EMPLOYMENT OF HARVEST LABOR IN THE WHEAT BELT. 9 
TaBLe 6.—Classification of 282 farm laborers with respect to age, place of birth, work - 
done, and whether magratory or resident farm laborers. 
| 
Farmers’ sons 
working as 
Laborers who work on | 
Migratory farm laborers. |. month hands farms by month in- |Grand total. 
on fathers’ termittently. 
| farms. 
Classified character- | == —_———_____—_ 
istics of farm la-| Z r is) it sa cS Zz S a Z 
borers interviewed | 2 SP" ls aes We: s e S - 5 : = 
eMiut Belt | Fie | «| as |e .|s sels la) Sen ee 
SSfesits)]-c¢ |*S\%>5|/ -€ 1838) 65| 22] 2} 2 lose 
bea |o8(58| & |eei oe) & | eP| oe] se) & | | § 
a ee ee | ee | le | St See 
L = = L = S | a = s = 5 
L S g = L 2 ap S = = 
= |8 = eB lH a aes a ~ ~ et Ay 
Number who do. 
farm work exclu- | 
i Zo eee Pee od |, 910) - 69} - 2.1... ae eee 133 | 47.2 
Number who do} H | 
| ; I | 
farm work and 
| common labor...-. 3) 33 914 50 12 | 7| 19 } 28] 12] 6 46| 125 | 44.3 
| Number who do} 
_ farm work and | | 
Me skilledlaborwork} 5) 6| 4| 15| 2/......) 2] 5] 2|...... 7| | 85 
| oe 31] 73} 35) 139| 73] 17] 90] 33 | 14 6| 53 | 282 | 100.0 
Born on farm. ....... pemerer! Si tis) 67 iz | 84] 16 | 8) 5) 29] 228 | 80.9 
Not born on farm.... 4A SAG a 22) Ue eae 6 17 6 24 54} 19.1 
ce eee 31; 73| 35| 139| 73] 17| -90 | 33{ 14| 6 53] 282/ 100.0 
Bornin central west. 29  60| 22] 111| 7i|} 16| 87 22 | 10 4| 36] 234| 83.0 
_ Born clsewhere in | 
United States....../.-.... Se mee iB Sean ess et eee ae S1-..19') ob y 
Born in foreign 
countries... ....... ieee | is) 4) 94) 2] “3|- 4|- 2|. 9] 29] 303 
Weta 31} 73| 35| 139] 73| 17| 90] 33| 14{ 6! 53] 282] 100.0 
AMOUNT OF UNEMPLOYMENT. 
An effort was made to discover the amount of unemployment the 
harvest hands had experienced during the year previous to the har- 
vest. There were two reasons for this inquiry: To ascertain the 
extent to which unemployment had caused the workmen in non- 
agricultural industries to come to the harvest, and to discover what 
proportion of the harvest hands were men who “regularly worked 
irregularly.”’ Table 3, which shows that approximately 35 per cent 
of 14,133 of the harvest hands were of various skilled and semiskilled 
urban occupations, suggests that unemployment must be important 
among the reasons why men come to the harvest. Figures for 17,767 
men in the 1919 and 1920 harvests almost exactly corroborate the 1921 
figures. Many men were unable to give definite information concern- 
ing the number of jobs they had had and the time they had lost during 
the preceding year, and such men as farmers, students, and business 
men did not come within the scope of the inquiry. 
Information was obtained from 964 men upon the question of unem- 
ployment; of these 22.3 per cent had lost less than 1 month's time 
during the year previous to the harvest and 16.9 per cent less than 2 
months. Inasmuch as 1920-21 was a year of distinct depression in 
most industries and unemployment more widespread than during the 
4 Harvest Labor Problems in the Wheat Belt, op. cit., p. 21. 
64892°—24 2 
