 4 



11.8 



32.0 



22.2 



11.2 



10.4 



3.3 



4.6 



3.8 



.7 



89 

 287 

 181 

 110 

 96 

 47 

 52 

 45 

 9 



} * 



9.7 



20-24 



31.2 



25-29 



19.7 



30-34 



12.0 



35-39 



10.4 



40-44 



5.1 



45-49.. 



5.7 



50-59 



60-69 



70-79 



4.9 

 1.0 



83... 







.3 















1 All of the 919 men whose ages are presented in this table were interviewed during the harvest of 1920. 



2 Consists of 153 men from whom life histories were obtained. 



3 Consists of migratory laborers. 



4 Consists of 528 applicants for harvest work at various public employment offices. 

 6 Representative index of the ages of harvest laborers. 



Of these 153 men 13 were farmers, most of whom owned small 

 farms or partially-developed homesteads, who were "making the 

 harvest " to obtain cash to develop their farms or to eke out the 

 meager incomes from their lands ; 20 were mechanics, factory hands, 

 or members of some other mercantile occupation, for the most part 

 temporarily unemployed; 11 were college or high-school students out 

 to earn mone}^ to complete their education. A father and son, trav- 

 eling by automobile in search of a permanent location, were working 

 in the harvest to replenish their purses. A young man who owned 

 part of a transfer business was after cash to put into the venture. 

 The owner of a half interest in a thrashing outfit and sawmill in 

 Saskatchewan makes the harvest each season as a regular part of 

 his year's work. An ex-United States marine, 29 years old and with 

 no civil occupation, was taking a final fling at civil employment be- 

 fore reenlisting. 



To many men of this type the harvest offers an opportunity for 

 self-advancement. Farmers with insufficient capital or those whose 

 farms can not provide an adequate income are helped through the 

 critical period in their farming operations by their harvest earnings. 

 Some in time will become successful farmers; others always will 

 need to eke out their regular incomes. Students receive assistance 

 through college ; young men in business add to their working capital ; 

 and mechanics and factory hands meet the emergency of temporary 

 unemployment. 



Agricultural and employment officials in the southern wheat area 

 frequently commented upon the increasing number of college men 

 making the wheat harvest. The county agent at Enid stated that 



