St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-07-22
DANGER THAT THEY MAY con-
GREGATE TOO NUMEROUSLY
IN PLACES.
ROOM FOR ALL, WITH CARE.
A CROP OF VAST PROPORTIONS
is To BE GATHERED IN MIN
NESOTA.
PLAGUE OF SMUT IS SMALL
Beside the Yield of Small Grim.
There Are Fine Prospects for
Everything Else.

While the cry has been going
forth for harvest hands in Minneso-
ia and the Dakotas, reports have
come to the G o b that there are
| too many workers congregating at
| certain points. Where this occurs.
unless the men scatter, of course
| there will follow a scramble for
| work that will lead to smaller wages
than We're promised and expected.
But despite these reports there is
| good basis for the statement that
| every willing man in the Northwest
who desires work in the harvest
| field should be able to secure it, and
at good wages, too.
Undoubtedly there will be more
Grading" done this season than
there has been for many years back.
The reasons for this are simple In
large proportion of the grain fields
the stand Of straw is so thick and
heavy that a great deal of it cannot
! be cut even with a mower, because
| the grain will be badly lodged, by it's
own weight and by the winds This
will be especially true in sections
Where the growth has been I'M
usually luXuriant in the early part
| OF the season. Where a harvester
cannot work mower can, but every
mower used means more work in
the gathering of the crop, and hence
more hands will be necessary. The
| spots where grain is so badly down"
or the land is of such character that
a mower will not cut it must be
gone over by the old-fashioned
cradle; and a member of the legis-
lature said the other day that he
| had seen places in Aitkin and adj
| joining counties where a hand sickle
would have to be used.
But, aside from these things, the
! fact remains that the general bulk
| OF crops to be gathered this year in
! the Northwest is vastly greater than
| it has ever been before. Reports of
smut in grain are given prominence
| because of their infrequency, and
| their significance is exaggerated on
| that account. 1t is true, judging
from the best information obtain
| able, that the very warm days and
nights which came last week, in
| conjunction with the drenching
rains, caused many fields of rich
grain to develop smut more or less;
but the blight is very small, COM
| paratively. What is lost from this
| cause will be made up ten-fold by
the heavy yields of other fields, such
as flax, corn, hay, cabbage, pota-
| tnoc t1IrninS
etc. Reports indicate that these are
about perfect at this writing, with
rare exceptions.
Quick work must be done now
to take care of the crops in sequence
as they ripen. Whether threshing be
done from the field or from the stack,
there is so much to be handled that
this business alone will employ many
| men far along toward winter. Even
now threshlng crews are being made
| up by owners of machines, and it is
not easy to secure good men without
offering extra inducements Harvest
| hands are being offered 1925 to 81 10
| day in Dakota county. where a thou
sand men can easily be utilized in the
bounteous fields. Men with teams-who
understand harvesting, or are the least
| get considerable more than the high
est figure stated. Specifically, a dearIh
of good harvesters is reported in the
| townships of Vermillfon, Douglas and
| Hampton, and in the immediate vicinity
| of New Trier, in Dakota county. A
similar demand will not be unlikely in
| every county of Minnesota where grain
| raising is practiced. The crop is ripe
| or Will be by the time its garnering
| can be attended to, and any man who
goes out hunting for work will most
aSSuredly find something to do in Min
nesota, to say nothing of the Dakotas
and states further West. Threshing
out of the shock will De the rule in
many counties, because obligations
imposed by last years failure, or par
t1al failure, of crop. Even those far
mers who are compelled to haul their
grain directly from the machine to
market are going to realize better
prices than last year, while men who
are in position to stack the bundles
or store the grain seem certain of a
very good price sooner or later This
will be more likely to be the case if
the berry is of good quality. Growth
has been so fast that there is bound to
be lot of grain of inferior quality
ana every DuShel OF really high-grade
product will reap a benefit.
To the laborers of the state who
seek work in the harvest fields the
G b e will offer this advice: Be as
sure as it is possible to be that you
do not crowd into the tracks of those
who have started earlier. Make care
full inquiry as to wages and conditions
in any locality you may decide to go,
and thus avoid misunderstanding that
will waste valuable time. The place
farthest away is not always the best
place to go; nor is it to be expected
that men can go to harvest as they
would go to work in the shop. 1t is
peculiar work, with rules as to hours
OF labor that are not conformable to
the stated hours in shops. And the
harvest field is no place for those chaps
who are looking for snap. 1t is a
place for work, lots of it, but it is
not killing nor very disagreeable work
The food is plentiful and substantial
| and the wages are bound to beat city
| pay, all things considered, while the
work lasts.