PART-TIME FARMING 123 



Table 17. — Number of farm and city-bred operators and wives. 



Lowell area Taunton area 



Farm-bred City-bred Farm-bred City-bred 



Operators: 



American-born 



Foreign-born 



Total 



Wives : 



American-born 



Foreign-born 



Total 



For the families where either husband or wife had an agricultural 

 bacliground, the starting of farming operations naturally presented no 

 such difficulties as were found by the families in which neither had ever 

 lived on a farm. In the latter case, the operators had to rely largely on 

 the assistance of their neighbors and use the method of trial and error 

 until they mastered the rudiments of agriculture. But once city-bred 

 operators learned enough about agricidture to carry on the necessary 

 operations, they displayed, as a general rule, a great interest in their 

 farming activities, often greater than the operators ^\■ho originally came 

 from a rural environment. 



Reasons for Entering Part-Time Farming 



As already stated, the majority of operators prior to becoming part- 

 time farmers lived in the cities. In order to determine the main factors 

 responsible for their entering part-time farming, the operators were asked 

 to tell what induced them to change their former mode of living and 

 settle on the land. Inasmuch as many operators mentioned several 

 reasons for this change, it has been difiicult in some cases to determine 

 the most important factor. Nevertheless an attempt has been made to 

 single out in each case the outstanding factor in the decision to settle on 

 the land. 



As shown in Table 18, 45 per cent of the operators in Lowell area and 

 54 per cent in Taunton area became part-time farmers in order to increase 



Table 18. — Operators classified by the reason por entering part-time 



FARMING. 



Lowell area Taunton area 



Reason for part-time farming 



Number Per cent Number Per cent 



Increased earning and cheaper living. 

 Improved health and better housing. 



Unemployment 



Independence in old age 



Love of country life 



Inheritance or gift 



Total 



