VOL. LXIV
INDIANAPOLIS, FEB.   27, 1909.
NO. 8
Tbe Farm   Help Problem.
By Irma B.  Matthews.
It is getting more ami more difficult for
farmers to get help on the farm, and surely there must be some reason for this
] have talked with some of the young
men about this and I want to give you
their side of the question.
In nearly every case it is this: Hours
too long, pay too small and no privi-
In other words as one puts it;
You see it is this way, when I worked
nil a farm I was expected to be up in the
morning by four or five o'clock and
help do chores and get into the field to
work by seven or earlier, even during
haying and harvest. I came up at night,
ate my supper and did more chores until
linltime. Xow in the city I get up at
• ix. eat my breakfast and go to work at
seven. My work is done at six at night
and then I can change my clothes, go to
see my girl or spend the evening as I
(hoose.
• It is healthier to work out of doors,"
1 urged.
"Perhaps, but then there is another
thing, a farmer does not usually want
help the whole year, and from November
to March or April there was nothing' to
•hi and it took what little I had saved to
carry me through the winter."
I could not contradict that, so I said:
"What  about  privileges?''
"Guess you don't have any on a farm.
Vim have to board with the family, of
'"urse, and I can assure you farmers'
wives are not all good cooks either. Xow
in town we can change our boarding place
if  the   -rub   don't   suit. Then   in   the
' "imtry there is no amusement, nothing
tn go to—while in the city—"
"In the city there are plenty of places
to spend your money," I interrupted,"
sail plenty of pit-falls  and temptations."
"Well I'll risk the city," was the answer; and so they all say and what is to
le done?
Many of the farmers here have solved
the problem by building a tenant house
and hiring a married man by the year;
"til where this can be afforded I believe
' is the best way. Many little extras
-" with it, such as a garden, the keeping
' t a cow, fuel perhaps, and of course,
'he house rent. Important items these
when a man has a family, and they are
not missed on a large farm. But what
's the small farmer to do, the one who
needs help part of the year and cannot
aff"rd to hire by the year?
I' is a problem that is confronting many
a farmer today, and they do not seem
•fty nearer the solution than they were
•i few years ago when the country lads
hrst began leaving the farms for the city.
I have :, few things to suggest however
"' regard >o the treatment of a hired man.
Providing von are fortunate enough to get
'"""• I>on't forget he is a human; in
""se days of free scnoois many a hired
n,an is the equal if not the superior of
"l0 rnan he is working for. Don't for-
' ' Tl»s and treat him as an equal.
''"'t i   think     any   old     thing   is     good
"n<»igh f,,r the hired man.        Give him a
"'   room,     as) good  at  least  as  his
""'"ley would buy in the city.        Be sure
papers and  magazines are at his
' ami time enough in the evening
v  them   also.        He is something
i   machine.
,;'ve him a day ...T . * in a while. It
*'" encourage him and he will wok the
better for it.
This may sound superfluous to some
of you, but when I see the way hired men
it re treated in some families I do not
wonder that they are leaving the country
and flocking into the city. I do not feel
sorry for some of the fanners either, but
1 can hardly expect any of that class to
read my article for they ire not usually
the wide-awake, progressive farmers that
to produce such crop. According to this
(■(intention, if a certain soil is called upon
to produce the same crop or class of crops
for a Dumber of years it becomes exhausted of the particular kind of plant food
needed by those crops and small yields
are the result. In spite of the fact that
this view is generally accepted, it is in
the main doubtless incorrect. The elements of plant food which are likely to be
A Modern Nine Room House.      Elevation.
^j-q
A Modern Nine Koo m House.      Floor Plans.
read  their farm  papers  eagerly  for  help,
but those who 'know enough to run their
farm without the help of any old paper."
Michigan.
Rotation of Crops.
Editors Indiana  Farmer:
Over the Potomac River, opposite to
the Washington Monument, on the Virginia shore and below the bluff on which
Bbnds Arlington Cemetery, the Nation's
graveyard, is a portion of the vast estate
of General Lee, now used by the Department of Agriculture for experimental
purpose*.
A considerable area of the Arlington
farm is used by the Bureau of Soils and
t'evoted to crop rotation for the purpose
of learning the effect of rotation on the
production of the soil. Over eighty distinct experimental areas are involved in
this work.
It is the geueral impression thruout
he farming sections that rotation of crops
gives the soil a rest, that is. the plant-
feod needed by the different crops varies.
tne crop removing one set of substances
■ .e year, and B different crop a different
set of substances the next day, thu giving
the soil a chance to build up for a certain
crop between the years it is called upon
lacking in the soil, are nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash. According to the
generally accepted theory, when a soil
(cases to be productive it is because it has
become txhansted of the available portion
of one or more of these substances.
According to experiments conducted by
the Minnesota Experiment Station, it
was found that more of the life-giving
elements are removed by the rotation
than by the continuous cropping to
wheat.
With a five-year rotation of 1st, wheat,
2nd, meadow; 3d, meadow; 4th oats and
fifth corn 196.6 pounds of nitrogen, 197.5
pounds of phosphoric acid and 465.2 lbs.
of potash were removed, as against 148
pounds of nitrogen, 84.6 pounds of phosphoric acid and 148 pounds of potash
removed by continuous cropping for five
years with wheat.
From other experiments the conclusion
was drawn that where a naturally fertile
soil is kept Id good conditio i thenecessarv
plant food is made available by decomposition and disintegration, and they also
illustrate the fact that rotation puts the
soil into he desired condiion for promoting these chemical and biological
changes. The experiments make the fact
quite evident that one of the chief bene
fits of a rotation is. us has been stated,
in its favorable influence upon the condition of the soil, so as to prepare the way
for other cluing G. E. M.
Washington, D.  0.
A Modern Nine Room   House.
The accompanying design and plan
are of a modern nine room house suitable
for village or country. The first floor contains parlor, sitting room, dining room,
reception hall and kitchen, with pantry
and      stairways. There       are       four
bedrooms, dressing room, bath and
four closets on the second floor.
The dressing room is a convenient arrangement, and suitable cupboards have
been provided for it. The stairway is of
the combination pattern and leads from
cellar to attic, with side entrance door at
ground level.
The pinch is of ample dimensions and
has a covered carriage entrance. One
chimney has been arranged between dining room and kitchen, with mantel in dining room. There are sliding door
tween parlor and sitting mom and also
tetween dining room   and sitting room.
The rooms are all of nice size and windows have been arranged with a view of
obtaining the bes' possible iigtit. The attic is of nice dimensions and is well lighted. Additional bed rooms can be arranged in attic at any future time if wapted.
There is a basement under the whole
house and it has been calculated to heat
the house with a furnace.
The design is plain in character and depends on its proportion for its style and
beauty. It is a difficult matter to give an
estimate of cost of any house and have it
apply in every locality, owing to various
heal conditions, prices, etc., but as an
average cost it is estimated that $2500.00
should be enough to erect this house.
Pensioning School Teachers.
A cirresnouilent of Evansville, writes
us anent the proposed pensioning of
school teachers: "We have all been
taught that this is a free country; a man
can choose any occupation in life, and
canrelinqutsh it and take up another at
iiis  own pleasure. And the teacher,  as
any one else, has a perfect right to stop
teaching at any time he chooses, and
give sonic one else a chance at the job.
We would all be glad of the assurance
of a pension in our declining years, that
we would have a support even though we
spent all our money as we made it for
things we might have  done without.
"Why not pension our doctors and
preachers and editors—aye, and our farmers, for they are the foundation of our
country.
"The measure as proposed is an absurd
one. and I hope there is not a member
in either house who will support it."
Mr. J. I,. Jones, of Johnson county is
doing quite a thriving business in hatching chicks for selling from the incubator
and  brooder. He sold  several  hundred
at the the recent poultry show in this
city. His price is seven cents apiece,
which is certainlygood pay for converting
three cent eggs into chicks.
In the Wisconsin University and College of Agriculture 148 students have just
completed the twelve weeks course in the
dairy department, and the demand is so
great that nearly all these dairy graduates have secured places to manage
dairy   factories.