THE "SURVEY" METHOD 87 



1. Because the average earning of the average farmer has netted too small 

 a return for his labor. 



2. Because he lacks education and social advantages. 



3. And by no means, least, in many parts of the country what he did 

 earn was earned at too great a personal sacrifice labor for long hours and 

 no recreation." 



The Farmer's Income Other Estimates. In recent years 

 many studies have been made of the farmer's income. Farmers' 

 Bulletin No. 746, by Goldenweiser, 1 is one of the best estimates 

 we have, because it is based on several different investigations 

 carried on by various bureaus of the federal government. An 

 exact statement in money of the farmer's income is not possible, 

 since the farmer has such earnings as house rent, value of foods 

 and fuel supplied by the farm, and other earnings not on the money 

 basis. The average earnings of the farmer, says this Bulletin, 

 are about $600, made up of cash, $200, and about $400 supplied 

 by the farm. This $600 may be compared with the $460, earned 

 by the factory hand, and with the $663 earned by the average 

 clergyman. About two-thirds of the farmers are landowners. "In 

 view of the lower cost of living on the farm," says Goldenweiser, 

 "and the fact that two-thirds of the farmers have interest in addi- 

 tion to wages it appears that farmers, as a class, are better off 

 than the majority of persons engaged in other pursuits." Paul L. 

 Vogt, formerly of Ohio State University, one of our trustworthy 

 investigators, discussed the farmer's income in an economic maga- 

 zine. 2 He shows the difficulty of comparing a farmer's income 

 who combines in himself three factors of production (ownership 

 of the business, management of the business and the labor) with 

 the incomes of breadwinners in cities where these factors are more 

 sharply differentiated. Vogt cites average farm incomes of $439, 

 $423, and other amounts. There is a tendency, he says, for changes 

 in gross income to manifest themselves in rises in land values 

 rather than in labor income. He also sees a tendency toward 

 equalization of labor incomes in all parts of the country. His 

 conclusions are that the farmer now is better off than the great 

 majority of breadwinners in the cities, and is also better off than 

 such salaried professional men as clergymen and school teachers. 



The " survey " method of determining the farmer's income has 

 come into vogue very much in recent years, particularly since the 

 publication of that very able piece of farm management pioneering 



1 Farmers' Bulletin No. 746. United States Department of Agriculture. 

 July 6, 1916. 



2 The Farmers' Labor Income. Paul L. Vogt; American Economic Review. 

 Dec., 1916. 



