1 
Two Sides of the Farm-labor Question 
[There is only one way to get down to the heart of 
any situation—that is to cut into it. Words cut when 
they are userl forcibly. So below we give two letters. 
One is from a New York farmer—as strong and sensi¬ 
ble a presentment as we have read. The other is from 
a city man who gives his experience as a farm helper. 
They are botli good contributions to the great book of 
human nature.] 
A Plain Farmer’s Statement 
I NOTE Mr. Horton’s letter in a recent issue. This 
man, who is a back-to-the-laiuler. and lives within 
a couple of miles of here, is simply talking through 
Highway work and farm improvement are at a 
standstill, while the working farmer is following 
his team long hours in hopes of grabbing some 
of those war profits. 
It is the same with the boys. Everyone who 
could get a little education has left for a high- 
collar .loh. Any boy, as soon as his wits are sharp¬ 
ened by high school or agricultural college, can see 
that the man who produces the crop doesn’t get the 
money, and without exception they leave for where 
the money stops. Every tendency and every law 
.seems to be fixed for more snaiis and less hard 
bushel, and my people in a city within 20 mile.s 
were paying the same price per peck. I have seen 
apples waste or go to the stock or to the dry-house 
at 15 or 20 cents a bushel, while quotations in the 
cities soon went to -$5 a barrel. I have seen peaches 
wa.ste by the thousands of baskets, while thousands 
of people in the cities think they are a luxury of 
the gods. 
At present the farmers are working and hoping 
that the foreign outlet will insure fair prices. May 
the good I.ord grant them prosperity. If the time 
over comes when the farmer is not a driven beast 
his hat. The recent census gives (iO month hands 
in Schuyh'r County. This is lOo less than one year 
ago. Thei'e are no day men nor any other hands ex¬ 
cept a few school boys. A few y(>ars since there 
were quite a number of day hands who helped the 
farmers in Summer and woi-ked in the sawmills or 
trapped in Winter, and lived better than many a 
?5 man does today. When the road law went into 
effect these men found they could get two dollars 
for eight hours of loafing, and tlie farmei's had to 
arrange their work accordingly. Tint two or three 
months’ work with bad weather out did not mean a 
living and the.se men have all left for city job.s. 
A Disk Harrow in Operation. Fig. 297 
woi’k. until in a cilsis like the present fhe whole 
-system bi-eaks down, and these same i»eople are the 
ones to urge the farmers in the name of patriotism 
to work harder and produce more. 
I do not think a man who follows the plow can 
put conditions any clearer than 11. W. C. in the last 
issue of 'Tirn 11. N.-Y. Everyone knows that there 
has grown up around every little shipping station 
a big gang of cutthroats who .skin the farmer for 
the last idckel. At the other end a hunch fattens 
on the consumer. I have never heard them called 
pirates before, but that is not far out of the way. 
As a result I have sold potatoes for 25 cents a 
with a mortgage and other debts cracking the whip 
the old time “take what you can get and pay the 
other fellow his price” may come to be “tak(' it or 
leave it.” Then a lot of city people will reform tlie 
buying end or starve, and the result will be com¬ 
munity dealing on both ends. n. l. h.viiiaway. 
Schuyler Co., N. Y. 
A City Farm Worker Talks 
I would like to give you tlie experience of a city 
man and wouhl-l)e farmer on two farms. In the 
Si)ring of 1015 I got a job on a large dairy farm 
near Cleveland, O. The manager promised to shift 
