PART-TIME FARMING 



137 



Since the seasonal part-time farmers did not have to depend so much 

 upon their outside employment, and were employed largely during the 

 winter months when their farming operations were completed, they were 

 willing and often had to accept lower wages and work longer hours. 

 Mainly for this reason, the weekly wages of operators in Taunton area 

 were slightly lower than in Lowell area, in spite of the fact that the 

 average number of working hours per week was higher. 



The majority of operators in both areas, as seen in Table 40, were 

 paid between $20 and $29 per week. The average yearly wages for all 

 operators were $1,216 in Lowell area and $1,0S0 in Taunton area; but 

 for seasonal part-time farmers in the latter area, the average was only 

 $765. 



Annual Income of Operators as Derived from Each Source 



In addition to the two main sources, outside employment and farming, 

 tiie operators engaged in part-time farming in the areas covered by the 

 investigation received some of their income from roomers and boarders 

 and from the earnings of their wives. 



As shown in Chart 10, the average yearly income received by part-time 

 farmers from all sources was $1,696 in Lowell area and $1,827 in Taunton 

 area. The most important item in both areas was the outside earnings 

 of operators, which made up 72.0 per cent of the total annual income in 

 the first area and .59.6 per cent in the second. 



Chart 10. Percentage of Annual Income in Part-Time Farming Obtained from Each 

 Source in Lowell and Taunton Areas. 



^^.696 $i,Sa7 



LOW e: L L 



TAUNT ON 



The receipts from roomers and boarders came both from outsiders who 

 lived in the house the whole year around or only during the summer 

 months, and from grown-up children who had independent employment 

 and contributed part of their income as payment for room and board. 

 There were 47 such children in Lowell area and 59 in Taunton area. 



The receipts from the earnings of wives formed the least important 

 part in the budgets of part-time farming enterprises taken as a whole. 



