Smyrna times., 1920-05-19
qlN[Rg ARE HIT HARD BY
THE LABOR SITUATION
,,,oT COMPETE WITH INDUS
'a,,, aa,o,rc-SITUATION SERIOUS
,..,iou Drops OFF and Food viii
U.,ome Scarcer and Higher as
uosult-GOOd Farmland Idle

B .orJin0 to an article published
nEil.delphia North American writ
Ev Robert B. Vale, member Of
!. news staff of that paper wh'
:. = made a tour of Delaware and the
r...yn Shore Of Maryland, there i:
.o..ibility of food shortage next
..;stsr. due to the fact that many
-. Of farm land are idle, due tc
!. lack of help to till the ground
~ following is quoted from Mr..
Vsle's article;
We're going to be hungry next
Enter.
n A measured, emotiOnless way
make L. Lawrence Boyce on Satur-
~ last. as he sat in his feed and
imrlement office at Stanton, Del.
aNost of the people don't know
shat is coming" declared Captain
TT Howard, owner of a thousand
,,ss down on the Eastern Shore.
uFOOdstufs will be scarce and
Hgh.D announced Dean McCue of the
Delaware Agriculture College.
The farm labor shortage is one of
tie most serious things confronting
ae nation" warned Secretary of Ag-
dallture Rasmussen at Harrisburg.
Industrial America does not know
What is happening in agricultural
america. And what is happening is
near calamity.
Industrial America is destroying
agricultural America.
This season only three, blades of
ON are growing where four grew
ht year; only three hills of potatoes
ne planted where four stood in the
znmer of 1919; only three men are
Ealking on the farms of the Atlantic
gahOard from Maine to Alabama
vheR four are required and five
AMld be employed; only three acres
ar bng cultivated where four were
guElg crops a twelve-month ago.
farmers Cannot Compete Industries
hiusnal America must pay the
have said that farm production
As been reduced one-fourth.
The State of Delaware shows a
methTd shortage of farm labor, a
aethid reduction in crops. The
Eastern Shore of Maryland shows the
sane thing. Lower Pennsylvania.
lancaster, Chester and Delaware
alntes show trifie more than 20
at cent reduction. Lower New Jef-
ey will average more than 25 per
'sli, and in Cape May county it is
lsthird.
Inc vast belt Of alluvial soil lying
e'Eeen the SusQuehanna river and
-lssapeake bay on the west and the
.a'e sands of the Atlantic ocean on
e east is the garden spot of Amer
d a huge truck patch of millions of |
Niss close to great markets and !
Apaole Of supporting the whole sea- |
'Ala population. 'In Kent county |
: nave fye grain FARMS" said A. d. !
-o0O' county agent. "You ask me
'la' Delaware is going to do in the |
= u It's wheat. can give you a
sn'y concrete illustration. Last
\. 'ne district of East Dover, in
lsl' y county, ordered 5000 pounds of
.u'f WINE. This year the order
Z sent IN for 5000 pounds. That
, an a One-third reduction in the
r.'s 80 crop. The corn acreage in
!. .'l' Is reduced by one-third. There
j OSen a 10 to Is per cent cut in
/. /. isnd pIOwed fo- tomatoes All of
i. i 'saa q will not be planted. Worse
M nj 'aa'' the tomato crop cannot be
~ i. harvested a. because of lack of
II. Inc berry crop will show
su p' twenty per cent drop.
II, NV n, much is being paid for farm
IL. w.. Why you simply can't quote
-. -,l0dlty that is not available.
lIg I'M 'aimers are paying as high as
y. month and board. Some more.
ts,,i ~ : l know Of one farmer who
~. ~ d a negro who was in tbe
n . ~ He got him, but he had to
~ y month more than the hired
-. vas receiving and he had to
sstsn.s, 3 Ouy the man a new Ford
as5 'o,,s. ~an. Another negro farm
d !, 'ani'd salss a car before he would
ID s,'S S9rL. The farmer got a "eecl sec-
s1a ~ .a.. machine. It wasn't in verv
1 ,I,aa ,.spe- E, He holds the chap ON
Isir' ''t,e iss. solely because of the re- e..
i .Iasa, Ias' the car needs. It keeps
r,.. 'ss' IN the towns" u
na.' '.One Abandoned Sussex Farms
ias si.s'1 s5s twenty-one abandoned
Gsss,'"s',alI s''aI, :, radius of ten miles Of
9 Vsass.a !, told County Agent M.
- - - matter-of-fact ,,,a,r