ISflj 
NEW  YORK,  DECEMBER 
PRICE,  FIVE  CENTS. 
$2.00  PER  YEAR. 
BUSINESS  BOYS  LEARNING  TO  BOSS. 
“MONEY  MAKES  THE  MARE  GO,”  BUT  TACT  THE  STRAGGLER. 
Potatoes  Worked  by  Boy  Power. 
With  my  camera  under  my  arm  I  started  out  to 
find  something  to  “  take.”  Having  arrived  at  C.  E. 
Chapman’s  place,  I  was  told  I  would  find  him  in  the 
potato  field.  Climbing  the  hillside,  which  is  the 
natural  home  of  the  potato,  I  came  just  in  time  to  get 
a  view  of  the  “  boys”  as  the  first  note  of  the  dinner 
horn  reached  them,  and  the  picture  is  shown  at  Fig. 
300.  The  man  who  said,  “  It  takes  sound  only  a 
quarter  of  a  second  to  cross  a  ten  acre  lot  when  the 
call  is  for  dinner,”  must  have  been  at  Chapman’s  some 
time  and  watched  his  boys. 
The  team  was  transferred  from  the  plow  to  the 
wagon  by  one  digger  and  driven  to  the  end  of  the  row. 
The  small  boy  who 
had  been  picking  up, 
drove  along  by  the  |1|| 
crates  which  were 
handed  up  by  the 
diggers  who  had  fin¬ 
ished  digging  their  ' Jkt-M 
share  of  the  row 
while  the  team  was  ^  Yl 
changed  off.  One 
man  placed  the  ✓ 
crates  in  the  wagon. 
In  just  eight  minutes  '  f 
from  the  time  the 
horn  blew,  forty 
bushels  had  been 
loaded  and  there 
wasn't  a  “blessed  '  , 
boy”  in  sight.  .  1 
r 
“That  is  pretty 
quick  work,”  said  I. 
“Yes;  the  crates 
save  a  good  deal  of 
hard  work,  and  the 
boys  have  learned 
their  places.  When 
I  was  in  Washington 
County,  at  the  in¬ 
stitute,  they  always 
spoke  of  barrels.  I 
wonder  what  they 
would  do  with  my 
boy  force  loading 
barrels.  I  could  not 
lift  a  barrel  of  pota¬ 
toes  myself,  and 
would  not  allow  a 
boy  to  try.” 
“  Do  you  like  boy  help  best  ?  ”  I  asked. 
“  When  things  are  fixed  as  they  should  be,  they  are 
the  cheapest  help  one  can  hire.” 
“  What  do  you  mean  by  that  ?  ” 
“  A  boy  cannot  earn  his  salt  digging  potatoes  when 
they  are  planted  deep  and  given  level  culture,  until  I 
have  plowed  through,  close  to  the  hills  on  one  side  and 
back  on  the  other  ;  then  he  can  turn  over  the  little 
ridge  of  loosened  earth  faster  than  a  man,  because  he 
is  quicker  and  no  strength  is  required.  Do  you  see 
those  half  crates  with  a  strap  handle  ?  A  boy  can  use 
a  bushel  basket  or  crate,  but  will  soon  get  tired.  With 
the  large  crates  placed  at  proper  distances,  he 
can  empty  every  few  minutes,  and  pick  more  than 
a  man.” 
“  How  many  can  each  pick  ?  ” 
“  All  sort  for  market  as  they  pick,  and  get  a  cent 
a  crate.  One  boy  picked  600  bushels  in  six  days ; 
but  150  bushels  in  nine  hours  is  the  most  I  ever  saw 
picked.  The  tubers  were  very  large ;  the  same  boy 
could  not  do  it  this  year.” 
Small  Crates  and  “  Mr.  Momentum." 
“  Do  you  buy  the  crates  ?  ” 
“No;  some  lumber  is  sawed  up  and  we  nail  them 
together  ourselves.  They  cost  nothing  but  the  saw 
bill  and  nails,  which  may  be  two  cents  each.  They  are 
stronger  and  of  a  better  shape  than  those  that  can  be 
bought.” 
“  Why  so  ?  ” 
“  Because  it  is  easier  to  handle  them.  They  spread 
the  hands  and  bring  the  weight  nearer  the  body.  They 
are  easily  made,  having  solid  ends  with  slat  sides  and 
bottoms.  They  save  a  great  deal  of  extra  handling  as 
well  as  bruising  of  the  tubers.  It  is  a  surprise  to  me 
that  every  farmer  does  not  have  crates,  but  in  many 
sections  they  are  unknown.” 
“  Why  does  each  dig  his  own  row  ?  ” 
“  Boys  are  sociable  beings  and  have  not  yet  formed 
s  >  c 
lip. 
mmgLt 
.. . 
■ 
mm 
itn  * 
WMm 
mm ifeill 
■ . - ,  • 
Scene  in  C.  E.  Chapman’s  Potato  Field.  Fig.  300. 
habits  of  keeping  steadily  at  work.  If  they  are  all 
together,  they  will  not  dig  faster  than  the  slowest  one 
does.  There  is  too  much  talking  for  progress.  By  this 
method  each  one  has  his  share  marked  off,  and,  if  too 
slow,  will  soon  be  whipped  up  by  the  ridicule  of  the 
other  boys.  No  self-respecting  boy  is  going  to  be  left 
behind  long  when  he  is  placed  where  his  lack  of  effort 
shows.  This  method  teaches  him  to  be  prompt.  The 
minute  the  plow  has  passed,  each  springs  to  his  work 
to  get  it  done  before  the  others.  Let  a  new  boy  come 
here  and  in  two  days  he  will  act  like  a  new  creature  ; 
he’ll  step  quicker  and  take  advantage  of  every  twist 
to  lighten  labor.  When  we  first  began  to  dig,  one  boy 
pulled  his  hook  through  the  hill  with  so  little  force 
that  the  tubers  fell  close  to  the  hill,  and  he  had  to 
poke  them  over  a  second  time  to  get  them  out  of  the 
way.  He  felt  bad  because  he  could  not  keep  up,  but 
did  not  know  what  the  matter  was.  I  told  him  to  get 
Mr.  Momentum  to  help  him.  ‘  I  don’t  know  any  such 
man  !  ’  was  his  reply.  I  took  the  hook,  and  with  a 
quick,  strong  jerk  threw  both  dirt  and  tubers  fairly 
out  on  the  freshly-plowed  ground.  I  then  explained 
to  him  the  reason  why  the  heavier  articles  went  the 
farthest  and  so  got  separated  from  the  others,  so  that 
he  need  not  turn  them  over  again  or  even  look  where 
they  went.  ‘  Attention  to  this  will  save  you  half  the 
work,  my  boy.  Better  study  philosophy,’  said  I.  He 
was  soon  one  of  the  fastest  diggers.  He  never  has 
staid  long  anywhere  else  because,  as  one  neighbor 
said,  ‘  He  is  too  slow  and  will  not  stand  urging.’ 
Almost  all  the  trouble  with  hired  help  comes  from 
ignorance  on  one  side  and  a  want  of  tact  on  the  other. 
Kindly  teach  and  praise  a  boy,  and  he  will  do  any¬ 
thing  for  you.” 
“  Why  do  you  not  use  forks?” 
“  Because  their  use  is  too  hard  work  for  any  one  but  a 
full-grown  man.  I  do  not  believe  it  is  right  to  set  any  one, 
just  because  he  is  hired,  at  work  that  will  be  liable  to 
injure  him.  The  fork 
tines  will  pierce  and 
ruin  a  good  many 
tubers.  I  study  to 
make  work  light, 
and  »,t  the  same  time 
secure  the  crop  in 
good  condition.” 
Unloading;  What 
About  Sweating? 
As  soon  as  I  could 
pack  my  box,  we 
followed  to  the 
house.  The  younger 
boys  had  taken  care 
ifg^  m  team.  The 
J  others  while  this  was 
$$  being  done  had  car- 
V-4  ried  in  the  potatoes 
u  and  emptied  them 
into  the  bins.  One 
. . . .  .  ^  ,  boy  stays  in  the 
fj  "1 «  A ■  v  H ’  /  -  wagon  and  sets  the 
full  crates  on  the 
T.  I  y,  ill  4  wagon  box  and  packs 
11111  the  empty  crates  as 
}  ""  they  are  brought 
back.  An  opening 
SSil III  ||||g||  m  j|§  into  the  cellar  was 
made  on  the  back  side 
of  the  house,  and  a 
road  dug  out  so  that 
the  top  of  the  wagon 
was  on  a  level  with 
the  bottom  of  the 
cellar  door.  There 
are  no  stairs  to 
climb.  When  the 
stock  is  sold,  it  is  carried  out  and  set  down  into  the 
wagon  instead  of  being  lifted  up.” 
“  This  arrangement  saves  the  lifting  of  a  good  many 
tons,”  was  Mr.  Chapman’s  comment. 
“  Do  you  store  potatoes  in  a  barn  or  shed  to  sweat 
out  ?  Some  think  they  will  have  trouble  with  rot  if  they 
do  not.” 
“I’ll  let  the  boys  answer  that',”  said  Mr.  Chapman. 
“  What  do  you  think,  Charley  ?  ” 
“  Potatoes  will  sweat  every  time  you  move  them.  I 
think  the  second  sweating  which  would  come  from 
moving  them  to  the  cellar  would  be  a  dead  loss.” 
“If  it  should  be  cold  all  of  a  suddnt,  I  think  the 
trouble  would  be  that  the  boys  would  be  sweated  out 
before  they  could  get  all  of  ours  moved.”  “Some  of 
'em  might  freeze,”  chipped  in  Ray.  With  a  quick  side 
glance,  Arthur  said : 
“  If  you  ‘  kids  ’  are  careful  not  to  to  let  any  rotten 
potatoes  get  in^o  the  crates,  there  will  be  no  rotten 
ones  in  the  bins.  There  are  plenty  of  good  reasons 
against  storing  potatoes  out-of-doors.”  amateur. 
