Salaries
The positions of farm manager, superintendent, or foreman are considered from the salary rather than the wage standpoint and are usually of annual engagement for the calendar year, as practically all farm operations have ended with the close of the year, making it a most suitable time for the changing of men, if found advisable. The salary paid is proportionate to experience and efficiency and commensurate with that of other callings. As in other occupations, it may be small at the start, but will increase with efficiency. Commonly farm managers and superintendents are receiving annually from $1,000 to $3,000, and on large estates often $4,000 or $5,000, with many perquisites, such as dwelling, garden and truck land, fuel, and the privilege of keeping a cow, pigs, and poultry. Farm foremen are paid from $500 to $1,200 with perquisites. Sometimes the beginning salary is a little less than the minimum, but often carries a contingent bonus when the year ends with satisfactory results. The general level of pay is likely to advance under the unusual conditions which now obtain in agriculture.
Your salary in the country may be less than in the city, but your living expenses are greatly decreased by the perquisites mentioned, and in not having presented to members of the family the temptations of the city to spend money unnecessarily. Then, too, the healthful conditions of the country prevent much sickness and consequent loss of time and there are therefore fewer doctor’s bills. Therefore the saving from the annual income as farm manager is equal to, and in a majority of cases, exceeds the returns from a city position, besides placing you in line for independent ownership.
As in other positions, that of manager and the amount of salary commanded varies with the magnitude of the farm and the capacity of the manager to develop himself and the opportunities entrusted to him. A farm boy, after two years in an Agricultural College, took a foreman’s position starting at $600 a year and perquisites, the second year he received $900, then became manager at $1,800, and now receives $3,000. In five years he has quadrupled the income.