Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 249 



In undertaking this study the thing we first considered was 

 the family living which is supplied by the farm to the farm home. 

 The importance of this factor on the farm varies in no little degree 

 with the demands of different people. One farmer will use in 

 produce from the farm from $600 to $800 worth of material in the 

 home in a year, and another one, whose standard of living is not so 

 high, will use one-fourth of that amount. We have been studying 

 the farm all the time from the standpoint of profits and have given 

 very little credit to this factor of farm living, which is so variable 

 that, in order to be fair to the farm, the family living is the first 

 point which we have taken up in this practical study. In order to 

 determine what this family living is and how important it is in the 

 farm home we must necessarily have some means of recording the 

 products from the farm that are used in the home. The products 

 usually taken from the farm are in the form of orchard and garden 

 products, milk, butter, eggs, meats and fuel. The value of some 

 of these is comparatively easy to estimate, but others, especially 

 garden products, are very difficult to account for. We must have 

 a very brief system of accounting for these products in order that 

 it may be practically applied. The housewife will use a few 

 products from the garden very nearly every day during the sum- 

 mer, and it can be readily seen that in addition to the difficulty of 

 deciding the value of these products used each day, it is almost an 

 impractical task to record the amount of each. In the beginning 

 of this work an attempt was made to find out the different classes 

 of these products, but that we have abandoned as being entirely too 

 detailed. The object now is to determine as nearly as possible the 

 gross value of these products used each day or week, as may be most 

 convenient. 



When we have determined the value of the products used in the 

 farm home from the farm we must, in order to be fair to the farm, 

 determine also the expense that the farm is put to each year in 

 behalf of the farm home. These expenses are usually in the form 

 of clothing and groceries with some furniture and other supplies 

 purchased. The keeping of the record of this is not so difficult un- 

 less we attempt to get it in too great detail. This was the fault 

 with the work at first and this has also been corrected. The in- 

 formation which seems to be of most importance now in regard to 

 the expense of the farm home is about as follows: First, the cash 

 spent for groceries, meat, clothing, household supplies, such as 

 brooms, rugs, furniture, lamps, etc. ; and second, the money spent 

 for personal matters, such as Sunday school and church contribu- 



