The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-07-16
THE HARVEST PROBLEM.

| The ever-recurring problem of help
for the harvest seems as far from So
luton now as ever. 1t is an annual
source of worry to the Kansas wheat
raiser. Even when the green bug and
the frost is supposed to have ruined
the Kansas wheat crop, the cry Tor
harvest hands that comes from the
| Kansas wheat fields is as insistent as
ever.
| 1t is a serious question how to sup
ply the needed help. OF course, the
farmer struggles along and in the END
usually saves most of his grain, al
though he may overwork himself ana
everyone whom he can press Into ser
vice In accomplishing it. Some wheat
| is lost nearly every year because OF a
shortage of help, but the amount IS
not great compared with the total
crop, yet the grain is saved only by
the most strenuous effort. The Chicago
Tribune, in discussing this problem
says:
'There are reports from here and
there of men out of work, while KAN
sas is calling loudly for helpers to gath
er its great crops. There are thou
sands of people in the older parts Of
the country who are discontinued With
their lot who might find health. happi-
ness. and wealth in some of the grain
states But the story is the same, year
after year-tremendous grain crops ana
no helpers to garner them.
1.-The situation is a serious one Tor
the farmers New farm hands are not
seeking the country in sufficient num-
bers. The boys on the farm, as soon
as they grow up, seek the city. As
result many a farmer has given up the
fight in despair, sold or rented his farm,
and moved to town. The difficulty OF
finding satisfactory help is becoming
greater with every year. 1t Is all we'll
enough in time of desperation to take
any conner. But the ordinary day Ia
borer in the city may be entirely Unfit
for farm service. The talk of taking
the "hobos" from the trains and press
ing them into work is futile. Their
help would be of little value. The UNI
seasoned student just out of college is
seldom physically fit.
Harvesting is a strenuous perform
ance. 1t means hard work often from
early morning until late at night. There,
is little chance for rest. There Is an
abundance of fresh air and plenty. of
good things to eat, but the labor itself
under the average driving farmer is.
long and hard. This fact keeps good
many men out of the wheat fields.
1.-THE farmer needs help greatly in his
rush times, but does not care for it in
the slack ones. Men do not like to
change their places of abode or their
work without prospect of steady m
pIoyment. That the farmer does l.ut
offer. A Kansas City paper calls atten-
ton to the possibilities of getting work
as a harvest hand all the year long,
giving a table which shows the har-
vest time throughout the world. But
the travelling harvest hand will hardly
develop as a type. The work is too
hard to attract one as a steady per-
Torrance. If it was not for perfected
machinery there would be an entire I'M
possibility of harvesting the great
grain fields. The shortage of labor
seems likely to remain an annual in
cfdent of the harvest time"
Perhaps the ultimate solution of the
problen lies in improved machinery
and in the increased value of land,
which will make smaller farms and d
less acreage of wheat for each man to
care for In the meantime the Kansas
farmer will probably have to continue
his struggle with the harvest hand
sborfaQe