Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1912-12-18
EessSsS' + ..s3's..S..S..s. sss.3s.|
!. .DTG EST !
Z OF EXPERIMENT STATION :,
2 BULLETINS. j
Prepared Weekly for y
!. THE KEOWEE COURIER =
|. BY J. Linn Ladd. )
Farm Wagcs---Iicld and Kitchen.

fuiIn NaBcS---flclu ana Kitchen.
The National Department of Agri-
culture has just issued bulletin on
Dor and what seems to be retro
gression OF the farm housewife. The
bulletin was compiled by George *.
Holmes, chief of the Division OF Pro-
duction and Distribution, by direc-
ton OF Secretary Wilson himself.
The bulletin treats OF nineteen in
vestigations covering a period Of "A
years and gives details Of the latest
OF the series and summary Of the
others.
| Taking the country over, the wages
Of farm laborers contracted for by
the year with board have increased
from an average of $1,000 per month
in 1866 to $lS.O5 a month in 1909,
the last census year-an increase Of
70 per cent. Less than half Of this
increase has been made during the
last twenty years, which shows that
the advance Of wages has been pretty
uniform from year to year.
Wages of labor hired by the sea-
son, with board, have increased from
an average Of $12.69 in 1866 to
$20.SO in 1909, an advance of 64
per cent
The wages per day with board
| have increased from an average Of
$1.O4 for harvest hands in 1866 to
$1.43 in 1909, an increase Of only
81 R per cent, 80 per cent OF which
was gained during the last 10 years,
from 1899 to 1909. Wages per day
with board at other seasons than
harvest increased from an average
Of Ga cents in 1866 to $L.O3 in 1909,
an increase Of 81 per cent, two-thirds
OF it during the last ten years.
BY geographic divisions, farm
wages differ widely at the present
time. In the census year Of 1909,
the average monthly wages Of farm
hands hired by the year with board
were $3.50 in the Western States.
$22.22 in the North Central States,
$20.73 in the North Atlantic States,
$ll.25 in tho South Central States,
and $3.50 in the South Atlantic
States.
But Investigations along other
lines show that the wages alone do
not express the entire compensation
received; other factors being free
rent of dwellings; free garden spots;
free pasturage for COWS, pigs and
poultry; free fruit, and free wood
with use Of team to haul it. The
value Of these things in some in
stances was found to be three times
as much as In others. For instance,
the housing of the cheap negro and
Mexican labor Of the Cotton States
costs much less than the housing Of
| "hlte laborers in the Northern
States, whose standard OF living is
higher and where the rigors of eli
mate necessitate better and more
| feed and fuel.
| The investigation Of the labor Of
women employed in domestic service
va ioi ii' No'elS lne years OF l3U2,
1906 and 1909. The monthly aver
age for the entire country where
! employed by the season was $9.71 in
1902, $11.95 in 1906 and $l2.O2 in
1909. AS in the case Of farm hands,
the average for the Western States
was much the highest, being $21.55
in 1909, and only $S.25 in the South
Atlantic States. The average daily
wages Of women employed in farm
houses by the day were 62 cents in
l.. 1902. s,5 5s cents i" 1906 o"{ y cents
The author OF the bulletin states
that the house servant problem is be-
coming quite as acute on the farms
as in the towns and cities; country
girls having come to look upon do
mcstice service with quite as much
aversion as city girls. TO aggravate
the situation, the farm wives Of the
present day are becoming less and
less disposed to undertake the labors
performed by their mothers and
grandmothers. Moreover, the stand
ard OF living on the farms is con-
stantly rising, and the women of the
farmers family are beginning to en-
gage in social functions, which inter-
fcrc with, while increasing, the ne
ccssity for house work. Aside from
church and temperance work, the
farm women are taking up social
service in tho Grange, the Maccabces,
wOmen's clubs, ETC.