464 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



The (lata with reference to food are discussed in an appended report by 

 F. P. Underhill. With reference to the New Yorli studies he states that " com- 

 parison between the amounts spent for food by well nourished and poorly 

 nourished families indicates that in general when less than 22 cts. per man 

 per day is spent for food the nourishment derived Is insufficient, and when 

 more than 22 cts. per day is expended the family is well nourished." 



As to the Buffalo studies " the general conclusion may be drawn that for 21 

 cts. per man, per day sufficient nourishment may be bought in the city of Buf- 

 falo to keep a man in bodily health and vigor at moderate muscular work. No 

 definite relation appears to exist between the purchase of a preponderance of 

 animal or vegetable food and an ability to live at a low figure." 



The study also includes a copy of the schedule used, a summary of methods 

 used by previous investigators in similar studies of workingmen's budgets, and 

 a partial bibliography. 



Cost of living' of the working'-classes [in the United Kingdom], A. W. Fox 

 {London: Govt., 1908, pp. LIII+616, maps 2). — An extended study was under- 

 taken by the Board of Trade of Great Britain of living conditions in wage- 

 earners' families in the principal industrial towns of the United Kingdom, such 

 topics being taken up as rents, housing, retail prices, and the standard rates of 

 wages prevailing in different occupations. The report includes summaries as 

 well as full data collected in 94 towns. In the form of appendixes information 

 is given regarding the percentage of the population in each town living in over- 

 crowded and other kinds of tenements, the wages and weekly time rates of 

 skilled workmen of different trades, and similar topics. 



According to the information summarized, 2t;l families out of a total of 1,944 

 reported a weekly income under $0.25; 59G an income of over $10; and 410 an 

 income of $7.50 to $8.75. As the income increases the proportionate expenditure 

 for food decreases, two-thirds of the total expense being for food with incomes of 

 less than $7.50 a week, in comparison with 57 per cent with incomes of $10 a 

 week and over. 



" The amount spent on bread and flour together does not show much variation 

 in the different ranges of income, except in the case of incomes above $10, where 

 the family income is augmented to a greater extent than in the other groups by 

 the earnings of children and in which the children included are older. 



" In the case of incomes below $0.25 the expenditure on bread and flour forms 

 about 21 per cent of the total spent on food ; for incomes between $8.75 and $10 

 the proi")ortion is 15 per cent. The quantity of bread and flour purchased varies 

 from 282 to 37f lbs. per week, the average being 32 lbs. 



"The average expenditure on meat and fish of all kinds is . . . $1,595 per 

 week. . . . 



" If we turn to other articles of consumption we find that fresh milk accounts 

 for 16 cts. a week in the families with incomes below $0.25, but the expenditure 

 on fresh milk rises rapidly with the income. The average expenditure for all 

 families is 31^ cts. . . . 



*' Oatmeal is consumed largely by the Scotch working classes, but hardly at all 

 in England, whilst on the other hand foreign and colonial meat, a common article 

 of food in England, is much less used in most parts of Scotland. . . . 



" Rice, tapioca, and oatmeal account for an expenditure of from 9 cts. to 14 

 cts. a week, a considerable portion of this amount being accounted for by the ex- 

 penditure on oatmeal in Scotland, which amounts on an average to 16* cts. per 

 week." 



Similar statistics are given for other food groups. 



Housing conditions and other topics are also discussed at length. 



