Vol. LXXVIII. 
Published W.eokly by The Rural Publisliins Co.. 
333 \V. 80th St.. New York. Price One Dollar a Year. 
NEW YORK. AUGUST 2, 1919. 
Entered as Second-Class Matter, June 26. 1879. at the Post 
Office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. 
No. 4545. 
An E 
G etting down to 
FACTS.—I have 
boon a reader of several 
farm papers and have 
only had The R. N.-Y. six 
montli's now. But I want 
to say that I get more 
satisfaction and benefit 
from reading it than 
from any other farm 
paper. The R. N.-Y. dis¬ 
cusses farmers’ problems 
in a practical matter-of- 
fact way, without fear of 
hurting the feelings of 
some of the people re¬ 
sponsible for the farm¬ 
ers’ ills. I am not qual¬ 
ified to sit as a final 
judge of these matters 
and am open for convic¬ 
tion. yet I have worked 
as a hired man and also 
have farmed for myself 
a little. It is my con¬ 
tention that the scarcity 
of farm labor is very 
much due to the farmers 
themselves. I am now 
working in the city as 
a mechanic. Even 
though I make more 
wages here, though the 
w o r k i n g hours a re 
shorter and the work 
easier. I would much 
rather work on a farm. 
A discussion now run¬ 
ning in The It. N.-Y. as 
to the relation between 
owner or tenant and 
hired man strikes a re¬ 
sponsive chord in my 
heart. I love to work 
outdoors on the farm 
and around animals, 
and take an interest in 
such work that I can 
never take in shopwork, 
and I know that this 
feeling is devoid of any 
m u s h y “back-to-the- 
la ml” sentimentality.. 
Well, why not work on 
the farm? 
LIVING CONDI¬ 
TIONS.—When I worked 
as a farmhand I was sin¬ 
gle, and willing to get up 
at four in the morning, 
Sundays included, to 
milk. I was young then, 
and that explains much 
that I cannot myself 
even now understand. I 
x-Hired Man States His Case 
was willing to work in 
the barn, and at meal¬ 
time and after be made 
to feel that I was only 
permitted at the table 
and in the house be¬ 
cause T was regarded as 
a somewhat necessary 
evil, and because after 
work a hired man living 
in the house with the 
farmer’s ftUfiily is usu¬ 
ally in the way, more so 
because the room that 
he has is nearly always 
too small and unpleas¬ 
ant to stay in during 
daytime. I had an attic 
room once where the 
sloping ceiling made it 
impossible to stand up 
straight: with the bed 
pushed under the low 
end of the ceiling there 
was just about three 
feet between roof and 
bed. The other furni¬ 
ture of the room was a 
chair, table and a trunk, 
not to forget the indis¬ 
pensable alarm clock, 
set to do its duty at 
four a. m. day after 
day. It was enough to 
sleep in this room, let 
alone spending any time 
of the day in it. Eve¬ 
nings and holidays espe¬ 
cially if the weather is 
bad. it is often a prob¬ 
lem for the hired man 
what to do with him¬ 
self. I am not speaking 
so much of wages, for I 
believe that an honest, 
successful farmer will 
pay a good man who 
takes real interest in 
his work what he is 
worth. He has to do it, 
out of business sense, 
and self-proteetipn. 
COMFORTS 
WANTED —A good man 
is looking more for a 
chance to better himself 
than one not taking so 
much interest in farm 
work. But this man 
thinks enough of him¬ 
self, and family, if he 
has one. to want some 
of the comforts and fel¬ 
lowships of life, instead 
A Young Farmer Learning to Drive the Team Fig. 336 of the disagreeable 
And a Booster Gives Farming a Boost 
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