1913. 
931 
THE FARM LABOR PROBLEM. 
By a Former Hired Man. 
Part II. 
How would it affect the hired man if the owner 
of the farm should come out to the barn and say: 
“Bill, last year we made $1,500 on the farm and this 
year you are going to get five per cent of the net 
earnings on this place. If we make $1,500 this j'ear, 
you are going to get a check for $75 as your share 
of the profits in this business.” Bill would feel a 
new responsibility in his work and would soon think 
of some money-making scheme that might make 
more money for the boss and increase his own divi¬ 
dend to possibly eighty or one hundred dollars. Bill 
would at least he very anxious to make sure that 
the earnings did not fall below the $1,500 of the 
previous season. 
It is well known that farm hands keep close track 
of the crops, and can make a fairly accurate esti¬ 
mate as to how much the employer is going to make 
or lose on the yearly business. There is no occupa¬ 
tion where the employer and employees come in as 
close contact with each other as on the farm, and 
it is necessary that the business relations he advan¬ 
tageous to all parties concerned. The hired man 
with a personal interest in the season's work will be 
a better worker than the man who is only selling liis 
energy at a rate per hour and has no stimulation to 
make the best of his physical and mental power. 
Some of the best factories in the country are 
showing appreciation of the work of their men by 
giving a yearly dividend to every man who has re¬ 
mained in their employ for a full year. The writer 
has worked in one of these factories after working 
during the Summer on the farm, and lias encoun¬ 
tered many men who had been in the employ of the 
company for several years, and they would not 
change their working place for one reason. The 
directors of the company declared a dividend to the 
men every September, and one of the brightest days 
of the year was when that check with the extra 
reward was passed around the shop. Every man 
felt that he had a personal interest in the welfare 
of the business, and was anxious to hold his job with 
that company because the owners evinced some ap¬ 
preciation of his efforts. The plan is not pure the¬ 
ory in that shop, for it has been tried out and proven 
an eminently practical method of bringing the em¬ 
ployer and the employees nearer together in the 
struggle for their daily bread. Such methods are 
worthy of a trial on the farm, and it should help to 
raise the standing of farm labor and make a more 
desirable occupation for the hired man. 
This does not mean that all the laborers on the 
farm can be placed immediately on a profit-sharing 
basis, as there is a distinction between the temporary 
worker of harvest time and the perma¬ 
nent assistant in the farm duties. In 
every community there are certain 
men who are unusually faithful and 
dependable. They work for years on 
the same farm and receive but little 
compensation, when we consider their 
importance to the owner’s business. * 
These are the men that can be placed 
on the dividend list and all agriculture 
will be benefited by developing a class 
of hired help on the farm, that are re¬ 
ceiving a just return for their services. 
It will mean that a new class of 
farm employees will come into promi¬ 
nence, and they will rank somewhere 
between the farm hand of to-day and 
the owner of the place. They will not 
be classed as farm managers and will 
not bear the entire responsibility of 
running the farm. It will not be nec¬ 
essary that they have a scientific edu¬ 
cation, but an interest in their work 
will make them students of nature. 
1’he proposition is simply to develop a 
more responsible class of farm labor. 
The faithful experienced farm hands 
of the past generation are leaving 
their places to a class of men who do 
not love the soil, and these men leave 
lor the city because of many real or 
fancied grievances, which turn them 
against the farm life. They dream of money and 
independence, and seem to find no position on the 
1 arm that gives them the enthusiasm and earning 
capacity that makes their life worth living. 
It is a real problem and American agriculture is 
undergoing a rapid transformation. The farms of 
ihe future will be much different from the farms 
of to-day, and the farm labor problem will always 
lie a paramount question in the minds of land own¬ 
ers. it some system of retaining efflcienr men on 
ihe 1 arm cannot be discovered, it will mean that the 
THE RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
land will either have to be worked by the owner 
or by an independent renter. The young men of 
to-day are developing an independence in thought 
and action that makes them dislike the conditions 
existing on many American farms. They find no 
inducement in the business that requires their best 
efforts, and the result shows in the fact that they 
soon leave the farm and obtain positions in the 
store or the factory. 
It will be a difficult proposition to put the aver¬ 
age farm hand on a profit-sharing basis, but in 
nearly every community there are men who have 
the capacity of appreciation, and giving them a per 
WOMEN AT FIELD WORK. 
The picture at Fig. 349 shows a woman farmer 
in a fruit-growing section of Western New York. 
This woman, who is one of several daughters on a 
fruit farm, does a good share of the actual farm 
work, such as plowing, harrowing and similar work 
where a horse is required. She does this work as 
\7ell as a man; in fact, far better than most men 
who could be hired in that section. We frequently 
hear of women and girls who are said to do farm 
work of this character, and sometimes the reporter 
goes on to infer that all women can do this work, 
and that, in fact, it is a common thing on many 
American farms. This is an entirely wrong im¬ 
pression to give. Only here and there in this coun¬ 
try do we find women who can. or will work in this 
way. It happens not infrequently that the farmer’s 
wife or daughter will willingly go out and drive the 
mowing machine, the hay-rake, or cultivator 
for a time, in order to help in a rush of work 
This, however, is no work for a slight, delicate 
woman, and she ought not to be expected, or even 
permitted to do much of it. As will be seen, the 
woman shown in the picture is of a strong, powerful 
build, who cannot be easily injured or tired by labor 
of this kind. She probably enjoys this work, better 
than she would work indoors, and so long as she 
can keep within her strength and enjoys the labor, 
it is well for her to attempt it, but no one should 
expect a delicate or feeble woman to attempt to do 
this heavy outside work. Some "back to the land¬ 
ers" do not understand this point, and they have 
an idea that the girls and women could be of con¬ 
siderable help to them in the fields. They might 
help somewhat with the lighter work, such as pick¬ 
ing or transplanting, or perhaps yi the care of 
poultry, but plowing and harrowing, and usual horse 
work, is beyond the strength of most women, and 
while a few of them can do it successfully, and rather 
enjoy the work, the great majority of women should 
not be expected to do the work of the hired man. 
A WOMAN FRUIT FARMER. Fig. 349. 
cent of the profits will be a money-making venture 
for the farmer. A few men who receive this added 
inducement will do a lot of advertising in the sur¬ 
rounding country. It will eventually raise the stand¬ 
ards of farm labor and lead a more enterprising 
lot of men to lean toward the job on the farm. 
The plan was only theory when it was first tried 
in the city factories, but it has made good and will 
be continued.- The profit-sharing system has had 
little opportunity to be tried out on the farm. It may 
make good in many instances, and prove as efficient 
on the farm as it has in the city factory. It is 
worthy of a more extensive trial in every agricul- 
BRINGING HOME THE COWS. Fig. 350. 
tural community. It will make the land owner im¬ 
prove his book-keeping methods, and find out more 
about the financial standing of his business, and it 
will give the hired man an impetus to study agricul¬ 
ture, and a desire to be a business farmer. 
Michigan. B . G . K . 
A quick lunch place in this city, much patronized 
by office boys and other workers of modest means, 
offers a portion of hamburger steak for three cents. 
We believe it is not guaranteed under the pure food law. 
FARMERS’ MUTUAL INSURANCE. 
The idea of co-operation is finding many ways of 
expression at the present time. Co-operative buy¬ 
ing, co-operative selling, co-operative farm loan 
banks and co-operative insurance, are some of the 
methods which seem destined to be very helpful to 
the hard-worked and poorly-paid tillers of the soil. 
If it is true that the farmer is “Nature’s nobleman,” 
it would seem that he is fairly entitled to some of 
the rewards and emoluments of nobility. Many 
States have farmers’ mutual insurance societies, but 
it is doubtful if there is another State in which 
the co-operative insurance plan has reached a higher 
state of development than has old Missouri. 
Of Missouri’s 115 counties, all but 
15—an even 100—have mutual insur¬ 
ance societies. These associations, or 
companies, are incorporated and char¬ 
tered by the State, and transact their 
insurance business according to the 
laws thereof. One of the largest or¬ 
ganizations of this kind is the Farm¬ 
ers’ Mutual Insurance Company of 
Billings. This company insures farm 
property of all kinds against loss by 
fire and lightning. This company oper¬ 
ates in four counties, Christian, 
Greene, Lawrence and Stone. The 
books and all records are kept at the 
company’s office in Billings, and are 
accessible to the pol icy holders as well 
as the public at all times. The busi¬ 
ness is managed by a board of direc¬ 
tors in conjunction with the officers of 
the company. One director or more is 
elected from each county, and each 
has a definite district in which he op¬ 
erates, writing policies, viewing prop¬ 
erty and adjusting losses for his dis¬ 
trict. The acts of each director are 
subject to review by the board, and 
the acts of the board are subject to the 
_ approval or rejection by the policy¬ 
holders at the annual meeting. 
A risk is about three-quarters of the 
actual appraised value of the property 
insured, and losses are promptly paid by assessment 
on the policyholders. In the 20 years the Billings 
Mutual has been in operation, two assessments an¬ 
nually of 10 cents on the $100 have proved ample to 
pay losses. This rate, equalling $2 on the $1,000 
annually, is scarcely more than half that of old-line 
companies. The Billings Mutual has over 3,000 
policyholders, and carries insurance of the amount 
of $7,000,000. Our secretary, Mr. J. A. Drier, be¬ 
sides keeping the books of the insurance company, 
is secretary of the Billings Co-operative Creamery 
Co., president of the Farmers’ Union, and runs a farm. 
Christian Co., Mo. w 
