490 EXPEEIMENT STATION EECOED. 



cent, Norweginn 24.2 per cent, and German 30.8 per cent. A gradual decrease 

 in the rural population with an increase in village population is noted since 

 ]880. The decrease is attributed to the efflux from country to city and the 

 decline of the birth rate in rural sections, the birth rate per 1,000 inhabitants 

 being 41.5 in 18G0, but only 14.7 for the last 5 years. 



Diagrams are given shovping the number of hours the average farmer gives 

 to sleep, meals, recreation, and work, summer and winter ; convenience of water 

 supply in farm homes; percentage of families buying from peddlers and cata- 

 logue houses; membership in leading farmers' organizations; percentage of 

 farmers reached by various kinds of reading matter; church membership and 

 percentage that attend church, by nationalities, etc. Other diagrams show that 

 48 per cent of the homes produce berries on the farm, 53 per cent apples, and 

 76 per cent winter vegetables ; 79 per cent have good gardens, 13 per cent poor 

 gardens, and 8 per cent no gardens; in 16 per cent of the homes women do 

 field work, in 82 per cent milking, in 71 per cent garden work, and in 79 per 

 cent the care of poultry ; 48 per cent of the farmers dispose of their products 

 through the farmers' creamery, and 37 per cent through centralizing plants; 

 31 per cent sell eggs for cash at times and 69 per cent trade out eggs at 

 store. 



A series of tables are also given summarizing data as applied to owners and 

 tenants, illustrating some of the many lines on which information was gathered 

 and tabulated, from which the following conclusions were drawn: (1) Farm 

 machinery has decreased the amount of labor required by farmers but a changed 

 type of farming has meant additional work which can not be reduced to machine 

 process. (2) There is a scarcity of labor due to the fact that foreign labor is 

 no longer coming in to replace the native sons who move to the city or go where 

 land is cheaper. (3) Farmers' wives are not as anxious to leave the farm as 

 their husbands, as 29 per cent of the men visited want to go to town to live as 

 soon as they can afford to do so, while only 13 per cent of the wives had the 

 same desire. However, girls seem to leave the farm more largely than boys, 

 it being noted that 78 per cent of the sons over 21 years of age of present heads 

 of families are now farming while only 47 per cent of the girls are living on 

 farms. 



The distribution of farm labor, O. R. Johnson (Missouri Sta. Research Bui. 

 6, pp. 53-88, figs. 5). — This bulletin presents the results of a careful study of 

 the distribution of farm labor from the standpoint of labor equipment and labor 

 requirements, suggesting lines along which it will be possible to work in arriving 

 at the proper adjustment of the 2 factors. T.nbles and charts are given showing 

 theoretical condition of employment and maximum efficiency; length of work- 

 day for man and horse and the distribution of such labor by months and for 

 various farm activities, as maintenance or upkeep of farm, care of live stock, 

 production and marketing leading farm crops, etc. 



It is noted that the average workman on the farms studied worked 3,272.3 

 hours per year, of which 931 hours were given to crop production. With refer- 

 ence to horse labor, 1,216.6 hours per horse were worked during the year, while 

 705.9 hours of this time were given to crop production. The dependence of 

 horses on crop work and the independence of man labor on this same class is 

 thus illustrated. The length of day worked varied in the case of man labor 

 from 7.8 hours in February to 11.7 in June, and in case of horse labor from 

 1.2 hours in January to 6.4 hours in May, the average being man 9.9 and horse 

 3.9. The labor required for care of work stock varied from 4§ to 7 per cent of 

 the total labor used on the farm, the cost being from 4 to 6 cts. per day per 

 horse. 



