Income of Farmers 9 



the farmers, as a whole, have assets in mort- 

 gages, promissory notes and savings banks amply 

 sufficient to liquidate all such outstanding obli- 

 gations. Added to the real estate, the farmers 

 own implements and machines valued at five 

 hundred millions of dollars, and their live stock, 

 upon ten thousand hills, numbers one hundred 

 and seventy -five millions, valued at more than 

 two billions of dollars, while the annual value 

 of the farm products is between two and three 

 billions of dollars. It should be remembered 

 that these values are nominal, the true value 

 being in most cases more than double these 

 amounts. The farmers are not now in danger 

 of becoming paupers. From the farms come 

 more than half of the college students. At the 

 present time it is probable that the income of 

 the farmers exceeds three billion dollars annu- 

 ally. When it is considered that there is little 

 or no direct outgo for rent of house, and that 

 nearly three -fourths of the food is produced at 

 home, and that these items are seldom taken into 

 account in the statistics of income, it appears 

 that the farmer's real income is much larger 

 than is usually estimated in money. In other 

 words, a five hundred dollar net income on the 

 farm, under the conditions which now prevail, 

 provides for a more comfortable living than 

 does a thousand dollars in the city. 



