AGRICULTURAL WAGES 835 



mined by conditions in the world market and is in large measure 

 beyond the influence of the farmer. The increase in the value of 

 his land and other property reflects the income that he received from 

 his products during previous years, and is influenced by the growth 

 of population, the extension of transportation facilities, and many 

 other factors. 



-The limitations of these figures on farmers' earnings should be 

 clearly understood. In the first place they are average figures for 

 the United States as a whole, covering decidedly varied conditions 

 in different parts of the country. Figures for individual localities 

 would be more illuminating, but detailed information for regions is 

 not available. It is probably true also that in the figures for the 

 United States as a whole the errors are more likely to balance each 

 other than they would be in figures for smaller areas. Considerably 

 more significant than averages would be figures giving the number 

 of farmers in each income group, but such figures do not exist. It 

 should also be mentioned that no attempt is here made to draw a 

 distinction between the income of farmers cultivating their own land 

 and the income of tenant farmers who have to depend almost entirely 

 on what the family earns by its labor. Another limitation of the 

 figures is that they apply only to the single year 1909; however, this 

 was a fairly representative year. Still further, the census definition 

 of a farm includes small farms in the neighborhood of large cities, 

 whose owners derive their principal revenue from other pursuits 

 than agriculture. However, no farms under 3 acres are included 

 in the census enumeration unless they produced $250 worth of crops 

 or gave full-time employment to at least one man. 



Finally, in stating that the average farm family earned $402 in 

 1909, it should be kept in mind that the cost of living on the farm is 

 very low as compared with that in the cities. The farm family pro- 

 duced and consumed food valued on the farm at $261; in the city 

 this same food would cost at least $100 additional, the item for rent, 

 considering accommodations, would be higher than $125 in the city, 

 and fuel would cost more than $35. The $400 earned by the farm 

 family would thus probably correspond to an income of $600 or more 

 received by an industrial worker in the city, and two-thirds of the 

 farmers have, in addition, the interest earned by their investment. 

 Furthermore, while the farming group is not entirely or even nearly 

 homogeneous, it is nevertheless true that the extremes of wealth 

 and poverty are not represented in it, and that the average is not 



