Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1881-06-22
4,he Farmers Hired Man.


Detroit Free Press.l
Pm kinder lookin' aroun' the mar
ket for a hired man." he exclaimed as
he stopped at n Of the stands and
nibbled at an onion. 81 kinder need
one, but yet l kinder hope l shant be
able to find him"
Flows that2'
"Wall there amt no profit in a
hired man no more. No, sir, he's no
good any longer"
Whats the reasonP"
ooh. a dozen reasons. First and
foremost, times have changed, and the
hired men has changed with EN-. Ali
sir. it makes me sad when | think OF
the hired men we had before the war
great big fellows with the strength
of an OK and the vim of a locomotive.
| didn't have to boiler my lungs out
to git one of 'em out Of bed at 3
o'clock in the morning, and it was all
| could do to coax 'em to 60 to bed at
10 o'clock at night. I'm afraid that
we shan't never see no more hired
men wuth keepin' around for their
board"
"That's sad"
ats sad, and more, too. Now. as
l said, | want a hired man. I'm will
ing to pay Sl1 or $l2 a month for a
smart one. Some farmers want a
man to work all day and all night, but
that amt me. | have never asked
one to git out of bed before three 3
o'clock-never. | allus give my man
three quarters of an hour at noon,
unless the hogs git out, or cattle
break in, or a shower is coming up.
After a man has worked right along
for nine hours his system wants at
least half an hour to brace up in.
They don't quit work on some farms
till 8 o'clock, but I'm no such slave
driver. At half. past seven, | tell my
man to knock off. All he has to do
after that is to feed the stock, cut a
little wood, NOW some grass for the
horses, milk four COWS, fill up the
water.trough, start a smudge in the
smoke. house and pull a few weeds in
the garden. / never had a hired man
who didn't grow fat on my work, and
they allus left me feeling that they
hadn't half earned their wages"
He stopped long enough to wipe a
tear from his eye, and then went on;
"And now look at the hired nan Of
to-day! He wears white shirts and
collars. He won't eat with a knife,
He wants napkins when he eats, and
if we don't hang up a clean towel once
a week he wipes on his handkerchief,
Call him at three and he gets up at
six. He wants a whole hour at noon,
and after supper he trots off to a sing
ing school or sits down to a newspa-
per. Fifteen years ago if my hired
man was sick for half a day | could
dock him. If be died [ could
take out a months wages for the
trouble. He was glad to git store
orders for his pay. and could wash in
the rain barrel and wipe on the clothes
. line. There's bin a change, sir-an
awful change, and if a reaction don't
set in pretty o you will witness the
downfall of agriculture in this coun-
try"
"Then You won't hire anotherP"
wall, | can't just sag. Work is
powerfully pressing, but I'm going
slow. Before l hire him | want to
know whether he's a man who'll pass
his plate for more meat and tafers.
and whether we've got to use starch in
doing up his shirts. The last mar
had took me to task for not holding
family prayers twice a day, and after
| had done so for two or three months
[ found it was only a game of his tC
beat me out Of half an hour a day
He thought he had a pretty soft thing
and he looked mighty lonesome when
cut Old Hundred down to two
lines, and got through with the Lord!
prayer in forty seconds"