The Evening Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1917-1920, 1918-03-08
FARMS HANDICAPPED
IN GETTING LABOR
High Wages and Short
Hours Draw Best Mate
rial to the City.
CONTROL MARKETS
University Professors Tell of
Difficulties Confronting
Increased Production.

The limiting factor in agricultural
production in Missouri is not land. &C
cording to S. D. Gromer. professor Of
rural economics, and r. NJ. Greene,
professor of farm management. Profess
sor Greene says that the recent advice
to farmers to break up pastures, clear
more land. double the acreage of GER
tain crops and at the same time main
tain the proper balance between farm
enterprises, would indicate that in
the minds of some people the solution
of the present urgent production prob
lem lies solely in finding more acres
to cultivate.
There are in Missouri now about
ten million acres of unimprOved land
out of the total of thirty-four million
acres. A considerable portion of these
ten million acres might be put into
farms of certain types. Professor
Green says that during the last decade
the size of the farm in Missouri has
increased at the expense of the num-
Der of existing farms, rather than by
the development of available undevel-
oped land. This has been due to the
fact that the price of agricultural
products has not been such that the
farmer could on the production of
such land bid successfully for capital
and labor that went into other chan
nels.
Price of Hogs Too Low. He Says.
THE farms are struggling to pro-
duce all they can," says Professor
Gromer. but when their hogs and
cattle go to a market which is con-
trolled by FIVE or six big packing con-
Germs, the price is manipulated
against them. Today hogs ought to
be selling for $21 in place of around
s16."
Yellow corn of No. grade, accord |
ing to Professor Gromer, is selling on
the market for about $3.50 a bushel. |
The ratio of corn to hogs is consider |
ed to be IL bushels of corn to 100
pounds of pork. The ratio for cattle
is bushels Of corn to 100 pounds of
beef
Such being the situation, Professor
Gromer and Professor Greene claim
that the present high bidding for cap
ital and especially for labor, puts the
farmer on the defensive in handling
his present acreage instead of Undue
ing him aggressively to enlarge the
territory of his operations. His prob
lem is largely one of bidding for the
labor that has heretofore been avail
able Il
Difficulty in Getting Labor.
Professor Gromer says that the
farmer is inclined to be a little pessi-
mistic as to the outcome of his bids.
because he knows. as some people
do not seem to know. that his bids
suffer by comparison with factory
wages in offering only one-half to one
third the wages. and for season de-
manding almost twice the time that
industrial labor will stand for. Dur
ing the crop season the farmer rises
at or 4:30 o'clock, stops at II o'clock
for dinner and then works again until
9 O'Clock, his bedtime. These consti-
tute his working hours. while city
labor would ask for two shifts in the
same length of time. and would also
get about so per cent more in wages.
THE farmers hope for labor relief.
them" says Professor Gromer, sis in
boys, women and those men
,ghom industrial enterprises consider
TOO inefficient to meet the urgent de-
mands of the present. Farmers will
have to meet the conditions as best
hey can, the same as other people.
If. however, they see their problem un
Ter a less pleasing and more COM
nonplace name than psychological"
you may lay it partly at least to base
familiarity with facts"