VALUE OF FOOD, FUEL, AND USE OF HOUSE. 5 



this region was large, being 6.2 persons.^ In Gaston County, N. C, 

 the total was only $504, 85 per cent of which was furnished by the 

 farm. The average number of persons to a family here was only 4.5. 

 Table I gives these values for all areas visited, with the number of 

 families visited in each section and the average acreage of the farms 

 operated by these families. 



Table I. — Average annual value of food, fuel, '^ and use of a dtvellingfor 9 50 farm families. 



Location of regions in whicli study was 

 made (county and State). 



Number 

 of 



families. 



Persons 



per 

 family. 



Average per farm. 



Food, 

 fuel, and 



shelter 

 furnlslied 



by the 



farm. 



Food and 



fuel 

 bought. 



Total. 



Oxford, Me 



Lamoilie, Vt 



Otsego, N.Y 



Bucks, Pa 



Gloucester, N. J... 



Gaston, N.C 



Troup, Ga 



McLennan, Tex . . . 

 Champaign, Ohio . 



Jefferson, Wis 



Montgomery, Iowa 



Cloud, Kans 



Cass, N. Dak 



Santa Clara, Cal... 



All families . . 



148 

 49 

 55 

 43 



126 

 55 

 50 

 44 

 44 

 46 

 51 

 46 



109 



4.5 

 4.8 

 4.0 

 5.2 

 4.7 

 4.5 

 5.4 

 5.3 

 4.1 

 4.2 

 4.4 

 4.5 

 6.2 

 4.9 



112 

 130 

 118 

 77 

 69 

 86 

 102 

 133 

 175 

 86 

 161 

 152 

 453 

 45 



349 

 431 

 383 

 445 

 428 

 520 

 363 

 451 

 375 

 485 

 426 

 578 

 341 



$244 

 177 

 210 

 225 

 345 

 76 

 110 

 254 

 156 

 173 

 183 

 178 

 370 

 357 



526 

 641 

 608 

 790 

 504 

 630 

 617 

 607 

 548 

 668 

 604 

 948 

 698 



950 



4.8 



136 



424 



218 



642 



a Fuel includes oil used for both cooking and lighting. 



Wherever the income upon which any family depends fails to 

 maintain a fair standard of living, the elements of subsistence which 

 are the last to be sacrificed are those which are most vital to health and 

 happiness — ^f ood, fuel, and shelter. For the farm families visited the 

 farm supplied nearly two-thirds of these items, and, if necessity 

 demanded, the proportion could be made considerably greater. 



Table II shows the value of the food, fuel, and house rent furnished 

 by the farm. The average value of these items per family is $423.58, 

 or S89.71 per person. Sixty-two per cent of this is food, 7 per cent 

 fuel, and 31 per cent house rent. 



a In comparing the f am flics on the different farms it will be found that they differ in number and age of 

 persons. They must be reduced to a common basis to be comparable. Students of dietetics reduce all 

 members of the family to the requirements of one adult man, assuming women and children of different 

 ages to have certain defmite relative capacity of consumption. In this study only two divisions were made — 

 children of 12 years of age and under were counted as one-half an adult, and all persons over 12 years of age 

 as aduluj. Farm labor and domestic help when boarded were counted as morabers of the family. In the 

 discu:;"ion throughout the whole bulletin, wherever reference is made to size of family, it is in terms of 

 adult equivalent. 



