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Show I WHY IS $&m HELP SCARCE? By S. C. rviillcr. ' Regularity and system of employment employ-ment In tho city arc such that tho employe knows exactly what is required re-quired of him: that he begins to ivork at a certain hour and slops at a regular regu-lar hour. If he labor before or after his regular working hours, he Is allowed al-lowed over-time, usually at double wages, by the hour. v Furthermore: as tho workman In the city grows more proficient in his line of labor, promotion almost invariably pushes him up a notch'highcr, in both position and salary. Again, certainly of employment the year around holds many a man in the city. Tho conditions surrounding the country laborer aro almost entirely tho reverse of thoso just mentioned In the city. While most farmers havo regular hours for beginning work and another for stopping, there aro so many Interruptions and unlooked for contingencies arising In crop or weather conditions, that tho hired man frequently works two or three hours over-time and this grows to be Biich a common occurrence that all he gets for his extra labor is perhaps a half-hour's half-hour's longer rest at noon which Is really for the sake of the teamn, a formal word of thanks, or nothing! As for winning promotion, the farm hand rarely cvor expects it. Sometimes Some-times he demands better wages, but as for promotion, in its real sense, it is llttlo thought of. either by the farmer .or tho hired man and right hero a double loss is sustained ono for the employer and one for tho employe, em-ploye, since the hand has no incentive to spur nlm on to greater offort and consequently, Is not as efilclcnt in his work as he otherwise would be. Ho thereby does not increase his earnings nor do tho best that la in him, which woUld raise the profits of his employer. em-ployer. Closolv linked with the above drawback draw-back Is that of employing a hand for only a portion of tho year many times for only two or thre'o months. By such method, he scarcely becomes accustomed to his position before he leaves, which Is a decided detriment to all concerned. The farmer rannot possibly obtain the amount of efficient help, that ho could If the hand woro retained long enough to get settled "In tho harnesH," so to speak, while tho hand Is placed at a. disadvantage by having to adjust hjmself to tho environments peculiar to every place at which he begins to work. Then, too; ho loses considerable consider-able time in going from ono place to another, searching for work. We are thoroughly convinced that tho farmer mu3t adopt, to a cortain extent, tho mcthodH of the city employer, em-ployer, if the hired man works overtime, over-time, he Is earning his employer money and should receive oxtra pay for his labor. If, for any reason, he loses time, he returns his cmplovcr nothing for that time ' and consequently conse-quently should havo an hour's wages deducted rom his pay. This standard stand-ard would Insure absoluto fairness to both. Then, le tho farmer retain tho same hand tho year around, even though there be a small part of tho time that he could be dispensed with. The work of the busiest season will be handled all tho easier when it does come on. And as the eeasons pass tho really wise farmer will see ample cause for promoting the competent hand and raising his salary'accord-ingly. salary'accord-ingly. Indeed, we see no reason why the farmer should not make the faithful hired mar. of years, his partner In business In connection, jj. R an important fact that t,hjs scarcity of farm help Is welldlng a deteriorating influenco on the fertility of the soil and the Improvements Im-provements of farms In general, since many of thorn. arc too extensive to be properly kept up by their owners alone, and there Is littler doubt but that this eventually will depreciate land values lij certain portions of tho country n at th samo time raise the price qf taple crops produced. Should our readers consider somo of the above drawliacks overdrawn, let them rcn)cm.ber that the farmer or the hired man vety often carries them to even greater, extremes than they an herewith represented to be, These observations are not Intended as a criticism of the liberal-minded farmer,, nor-.are they a plea for tho slothful, shirking class of farm hands. They are meant as an index of what might be termed circumstantial con-dlMons, con-dlMons, existing in farming districts today, together with suggestions that may assist in tho betterment better-ment of thoso conditions, and in tho ultimate solution of tho great, vital problem now being faced by tho American farmoi' that Uf soourln and rotnlnlng skilled hnln on tho farm |