PART-TIME P^ARMING 139 



development of part-time farming. Tlie majorits of operators, esi)ecially 

 unskilled industrial laborers, have little chance of becoming- owners of 

 small landholdings unless they can obtain liberal credit. As shown in 

 Table 46 (page 144), the total mortgage debt assumed by part-time farmers 

 at the time of purchase of their property amounted to more than half of 

 its total value. Since many operators purchased their property in an 

 unimproved condition, they needed additional credit for effecting the 

 necessary improvements. As a result the total mortgage indebtedness in 

 part-time farming showed an increase in spite of the fact that many 

 operators were paying oft' their original mortgages. 



Mortgage credit was supplied to operators both by private individuals 

 and by credit institutions. The Federal Land Bank provided credit in 

 the case of only one operator. The limited utilization of this source of 

 credit is based largely on the fact tJiat in part-time farming enterprises 

 the value of land constitutes only a small proportion of the total value 

 of the property, while the Federal Land Bank loans money principally 

 on productive farm land. Of all sources of mortgage credit to part- 

 time farmers, the most helpful proved to be the cooperative banks which 

 provided loans often up to 7.5 and SO per cent of the valuation of the 

 property. The repayment of mortgage debt on a monthly installment 

 basis is another feature of cooperative bank credit which fits very well 

 into the financial conditions of wage earners. Long-time credit on the 

 installment plan has been provided also by real estate subdivision com- 

 panies, but this source of credit proved to be very expensive to the opera- 

 tors. 



Part-Time Farming as Affected by Farming Operations and Conditions 

 of Industrial Employment 



On the basis of available time, operators who are regularly engaged 

 in industries can develop successfully only those types of farming which 

 have little seasonal variation in their demand for labor. The most con- 

 venient type of farming for them is found, therefore, in small poultry 

 and dairy enterprises. There is no season when they can leave these 

 enterprises without some attention, but neither are there considerable 

 periods demanding their entire time. AVith a given amount of family labor, 

 the amount of farming which they can develop in these enterprises is 

 determined largely by the working hours prevailing in the industries in 

 which they are engaged. 



In this regard the general downward trend in the number of working 

 hours in industry is a favorable factor in encouraging the development 

 of part-time farming. According to the recent investigation of the Na- 

 tional Industrial Conference Board, the average number of working 

 hours for wage earners in 25 representative industries declined from 

 51.5 in 1914 to 47.8 in 1927.* In Lowell area where almost all operators 

 were regular part-time farmers, the average length of tiie working week 

 was only 44.8 hours. This low figure was partly due, however, to slack 

 employment, with some operators working only three or four days a week. 

 The length of working day for the majority of the regular part-time farmers 

 in both areas was between eight and nine hours. 



* Wages in the United States, 1914-1927. National Industrial Conference Board, 

 New York. 1928. 



