Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1917-05-23

mand issued to the farmer, plant,
produce we think we note Q grow
ing resentment on the part OF him
who tills the soil. A measure OF
this is characteristic, and can be over
looked, but the matter should be care
fully examined to see that the class
on which we must depend is not lrrl-
tated to an extent that causes dis
gust or results in no achievement
worth the effort.
With all respect to those who are
urging the farmers to plant heavily,
we must say that this is not enough
Even when pressed home upon him
that it is a patriotic duty to sow far
beyond his customary amount he will
not. Will he come to the aid of his
country in this way? No. Why not?
The answer is simple. He cannot.
This does not apply to every farm
er and some, even many, are exertlng
themselves to the utmost, as all
shoul4 in this crisis. But it does ap-
ply to probably the greater number of
our Vermont farmers whose situa-
ton is such that it is impossible for
them to obey the command, "Plant,
produce
The city man or villager has, we
fear, little comprehension of what the
small farmer is up against every day
of his life to make his business
"going concern" This farmer is no
stacker. He has never been. He
could not be-and exist. The first
call of nature makes him just as ac-
tive, just as Industrious, just as effici-
ent as he can possibly be under his
circumstances and conditions. He.
works as hard and long as he can
10 41o hco 70
needs of himself and family. His day
is not eight but eighteen hours, or
Whereabouts. He does two days work
in one during the summer season
one in the field, another at the
''chore." This has not been from
choice or even ambition, but from
necessity. To live at all off his farm
he has had to turn off considerable
product He has had to do this with
limited or no hired help. His means
and capital are small. 1t is a hard
scramble to make ends meet with
fair luck, and often bad luck comes.
Now comes this demand upon him.
He is urged to produce more. He
just hasn't link left to let out. He
has done all that he could heretofore.
And he throws up his hands in help
lessness. A mere call upon him to
increase his paintings, even for pa
triotism, goes unheeded for the SIM
pie reason that it is beyond his power
to comply.
A more practical step in furthering
farm production is to come to the
farmers assistance with the things
he needs to enable him to do what is
expected of him. First of these is
more and better farm help at price
he can afford to pay. For years the
steady drain of men has taken them
out of the farm work until now it is
well-nigh impossible to secure the
services of an efficient farm laborer.
! To become such needs both hardening
and experience. Village boys, how
| ever willing, are poor help for the
farmer in most cases for considera-
BILE period. 1t is more work to feed
them and keep them satisfied than it
is the hardened farm hand. So that
simply turning the boys out onto the
farms they are willing to
go-does not answer the need. A
more practical step is excusing from
school attendance farmers sons who
are away from home and giving them
| school credit for work done on the
farm. Another help will be the plan
adopted of curtailing early-season
| highway improvements and possibly
some help will come from working
jail inmates on the highways in place
of regular farm hands. But the prob
lem of providing the farmer immedi-
ately with enough competent help to
warrant him in doubling his plowed
acreage is still unsolved Until it is,
or if it should not be, he cannot plant
what is expected of him.
But labor is not all of it. He must
have seed. Many farmers haven't
sufficient seed to greatly extend their
acreage, providing this were their
only lack. There has been a strong
demand of many sold in response to
Fit last fall or winter, retaining only
what they commonly use. This sud
den demand for big planting has come
since then and finds them short. The
efforts to establish a seed exchange
have been of value, but the aggregate
amount available will not plant all
that should be planted. It is safe to
say that all that can be secured will
be sown. 1t is a time of shortage all
around and the scarcity and conse-
quent high prices will keep down the
acreage. Farmers will hesitate to
pay three dollars bushel for seed
potatoes, having in mind that never
before have potatoes reached this
level and that the harvest may not
much more than pay for the seed.
There is lack of machinery for farm
purposes which if supplied might help
the labor situation somewhat, and
this lack is felt most by farmers of
limited capital and credit, who other
wise might increase their output
Some effort should be made-and in
certain localities is being made-to
supply this want by extending fnan-
cial aid to the growers. Here is a
practical way of helping the farmer
to produce.
When men plant they have in mind
the harvest and the returns of their
ment, the economic motive must rule.
AZ well ask the CLERGYMAN To rn1-onoh