The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-05-31

Preparing Wool for Market-Practical
Points-A Collection of Valuable Recipes.
1.-THE hired hand" is receiving a good
deal of attention just now from farm
writers. More censure than praise is be-
ing melted out by many OF them. and the
feeling appears widespread that neither
the farmer, the housewife or the employee
is very we'll satisfied with prevailing ar
rangements. The employer complains of
lack OF interest, the wife finds the board
ing of men burdensome when help in the
kitchen can scarcely be had and the men
find wages too low to satisfy. The writer
has employed and still employs several
men on the farm, and while he cannot
solve this problem of help In a perfectly
satisfactory way, yet some things have
been learned that assist in making affairs
run smoothly.
This complaint of lack OF interest on the
part of the hel p is often heard, and there
is no doubt that farmers los ,much by
reason OF the lack. Unless a man Is in
teres,ed in the crops and stock he is sure
to cause or permit many little losses, as
the nature of the work is such that the
employer cannot have his eye on an
employee all the time. 1t is safe to admit
that some farm hands. especially tran
sients, are untTustworthy by nature, and
the employer is justified in all his censure.
On the other hand, is il not q fact that
many can be led to take an interest in
their employers success by manifesto
ton of honest interest in their own well
fare? Some say that when they pay the
promised wages they have a right TO the
employees best work, and so they have.
but this kind of work on farm is gotte
only by feeling of mutual interest.
If one can help it, it is a poor policy to
start into each season with q new hand.
Old employees should do the best-should
know more about the farm, the teams and
implements and his employers methods.
When one finds a fairly good hand, it
pays to retain him and make him more
valuable by assisting him IN little ways
and trying to help him TO save his money.
If a man be the tenant free use or the team
to draw wood in the winter ana TO cult
vate the garden in the summer is help
Other ways may be found that cost little
or nothing in actual cash but chief of all
and back of all there must be an honest
interest in the mans welfare. When he
sees this his interest in the farm Is aroused
and grows.
The boarding of men is a burden on
farmers wives. No question about that.
Whenever possible it Is best to have one
or two tenant houses near the farmers
home. IL may be small and cheap but
should be comfortable, and such a house
can be built for a small sum. The rent on
it will pay fair interest on the invest
ment, and even if there is some loss OF the
capital, the advantage of having q steady
man near at hand who boards himself is
worth much to any farmer. Extra help
may have to be boarded in the home, but
if the regular hands can be boarded in
their own homes, the chief burden of
farmers wives is removed. Unless help
in the house becomes easier to obtain the
tenant system must be more generally
adopted, or the lot of farmers wives will
grow too hard to be borne. Even when
house help can be gotten the tenant plan
is more satisfactory to the man as we'll as
the farmer.
In regard to wages. the farmer paws all
he is able to pay. and be can demonstrate
this to sensible men. Hands who have
been with the writer for years know that
the price of farm products justify no higher
wages than they receive, and as they are
saved many dollars In the year by little
turns that really cost nothing in cash, and
as they receive extra pay when they do
extra work in pushing seasons, thev APP
pear perfectly satisfied that they have no
cause for complaint. If farm products
were higher in price they know that
they would get their due share of the in
crease in farm profits. 1t is true that
manufacturing centers csn pay greater
nominal wages than farmers, but the cost
Of living is greater.
The farmer is the only one who is ex-
pected 10 run a boarding house in con-
nection with his work. The tenant sys-
tenn encourages young men to marry and
make homes. Mutual interest pays both
them and their employers, and the home
life of the farmer is made pleasanter.
Some hired men are not profitable. but it
lies in our power TO increase the number
of faithful hands by treating them as we
would want to be treated il any reverse of
fortune should change US from employer
TO emplOye.
The Belated season.
Cold rains have delayed farm work this
spring to such an extent that the pros
pect for full crop is already greatly IN
jured. Oats have been sown on poorly
prepared seed beds and the corn planting
is much later than usual. Potatoes were
planted late, or else the seed has been in
iured somewhat by the water-soaked earth.
Still, there is plenty of time for fair crops
ii the summer be reasonable, and while
croakers already predict a drouth after
harvest TO even up the rainfall of the asst
two years, no one can foretall what is in
store for us. The late planted crops NAV
| find seasonable conditions to push them
to full maturity.
THE SENTINEL desires to urge upon it's
readers the necessity of cutting down the
proposed acreage rather than allowing
themselves to hasten over the fields with
only half cultivation. These cold and
rainy springs often induce one to omit the
usual preparation OF the soil in the haste
to get the seed in the ground, and an
effort is made to plant and till the usual
acreage, when much more net profit could
be gotten by concentrating the work on
two-thirds the acreage. If a crop be late
planted it must have extra care. Therein
lies the hope of any profit. At the best,
half tillage can only make crop pay ex-
penses. and il ia always best to concen-
trate ones work. In this way we can
hope to grow 3 paying crop even if some
drouth or continued rains await US.
Care of Spring Pigs
The cold rains last spring caused the
loss of such large per cent. of the Toung
pigs that prices have ruled very high.