Chapter XIII

Farm Labor

104.  Farm Labor Scarce.

For the past several years it has been difficult to employ competent and satisfactory farm help at seasons when it is most needed.  The complaint is frequently heard that labor cannot be secured.  this complaint only means that farmers cannot hire labor at the rate for which it could formerly be employed.  The United States has experienced a season of prosperity during the two decades just passed, and the cities and towns have been growing rapidly.  Industrial development in other lines has also been active.  The demand for laborers in the cities and in the industries has encouraged the farmers' sons and many of the foreign immigrants to seek employment in other lines than farming.  Wages in the cities have been higher than in the country and the social privileges usually are greater also.  If farmers are to successfully compete with the cities for farm labor, they must not only pay wages including board and lodging which will equal the wages offered in other lines, but they must organize their work so that the hours can be reasonably regular.  Good board and comfortable living quarters must be provided if the men are to be interested in the work and remain contented.  Reading rooms, bath rooms, and time for social privileges are provided by the progressive farmers who wish to keep first-class help.  While such accommodations add to the expense, they ease decidedly the problem of getting good farm help.  The farmers who have comfortable buildings in which to do their work, who keep good live stock and follow good systems of farming, have much less trouble in interesting their laborers in the work of the farm and in keeping them than do those who get along from day to day in a shiftless kind of way.

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105.  The Length of Work Days on the Farm.

Many believe that the difficulty in employing labor on the farm is due to the unusually long days of labor.  Comparisons are made between the length of day of the city laborer and of those employed on the farm.  It is true that during certain seasons of the year, long days are required on the farm, but as a rule they are not longer than the days of the laborer in the city.  Many farmers claim to work fourteen to sixteen hours per day.  Some farmers may work that length of time during certain seasons of the year, but carefully recorded data covering several years operations on many farms shows that while farmers may be out of bed sixteen hours a day, they actually work much less than that length of time.  The average work day throughout the year in a region in Southeastern Minnesota, where crop raising and dairying were followed, was 8.6 hours.  In Northwestern Minnesota where grain raising was more exclusively followed, the average work day was 7.4 hours.  Sunday work is not included in the averages.  In Southeastern Minnesota where more live stock was kept, the Sunday wk reached 3.4 hours per day, and in Northwestern Minnesota, 2.2 hours per day.

The popular day's work in the city is eight hours.  Often the city laborer will have one-half hour's walk or ride before reaching his place of labor and the same when returning.  This added to the eight hours may make his day even longer than the day of the farm laborer, since the man who works on the farm is usually at his boarding place when the days work is done.

On account of the care of the live stock and because of the uncertainty of the weather and other crop-growing factors, it is difficult to rigidly follow a set rule in fixing the length of the day on a farm.  A ten hour day, however, with the work effectively organized and executed, will usually accomplish all of the necessary tasks on most farms.  There will be occasional days and even seasons when more than this amount of time must be included.  At no time can the farmer or his help

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drop all responsibility for the care of the stock and crops and refuse to work in an emergency.  Employees do not usually object to working in these emergencies, provided they are given a little time off on occasions when work is slack.  Neither do they object to doing chores before breakfast and a reasonable amount of work after supper.  What they do appreciate, however, is regularity and the feeling that at some certain time the day's work is done.  In fixing the winter labor schedule, shorter days can be allowed than in the summer, and the greater part of the reading and recreation of the farmer and his help must come during that season.

106.  Farm Income, and the Employment of Labor.

On every farm there are two factors that bear upon the income derived.  These are: (1) the interest earning power of the money invested; (2) the labor of the farmer himself or of that which he may employ.  Certain fixed charges must be met before wages can be paid on the labor employed.  On a farm where $4000 are invested in land, $1200 in buildings, and $800 in teams and equipment, with money earning 5 per cent, an interest charge of $300 must be met before the farmer can earn anything for his own labor.  If the $6000 were put at interest at 5 per cent it would earn $300 without any labor being performed.  In addition to the interest there will be a depreciation charge of 5 per cent on the buildings and 10 per cent on tools and teams, besides taxes, insurance, and supplies.

The total fixed charge would be:

Interest on $6000 at 5%	$300
Depreciation on buildings at 5%	$60
Depreciation on tools and teams at 10%	$80
Taxes and insurance, estimated	$60
Supplies	$200
Total	$700

Farmers seldom recognize the depreciation on buildings.  Everyone knows, however, that the buildings become old and must be painted and repaired or they deteriorate rapidly in

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value.  Ordinarily the depreciation is covered or equalized by new buildings erected, or by the repairs made.  Likewise, the depreciation on tools and stock is seldom recognized as it is offset in the inventory by the new tools purchased and by the appreciation of live stock values due to the growth of the young animals.  In studying the problems, however, it is necessary to include these items.  If the sales from the above farm should reach only $700 there would be no wages earned by the operator.  If there should, however, be $1,200 worth of farm produce sold, a labor income of $500 would be earned by the farmer.  Farm wages, including board, vary form $40 to $50 per month in the Northern states.  If the farmer should hire labor for eight months at a cost of $360 and thereby increase the sale of the products

[Fig. 58.--The supply of firewood should be prepared by the men.]

from the farm to $1700 he would make a net gain on the labor of $140, or 38.8 per cent on the investment.  Of course, if the increased sales amount to only $360, there will be no gain in hiring, as the net profit or labor income to the farm would be the same as though the extra work had not been performed.  A farmer's wife would prefer to get along without the help as it makes additional work for her.  It is not always possible to tell in advance whether the labor employed is going to return profits, but the calculation should be made as it helps the farmer to thoroughly understand his business problems.

107.  Economy of Labor.

There is a sad loss of labor on most farms.  this loss is usually due to inefficient organization of the farm.  Fields are irregular in shape and often are not

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laid out so as to be easily accessible.  Time is lost in going to and coming from work.  Often the fields are small and poorly adapted to working with the large modern machinery which is so rapidly taking the place of farm laborers.  Poorly arranged farm buildings or buildings located in the wrong place, consume much time without adding to the profits from the farm.  An unnecessary trip of ten rods and return across the farmstead once a day, will result in the loss of one and one-half days time in the course of a year.  Doing the chores about a poorly arranged farmstead results in a much greater loss of time and money than is commonly supposed.  (See Chapter VII).  The effect of proper location is well shown in the illustrations of three farmsteads in Minnesota.  The arrangement of the buildings is quite as important as their location.  Doing chores in a poorly planned barn may be quite as destructive of time as traveling great distances between buildings.

In the use of machinery there is opportunity also to economize on labor.  It was formerly customary to do plowing with two horses on a walking plow, one man being required to drive and hold the plow.  In the West where land and fields are adapted to it, one man now drives five horses on a gang-plow, plowing as much or more than two men formerly plowed.  Large machines with one man driving four to six horses are quite customary wherever the topography of the land will allow.

Horse labor as well as man labor adds to the expenses of the farm, and should be carefully guarded against waste.  To reduce horse labor cost to the lowest limit, horses should be worked eight to ten hours a day.  The labor should be distributed so that there will be a uniform demand for horse labor throughout the year.  In marketing produce or in hauling it from the fields to the farmstead, it is a point of economy to make few trips.  Large loads should be hauled wherever possible.  The product should be concentrated as much as possible.  It is in this respect that live stock products can be marketed so much more cheaply than grain or coarse feed.

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108.  Kinds of Farm Labor.

There is a great difference in the efficiency of farm labor.  The most satisfactory farm hand usually is a farmer's son.  Often one can be employed from the neighborhood.  Where service only is considered, it is frequently better to employ one from an adjoining county than one from the immediate locality.  Such a hand will have the advantage of knowing the climatic and crop conditions, but will be free form the interruptions which a large acquaintance in the neighborhood may bring.  Most of these young men are working toward farm ownership themselves and can be kept only for a short time.  So long as they can be employed, however, they are the best help to be had.  The second choice in farm labor lies with those who have been accustomed to work on farms for many years, and who have not risen in doing anything higher than farm labor for the simple reason that they are not able to plan work themselves.  These men often will be failures as farmers but where properly directed and where not required to do too much thinking, they give reasonably satisfactory service.  The third class of help and the least desirable of all, is the transient or "hobo" class.  These people can be depended upon to work only a few days at a time and must be watched or supervised closely if satisfactory service is to be obtained.  This is the class of help that usually drift from grain harvesting in the summer to logging in the winter, thus migrating from one end of the country to the other yearly.  Besides being unreliable, these men usually are not skilled as farm laborers and will not take responsibility.  It is necessary that a foreman, the farmer himself, or someone interested in the work, be in the field with them if they earn the salary paid them.  Negroes, Mexicans, and other cheap help may be secured in some sections.  Such help must be directed by a competent superintendent to give satisfactory service.

What promises to be a solution of the labor problem on the farm is the custom of providing homes for the laborers and giving them employment throughout the year, rather than for

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a few weeks or a few months at a time.  In this way, married men with their families can be employed and work provided the year around.  It is thus often possible for the farmer's wife also to secure some help.  Many of these laborers will have families of children well grown, and the girls in the laborer's family can be employed by the day to help with the housework.  This plan of employment has been tried to some extent and found quite satisfactory.  The head of the family is usually given steady employment and some of the boys can be used during "rush" seasons.  Often they can find employment with neighboring farmers.  Arrangements can be made with the laborer's family to board an additional man or two, thus relieving the farm owner's family from the necessity of caring for the farm help.  Where the laborer's family is furnished a home they may live together as a family just as they would in the city.  A small piece of land can be allowed them for garden; eggs, meat and butter can be obtained from the farm at the minimum price, and both the employer and employee have the advantage of ideal family homes.  In order to use such help profitably it is necessary to provide profit-earning employment during the winter months.  Several types of farming can be developed which offer such employment.  Winter dairying offers perhaps the best opportunity for steady employment.  Where the cows are bred to calve in September and October the heavy part of the milking comes during the winter season when farm work is light.  During the summer when the care of the crops demands attention the cows will be dry or milking lightly.  Other work may be fitted into the schedule that will give employment during the part of the day when the cows do not require attention.  Selecting and testing seed corn, cleaning and selling pedigreed seed grain, or grass seed, are suggestions of profitable work that may be taken up in connection with the dairy.  To be successful at winter dairying it is essential that suitable feed supplies be provided and that the buildings be adapted to it.


For those who do not care to conduct a dairy, cattle feeding may be of interest.  The time will be better occupied and greater profits made if hog raising is combined with it.  As with dairying, some other enterprises can be nicely combined with cattle feeding to fully employ the time.  Winter lamb raising for those who are suitably located, also offers good profits as a side line.  Repairs to implements and improvements or repairs on buildings can often be made to advantage in the winter time.  At least the material for buildings and fences can be hauled during that season.

     Contract labor and profit-sharing labor have not been used on farms to any extent.  Under certain circumstances, such systems might be used to advantage, but as a rule, the farmer will have to employ his help by the day, month or year, as indicated above.

109.  Managing Farm Labor.

In employing help on the farm it is best always to hire under definite contract.  For periods of short duration, a simple oral contract may be sufficient.  To be valid, however, it should be witnessed.  A written contract should be provided for all positions where employment is given for any length of time.  the contract should state the time covered, the rate of wages paid, and the date when payments will be made, and should also describe the duties of each party to the contract.  If time off is allowed, mention should be made of it.  Holidays should be mentioned if they are to be observed.  The number of hours work on Sunday should be stated, or if every other Sunday off is to be the rule, a statement to that effect should be included.  If any personal privileges are granted such as keeping a horse, storing a buggy, or furnishing a horse to drive on certain occasions, it is well to have it written into the contract.  Provision should be made also for the termination of the contract, either through violation or at the end of the period.  A contract such as suggested above may not be necessary in many cases.  The fact that the parties to the contract go over the items, however, leads to a clearer

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understanding on the part of both and will prevent misunderstanding and trouble in many instances.

     It is customary to employ help for a fixed salary by the day, week, month, or year.  Frequently, men will hire out in the winter or early spring at a reasonably low wage.  During the "rush" season they will serve notice that they must have higher salaries or they will quit.  To avoid difficulty of this kind it would be advisable to hire on a sliding scale.  Where a wage of $320 per year is the rule, $20 per month for December, January, February, and March would be reasonable.  For April, May, June, and November, $25 per month would be in proportion.  For the four months in which farm labor is in greatest demand, July, August, September, and October, $35 per month should be paid.  This is equal to an average of $26.66 per month throughout the year.  Board would be given in addition.  When a good man is found, some inducement should be given to encourage long service.  An increase of $25 per year until a definite point is reached, is quite effective in holding them.

     In order that farm help may work to the best advantage, it is well to define the daily routine of work.  Certain assignments of chores and order of procedure should be made by the farmer.  The employee then knows what his work is to be and how to go about it.  This order should not be changed unless the work can be done better in some other way.  The longer a person works at one task, the more expert he becomes.  If the employee is assigned to the care of the cows and takes an interest in it, the longer he cares for them, the better is he likely to do with them.  A change should not be made until necessary.

     The nature of farm work is such that the farmer himself usually works in the field with the men.  By so doing, he gets better service from them and knows what each man is doing.  this will hold true as long as the crew is limited to less than six men.  Where more than five or six men are employed on the farm, it is well for the farmer to select one of the most efficient


ones to act as foreman, at least in his absence.  By paying $5 or $10 per month extra for this service, he secures the interest of this man selected to act as foreman, and gets a larger amount of work done.  Often, day help will be employed on the same farm with month help.  Month labor is usually employed at a less cost per hour because work is provided all of the time.  The day labor is employed only when wanted and loses time through interruption.  In working the crews, it is best not to mix the day and month men.  One class or the other is likely to raise a discussion and cause dissatisfaction.  the month men, though getting less wages, can often be satisfied by giving them the lighter tasks and allowing them to help direct the work.  Because the work on a farm is spread out over so much land, it is difficult to employ more than five to ten men without someone in charge.  It is seldom profitable to work more than 25 to 30 men in the same crew and usually even smaller crews will give better service.

110.  Daily Schedule of Work.

The work on every farm is subject to rapid change.  A farmer may plan in the morning to make hay all day.  At noon it may be raining and a change of program is necessary.  These changes cannot be made without loss of time unless a plan of work has been well laid out in advance.  The most efficient farmers will have their work classified and lists made, either mentally or in a memorandum book, showing what tasks should be performed under certain conditions.  A rainy-day list will thus be provided, or a list for cold days in the winter, or for slack periods in summer.  A regular field schedule will also be made.  A man who plans his work the day before, can get from five to ten per cent more out of his labor than the one who plans it as he goes.  As suggestions for rainy-day work, the following are offered:  Clean and white-wash barns; repair doors, windows, and gates; clean seed grain; select seed corn; test corn for planting; oil wagons and carriages; paint wagons, hay-racks or other machinery; sharpen mower sickles or other tools; clean and white-wash

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hen house; mix up feed rations for cows or pigs; grind feed, etc.  For winter work more attention can be given to live stock and to manufacturing some of the farm products into market commodities; inside work in building repairs can be done; machinery can be repaired provided a workshop or other suitably warm place is at hand; harnesses can be oiled and repaired; manure can be hauled and coarse farm produce marketed; material for buildings can be hauled.  many other things will suggest themselves to the thoughtful farmer.

Day's Work for One Man

     There is a great difference in the amount of work that men can do.  Quickness of motion, definiteness of plans and thoughtfulness are natural to some men and add greatly to their efficiency.  As a suggestion of the amount of work that can be expected from a good farm hand the following table is offered.

Corn:
	Husking standing corn	50-80 bu.
	Picking standing corn	70-140 bu.
	Shocking corn	2 1/2 - 3 acres
	Planting corn with hand planter	5-7 1/2 acres
	Hoeing corn	1-1 1/2 acres
Potatoes:
	Cutting seed	24 bu.
	Planting with hand planter	2-3 acres
	Picking up	120-200 bu.
Mangel Wurzels:
	Planting (hand planters) good soil (Rows 30 inches apart)	2-3 acres
	Weeding and thinning	1/6 acre
	Hoeing	1/2 acre
	Pulling and loading	1/4 acre
Fence Building:
	Setting posts (no rocks)	60 posts
	Stretching and stapling three barb wires	160 rods
	Stretching and stapling 26-inch ribbon and 3 barb wires	80-120 rods
Tiling:
	Digging 3-foot ditch	100 feet
	Digging 3 1/2 foot ditch	90 feet
	Digging 4-foot ditch	80 feet
	Laying 4-6-inch tile	1800-2000 feet
Sawing Wood:
	2 cuts per stick	1 1/2 cords
	3 cuts per stick	1 cord
Milking and Caring for Dairy Cows:
	1 man for each	10-12 head
Caring for Sheep:
	Herding	2000 head
	Dry feeding	300-400 head
	With self feeders	1000-2000 head
Grain:
	Shocking	10-14 acres
	Stacking (at the rate of)	5-6 acres

 

Day's Work for Machinery

14-inch walking plow	2 horses	2-2 1/2 acres
14-inch gang plow	4-5 horses	4-5 acres
8 1/2-foot harrow	2 horses	16-20 acres
26-foot harrow	4 horses	50-60 acres
8-foot disc harrow	4 horses	12-14 acres
8-foot grain drill	4 horses	12-15 acres
2-row corn planter	2 horses	8-12 acres
1- row corn cultivator	2 horses	5-8 acres
7-foot grain binder	3-4 horses	12-16 acres
Corn binder	4 horses	5-7 acres
5-foot mower	2 horses	8-12 acres
12-foot hay rake	1-2 horses	15-25 acres
Potato digger	4 horses	4-6 acres
75-bushel manure spreader	3 horses	12-15 loads