tracklaying (crawlers), garden, and homemade. Motortrucks 

 include pickup trucks, truck-trailer combinations, jeeps, and 

 station wagons if they were used primarily as trucks. Auto- 

 mobiles include jeeps and station wagons if they were used 

 primarily as passenger cars. Data obtained in the 1982 census 

 for the number of tractors, motortrucks, and automobiles on 

 farms are comparable with those presented for earlier census 

 years. 



Since the 1960 census, data were obtained on presence or 

 absence of electricity and piped running water on the farm. 

 These facilities were considered to be on the farm if they were 

 available anywhere on the place, whether or not in the operator's 

 dwelling. "Piped running water" was defined as "water carried 

 in pipelines by a pressure system or by gravity flow from a 

 natural or an artificial source." 



Farm wells included all holes or pits made by excavation to 

 reach a supply of water for irrigation, watering livestock, and 

 other purposes. Farm ponds are not included. 



number of days worked off the farm during the year. Work 

 off the farm was defined to include work on someone else's 

 farm for pay as well as all types of nonfarm jobs, businesses, 

 and professions whether the work was done on the farm 

 premises or elsewhere. Exchange work was not included. 

 Data for the 1982 census are comparable with those for the 

 censuses since 1960. 



FARM CLASSIFICATIONS 



Farms by size— Farms were classified by size on the basis of the 

 total land area established in each one. According to the census 

 definition, a farm is essentially an operating unit, not an 

 ownership tract. All land operated or managed by one person or 

 partnership represents one farm. In the case of tenants, the land 

 assigned to each tenant is considered a separate farm, even 

 though the landlord may consider the entire landholding to be 

 one unit rather than several separate units. 



Operator cliaracteristlcs— Data were obtained to classify the 

 operators according to six characteristics. 



Residence of operator- Operators were classified by resi- 

 dence according to whether or not they lived on the farms 

 operated. Some of those who did not live on the farms they 

 operated lived on farms operated by others. Where all the 

 land was rented from others or worked on shares for others, 

 the operator was considered to live on the farm operated 

 provided the dwelling he/she occupied was included in the 

 rental agreement. In such cases, the dwelling was not 

 necessarily on the land being operated. Similarly, an operator 

 who did not live on the land being cultivated or grazed, but 

 who had some agricultural operations (other than a home 

 garden) at his/her dwelling, was considered to be living on 

 the farm operated. 



Years on present farm— Operators were classified by years on 

 present farm into four groups. This data was based on the 

 request for the first year the operator took continuous 

 charge of the present farm or any part of it. 



Place of birtfi-Operators were classified by place of birth 

 according to whether they were born in the Virgin Islands, 

 Puerto Rico, or elsewhere. The purpose of this question was 

 to obtain a measure of the native language abilities of 

 operators as a guide to agricultural agents in preparing news 

 releases for distribution to farmers. The need for information 

 about language abilities has arisen since the 1950 census as a 

 result of the influx of Puerto Ricans into the Virgin Islands. 



Age of operator— Operators were classified by age into six 

 groups. The average age was obtained by dividing the sum of 

 the ages of all operators reporting by the number reporting. 



Main occupation— This question was asked to determine 

 whether the principal occupation of the operator was 

 agricultural or nonagricultural. If the operator devoted 50 

 percent or more of his/her work time to agricultural 

 activities, his/her main occupation was considered to be 

 agriculture. 



Work off farm— The extent to which operators rely on 

 nonfarm sources for part of their income is indicated by the 



Farms by tenure of operator— In the 1982 census, farms were 

 classified by tenure of operator on the basis of data reported for 

 land owned, rented from others, worked on shares for others, 

 and managed for others. The same classification was used since 

 1964. During the processing operations, each report form was 

 coded to indicate whether the operator was a full owner, part 

 owner, manager, or tenant. 



Ft/// owners— These operate only land they own. 



Part owners— These operate land they own and also land they 

 rent from others. 



Managers— These operate land for others and are paid a wage 

 or salary for their services. Caretakers or hired laborers are 

 not classified as managers. If an operator managed land for 

 others and also operated his/her own farm, each operation 

 was considered a farm. If a manager managed farms for two 

 or more employers, each operation was considered a separate 

 farm. 



Tenants— These rent from others or work the land they 

 operate on shares for others. 



Farms by value of agricultural products sold— The farms were 

 classified on the basis of the total value of agricultural products 

 sold. The total was obtained by adding the reported values of all 

 products sold from the farm. The value of livestock, milk, 

 poultry and eggs, vegetables, fruits and nuts, all field crops, 

 ornamental plants, and all other crops was obtained from the 

 operator at the time of enumeration. The computer edit 

 classified the value of agricultural products sold into one of the 

 following groups: 



Less than $100 

 $100 to $499 

 $500 to $1,199 

 $1,200 to $2,499 



$2,500 to $4,999 

 $5,000 to $7,499 

 $7,500 to $9,999 

 $10,000 or more 



Farms by age of operator— Enumerators entered the operator's 

 age, as of his/her last birthday, on the report form. The 

 computer edit classified the operator's age into one of the 

 following age groups: 



Under 25 years 

 25 to 34 years 

 35 to 44 years 



45 to 54 years 

 55 to 64 years 

 65 years and over 



A-4 APPENDIX A 



AGRICULTURE-GEOGRAPHIC AREA SERIES 



