AGRICULTURAL WAGES . 829 



The purchasing power of i acre of cotton in 1911 (excluding value 

 of the seed) was 20.6 per cent less than in 1910, 10.2 per cent less than 

 in 1909, and 32.3 per cent more than in 1899. 



Upon the basis of the purchasing power of the value of i acre of 

 produce, the year 1909 stands as the most prosperous of recent years 

 and, apparently, the most prosperous for farmers of the past fifty 

 years for which there are records. 



In 1913 the value of i acre of the farmer's crops averaged about 

 1.2 per cent higher than in 1909, whereas the value of articles bought 

 by the farmer had advanced in the same time 5.7 per cent; conse- 

 quently as a result of the greater increase in the price of what the 

 farmer buys than what he sells, the actual purchasing power of i 

 acre of the farmer's produce was about 4.3 per cent less than in 1909. 

 There was a material increase in the purchasing power of farmers 

 from 1896 to 1909, but since 1909 there has been a check to this rapid 

 increase, with some reaction downward. 



E. Data from American Farms 



266. WAGE RATES OF AMERICAN FARM LABOR 1 

 BY GEORGE K. HOLMES 



Nineteen times this Bureau has investigated the wage rates of the 

 labor of men on farms throughout the United States, beginning with 

 1866 and ending with 1909, a period of forty-four years. These 

 investigations have all ascertained wage rates, not only for all the 

 states in existence at the time, but also for the nation as a whole. 

 The aim has been to learn the customary rates of farm wages in every 

 neighborhood in the United States and to combine these rates arith- 

 metically, so as to make general averages for the several states, for 

 the geographic divisions of states, and for the United States. 



Monthly rates of wages for outdoor labor at four of these dates 

 is shown in Table 13. 



Turning now to the rates of wages which were paid for day labor 

 in harvest work and for labor other than harvest work, without and 

 with board, the following statement can be made for the four classes 

 of wage rates per day for the 19 investigations: 



For day labor in harvest work, with board, the rate per day in 1866 

 was $1.04, and the amount rose to $1.18 in 1874 or 1875. A decline 



' Adapted from Bulletin 99, Bureau of Statistics, United States Department of 

 Agriculture, pp. 7, 31, 35> 37~39> 49- 



