The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1915-03-29
AUSTRIA is WORKING
TO RAISE CROPS
Is Enlisting Services Of School Children,
Who Are Released from School At
tendance, and Married Wom-
en- and Girls.
en- and Girls.

/
Venice, March 20.-Next to war, Aus
stria- Hungary is deyoting her greatest
energies to agriculture. IF we can only
obtain sufficient labor" says the gov
eminent, "the next harvest is secured
Consequently everything possible is now
being done to provide for the spring
work on the land. Tens OF thousands
OF boys and girls have been released from
attendance at school; married women
and girls are being pressed into service
and adult male workers are as eagerly
sought after as are recruits for the ar
mics in the field.
BY special decree the Austrian min
istry of education has directed that IN
the country districts all children IN tho
three higher grades, that is OF IL, II
and IA years of age, are to be excused
from school, in order that they may work
in the fields or at home. The school au-
thorities are instructed to organize this
child labor in a systematic manner, so
that the best results may be obtained by
employing them in districts where help
lis most needed. They will be formed
into groups in a sort Of military man
ner, the elder boys acting as under-otfi-
GERS. 1t is thought that this will encour-
age the children in working, besides in
spring them with patriotic sentiments.
Practically all country children have
been brought up to work on the land,
and there are endless ways in which
they can be useful from picking cater
pillars off the fruit trees to guiding a
plough and yoke Of oxen. Farmers
declare that the modern plough is so
lightly built that sturdy boy Of Y
years can quite easily work it. Then as
to the girls the little ones can look after
the babies at home while the bigger ones
cook and iron and carry meals to the
workers in the field.
SO many peasants have been called to
the army that there is very little adult
male labor left in the rural districts.
And the few men who are there show no
great inclination to go to work, and so
far have steadily refused TO enter into
the usual contracts for harvest work,
hoping by waiting to get considerably
higher wages. The landowners are fu-
rious and threaten that the government
will compel them to work when the
time comes. And as a matter of fact
the state has already empowered local
authorities to force able bodied men OF
all classes TO work in the fields in case
OF necessity. for wages at the current
rate in the district
In addition to securing all the labor
possible, the government is doing its best
TO encourage the use OF machinery on
the farms. The ministry OF agriculture
has already agreed to subsidize seed SOW
ing machines with grant OF $40 each,
and will do the same with harvest ma
chimes when the crops are ready.
The field work of last fall is said TO
have been very satisfactorily performed,
and now ii Il hoped that by all these
expedients the problem of the spring
work will also be solved, so that in the
end the next harvest will not fall far
below the average.
From the official reports OF the Wen
ma markets. it appears that many Of
the most important articles OF daily food
have more than doubled in price since
the outbreak OF the war seven months
ago. Flour now costs eight cents a
pound and dried peas cents, compared
with four cents last July. Split peas
cost Is cents. Lard costs 40 cents a
pound. which is exactly double the price
when the war began. Eggs now sell az
three and four cents each, instead of two
cents. Beef costs anywhere from 20 tOl
30 cents a pound. according to the cut,
and pork from "a to 40 cents. Horse
Hesh. the consumption of which is now
steadily increasing, cannot be bought for
less than 10 TO l6 cents pound, as
with eight cents last summer.
Sugar has risen very little, costing now
eight or nine cents pound, scarcely half
cent more than before the war.
Bread. however has gone up eonsid- /
srably and costs now from four to six |
,ents pound The quality is miserable. I
- II contains only 30 per cent. Of -four |
he remainder being a mixture Of corn, /
barley aud potato meals
Petroleum is quoted at 30 cents gal 1
on. as compared with ~ cents last July 1
md soft coal has risen in the past week /
% $40 a ton. Both these and especially /
,oal. are often difficult 10 obtain az any
Price. owing to the lack OF transporta
ION