FARM MANAGEMENT 81 



he will pay, say, $40 per year, whereas the motorman with a family 

 pays $150. 



All things considered the allowances received by the farm la- 

 borer supplemental to the money rate of wages and the lower cost 

 of many things that he buys as compared with the cost in the city 

 the farm laborer receiving nominally $30 per month really gets, in 

 comparison with his situation as it would be if he lived in the city f 

 perhaps more than the motorman or street-car conductor gets, and 

 very likely in most cases a larger amount than he would be likely to 

 earn in any occupation open to him in the city. 



The money wage rates of farm laborers have increased in a 

 marked degree within the last few years, and in this respect a com- 

 parison may be made with the wages of workingmen. A still further 

 comparison may be made between the purchasing power of the wages 

 of the farm laborer in terms of food and the purchasing power of 

 the wages of workingmen. The investigations of the United States 

 Bureau of Labor make possible this comparison. 



If the mean wage rates of agricultural laborers for the years 

 1890-1898 be regarded as 100, the rate per month of the outdoor 

 labor of men on farms in hiring by the year and season in 1890 is 

 represented by 100.9. The relative number increased to 103.6 in 

 1893, and there was a sudden decline to 96.3 in 1894, after which 

 there was an unbroken increase in this number until in 1907 it was 

 141.1. 



The purchasing power of the wages of the farm laborer in 1907 

 in terms of actual food consumption in comparison with the mean 

 of 1890-1898 is represented by the comparative number 117.1. In 

 1907 the corresponding relative number standing for the wages of 

 the workingman was 122.5 and the purchasing power of his wages 

 in terms of actual food consumption in 1907 is represented by the 

 relative number 101.7, as compared with the mean of 1890-1898 

 which, as before stated, is represented by 100. 



As time advanced after 1890 the farm laborer, setting out with 

 wages having a relative purchasing power in terms of food about 

 equal to that of the workingman, passed him in this respect in 1899, 

 and rapidly gained upon him in subsequent years. (Y. B. 1910.) 



COLD STORAGE. 



Requirements. The storage of fruits and vegetables is an im- 

 portant factor of correct and progressive farming storage not only 

 for market purposes but for home use. Perhaps the simplest way 

 of storing the fruit or vegetables is to put them in a pit or cellar, 

 but this method provides only imperfectly for ventilation and a 

 low, even temperature, which are essential conditions in keeping 

 fruit of any kind, while, for hygienic reasons, the storing of fruit 

 under dwelling houses is not to be recommended. A certain amount 

 of decay is inevitable, and the decaying fruit becomes a propagating 

 place for disease germs which permeate the rooms above, frequently 

 causing sickness. (F. B. 119.) 



The Cave. The most common way of storing without ice is to 

 utilize a pit or cave. Such pits or caves vary in details of construe- 



