Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-04-06
A. Adams, of Aokley, Argues for the
Hired Man.
The FARM HANDS SIDE.


Hired Man.
Editor S,rawpile: In looking over
Your paper of last weeks issue, a piece
came under my notice concerning the
serious problem of the hired man sit
uation on the farm, in which Mr.. Fish
burn says he Will let his land lie idle
rather than pay the outrageous prices
asked by farm hands. which he says
is from $50 10 $25 per month. Nov.
if Mr.. Eishburn thinks that is outrag
eous, what must he have thought when
four years ago he received 20 cents
/ per bushel for his corn and IL and Is
cents per bushel for his oats, and then
paid from $20 to $25 per month fo'
hired help? But he does not seem to
! think that q hired man should be at
! fected by the raise in price of the far
mers' grain. Today the farmers are
| receiving Is cents per bushel for their
corn and 80 cents per bushel for their
oats. Then, Mr.. Fishhurn, why not
give the hired man a raise too? NJ
| Eishburn says the farm hand has board
! for himself and one or two horses
| but he does not stop to think that the
man earns his board. and the horse
| also earns It's keep. Whenever a farm
| er hires man. he invariably has it IN
| the bargain that a man Shall work his
horse whenever needed. Then 1t is
| generally made a family driving horse.
| If the hired man has no horse and
wants to go to town and there are five
or six horses in the barn, most farmers
Will not let him ride a horse to town.
but VIII let him walk three or four
miles to town, after having done his
hard days toll. He says there are
number of days each month that u
man cannot work, but | have as yet
failed TO find any of those places. On
most farms when 1t is raining the far
mer usually hands his man n pitchforll
and tells him to clean out this calf
shed or that hog pen. Again he says
the farm hand does not work any
longer hours than any other laborer,
which he himself knows is wrong. The
farm hand is always out of bed by 8
o'clock a. m. Then he goes to the barn
to do his chores, which takes him UNI
til o'clock a. IN. He then goes to his
breakfast and is ready to go to work
in the field by o'clock and stays ut
work until noon, has an hour for din
ner. and goes back in the field until
horses, feed hogs and calves. and
nilks from three to six cows, then eats
supper. which by that time is about S /
O'Clock, then he is ready to go
out for the evening. But most of the
time he is too tired and stays home
and goes to bed.
do not see how man can afford to |
buy lew buggy every year. as Mr.. |
Ffshburn says when his salary is about |
Sl75 per season. He says there Is not /
a machine operated Oh the farm that |
has not a comfortable seat for the |
operator. But | suppose the harrow, |
the walking cultivator and the stirring |
pillow has entirely slipped from his I
memory. In harvest time most OF the |
farmers work until about Z o'clock in /
the evening and IN hay making time
when it looks like rain they have to
get their hay in the barn or stack and
consequently have to work overtime,
maybe an hour or maybe longer. If it
rains some other time, at maybe
O'clock in the afternoon, most of them,
never say TO the hired man you can
rest until chore uime, or you can go to
town, but give him other work to do
until o'clock.
Farm hands, says Mr.. Fishburn have
no competition. Why? Competition Is
not so great among farm labor, be-
cause every man who has had any
connection with farm work, knows too
well what I write is the truth and
therefore they do not care to enter
into the field of competition with such
labor. The farm land of Muscatine
does not have to lie idle a day If Mr.
F'ishburn and other farmers will agree
to give farm laborers such a cinch as
he says. Moreover he will not have to
pay such outrageous prices TO farm
Another serious drawback to
the farm laborer is this: A farm la
horer has to hire from April 1st until
the last of November and from that
time on. there is no more work to be
had on the farm until the next spring.
AS farm work lasts until winter man |.
can not get any other kind of work to
do, because all other vacant positions
are filled earlier. Then the farmer
turns to the man who worked for him
all summer and offers him his board to
stay and work for him during the win
Ter. The farm hand has TO accept his
kind and most liberal offer, or go to
Town and spend what little money he
saved during the summer So you see
the farm hand has &, cinch and he
Knows it. ARTHUR ADAMS.
Aokley, Ia, April 5.