The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1910-05-18
hands, and left him to locate on good

hands, and left him to locate on goo,
farms Of their own.
The man who comes here t.
Brookmont as raw recruit soon find,
Tout from the veterans that there is ,
notion in the front office that the maj
who will do something for himsel
will do well for the farm and it,
owner, and that If a man doesn't show
any disposition to get ahead on hi
own account there is an impression
that he will not hurt himself lookins
after the interests Of the Boss. Their
they soon learn that If they put them
SELVES out to better my condition
will go to especial lengths to better
theirs. Again, it doesn't take lone
for the shirks and drones and
grouches to catch the spirit Of the
farm and determine that 1t isn't the
place for them. Genuine good feel
ing Is condition Of employment at
Brookmont. "A man who is sore isn't
wanted about the place. But the
emphasis is put on the other side
LOT the matter. Whenever man shows
that he is really looking out for the
good Of the farm he hears from it in
2 personal way. For instance, Just
the other q day fine big steer be-
came injured. One of the barn hands
said to the foreman: Don't kill that
steer; leave him to me, and I'll pull
him through And he did nurse the
creature back to good condition. He
was barn man and it was his work
TO take care of the stock, but he re-
ceived a ten dollar bill and my per
sopal thanks for what he did. Then,
take the corn planting season. The
men know that the hand who plants
In especially straight rows is fairly
sure to get an order for good suit
OF clothes. And SO it goes with every
thing in the line of work on the farm; ;
the boys know that by looking out for
me they are looking out for themselves
and that an especially good piece Of
work Is not going to be missed in the
office"
Big Prizes for Good Workers.
Ten hours in the field is the rule
of the field season. Work while
you're at it, enjoy your rest is the
motto of my farm hands here. Ten
hours in the field is enough for any
man who puts in good. hard, honest
ticks while on duty! II men are
given longer hours than this it is my
observation that they will distribute
ten hours of effective work over the
longer period not deliberately, but
because it's human nature.
"But there are big prizes, too. It
has always been the practice here to
give man a chance to work for him
self If he SO wishes, and If he makes
good, to back him in getting place
OF his own. Each 800 acres of Brook
mont is considered separate farm.
with it's own set of buildings and its
own foreman. The foreman may work
for wages or he may run the farm
on q contract to raise the corn and
deliver 1t in the crib at fifteen cents
Ia bushel. In this connection it should
be said that the price would be too
low for the work were it not for the
high productiveness of the land here.
where the yield is very heavy. If he
works for wages the foreman receives
forty a dollars month. Many OF
those who take the contract at Is
cents bushel make much more than
the regular wage. A large number of
them have cleared fifteen hundred
dollars a year. for the contract fore.
men get all their supplies from the
store, which adds exactly six per cent
to the actual cost of the merchandise.
They are also charged six per cent
on the farm equipment which is
turned over to them. In many, per
lhaps most. cases these foremen pay
for the equipment and leave me to go
to farms of their own. This is the
rule with the best of them. While l
dislike to lose the services of tried
men of this kind, it pays in the long
run to give them every aid to get on
an independent footing; 1t encourages
all the men to do their level best un-
der the stimulus of knowing that they
will be helped instead of hindered in
an effort to get on their own feet.
It is q common occurrence for fore
men to leave me and take with tn m
equipment on which they have made
only q partial payment. One OF my
former foremen is now worth $3.50 900
and many of them own farms worth
$4,000 and are clear of debt. Of the
104 heads of families who have be-
come independent farm owners since
leaving my employ. not one of them
had any property when beginning
work at Brookmont, and in most cases