The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1920-05-24
MONDAY, MAY "a, 1920.
REORGANIZATION NEEDED.

It is generally recognized that la |
borers and young men are leaving the
farms of this country to work in the
shops and factories and enjoy city |
life. 1t is quite as generally recog-
nized that higher wages and shorter
hours have as much attraction as city |
life to the rural residents. That there
are not enough men left to work the
farms to capacity and to produce the
required amount of food is also evil
dent These factors are producing an
intolerable situation and one that needs
rcctifying, The men who can inaug-
urate a system that will hold young
men on the farm and give the farmers
sufficient help to conduct their bust
ness will be rs great a benefactor as
the most influential politician or states
man.
In this section of the country dairy
ing is the most important feature of
agricultural life and it is known that
milk cows cannot be properly cared for
in an eight-hour day. To milk a cow
twice within eight hours and allow her
to 90 the remaining sixteen hours with
out milking or feeding would seriously
reduce her milk production. 70 employ
| two eight-hour gangs Of farm help is
not practical. The only scheme that
seems at all practical is to introduce
the milking machine more generally so
and employ one or more men for dairy
men only, allowing them time off during
a portion of the day that the cattle do
not need attention.
Then another gang of men could be
employed to perform the regular farm
work. 1t would not be practical for
each farm to employ two gangs of men,
But it might be practical to employ q
gang of farm hands to work on several
farms. This community gang, should
il he decided to call it such, could live
together in the neighbOrhood they ar,
to serve and with such general use oil
4 the automobile be transported to an(
This gang should be large enough t,
1 conduct the work of blowing, fertiliz
ing and seeding at the same time, tina
I is put in the crops on a given farm il
two or three days, instead of extending
this work over a period of four or fv
i weeks as at present. During the perio
between seeding and haying the me
could be distributed among differen
farms in such numbers as are necessar
to accomplish the cultivation of tn
Z crops and work in larger units durin
" haying and harvesting. In winter the
: could operate ON the same plan in pre-
II pairing the years stock of fuel an
II other winter work To get the best RI
II suits it might be necessary to divid
II the men into two gangs during haydn
and harvesting, one to begin in til
III early morning to cut the grass or graf
II and the other begin later in the da
and work later in the afternoon
hauling the cured hay and grain to Il
III barns.
II BY this method it would be possib
III to give farm labor a shorter day an
Eallow it association with each othe
~ Sufficient wages to hold such labor fro
- other industries would be necessary al
7 the consumers would be compelled
J pay enough for farm products to NAL
J production profitable. To drop farm
: ing because of unfavorable condition
! would be defeat for the farmer.
J lreorganize the system so it would pr
~