Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1891-06-24
A Much. Needed Reform.
FIsHEBsyILLE. VA. June %,

FIsHEBsvILLE, VA. June %. 1891.
ED. SPECTAToR:-By request of the Fishers.
vile Farmers Club beg leave to call to the
attention of othe Farmers of this county,
through your valuable columns. resolution
passed at last meeting and endorsed by said
club, as follows
Resolved, That we use our influence for. and
give preferen ce TO those threshec men ana hays
balers who will furnish their own hands.
board and house them; the farmer cOmpensl
ting them for same This is a reform 10 the
RE ut direction and will result la general ben
eft to all concerned. The hands who usually
follow q threshing machine, only get pay for
the actual time employed by the farmer and
it has been the observation of the writer, that
they do not succeed In getting pay for more
thau three-fourths of the time. the remainder
b. ing lost whilst the machine is moving from
one farm to another.
Whereas if they were employed by the
thresherman, by the month. at a good salary.
they wond have constant employment and
more money at the end of the month than I'M
der the present system. AS to the results to
the thresherman, he would have at command,
q full crew of the best hands-employed by the
month at stated salary, and consequently to
be relied on.
wheat rich. each hand having his particular
work assigned him. would at once put the ma.
chinery In position for its work, and get start
ed in less than half the time under the present
arrangement; and by getting the wheat as fast
as the capacity of the machine would permit,
and the straw promptly removed. q great deal
better work and more of 1t would be accom-.
plished, and consequently be more profitable
to the owner. Last, but not least by any
means the great benefits to the farmer and
ered Under the present system, when word
is sent that the machine is coming, everything
is in general commotion. possibly equaled on
some occasions in those scenes enacted during
the late unpleasantness when word was passed
along the line that the yankees were conn
ing" The farmer gets on his best saddle horse,
Gf he happens to possess one,) and rides out to
wal in the hands for threshng. To his utter
disgust and finally dismay. every hand In his
neighborhood is otherwise employed and can't
help to thresh. What shall he do? Ike ma
chine will soon be there and will not wait un-
til next week. So he goes to the outskirts of
his neighborhOod and finds an old "cullud"
man, iucapacitated from age for active work,
who at the urgent solicitation of the farmer
and epron,se ofsl 90 per day, consents to come
and do what he can, The only other chance
left is to employ the half grown boys he can
find, who, though young In years and small of
stature. insist that they are fully competent to
do a mans work. especially at threashing, and
will want a drink of water every fifteen min
utes during the day. When the whistle blows
has variegated assortment of help compos-
ed of the halt, the lame. and the blind, to DO
one one OF the most important works OF
does not moi. pity herr Her ~ oaIy h @Ic
the cook. just heard that morning of circus,
lawn party, or a funeral perhaps. which il
be back day after tomorrow after the machine
has finished its labors and departed to repeat
the process at our neighbors. The hands must
be fed, so the beans must be stringed, the peas
hulled. the beets washed. meat must be boil.
ed. bread must be baked, and a thousand other
duties to perform and the thermometer only
30 in the Shade: What;a prospect! and to add
to the horrors of the occasion tue hours for
meals run from 4,30 A. M. to 1880 P. NJ. Serl-
Augusta to second our efforts in securing this
much.needed change. and the same is true of
the baling season except that there are some
horrors peculiar to that business alone that
make the change fully as desirable as in the
threshing season. Respectfully
JAMES r. KEMPER
z. S.-There will be a meeting of the Far
mers and Threshermen at Fishersvi,le Satur-
day, the 9th OF June at P. M,