VALUE OF FOOD, FUEL, AND USE OF HOUSE. 29 



serve as storage places for vegetables and fruits. Probably as mucb 

 as 30 per cent of the vegetables furnished by the farm are stored for 

 later use by the farm family, and potatoes, the most important 

 vegetable, are stored for at least nine months of the year in sections 

 other than the South. Apples may easily be stored for six months. 



Sweet potatoes, cabbages, white beans, beets, and onions may be 

 stored for some time without any special preparation. Some vege- 

 tables and fruits are dried and kept in this form. Many families store 

 their fruits and vegetables and find it unnecessary to buy at any time 

 of the year. 



About 30 per cent of the meat consumed by the farmers is meat 

 that is supplied by the farm and stored for a certain length of time. 

 This is made possible by the several available methods of curing. 

 The most common method of curing meat is smoking. A special 

 room or building is needed for this process, but the fuel used is 

 generally wood of little value. There seems to be a tendency to do 

 less curing of meat on the farm, owing probably to efforts to ehmi- 

 nate house labor. 



A scheme for having a farm supply of fresh meat during the sum- 

 mer months is practiced in certain communities, A "beef club" is 

 organized among a dozen or more farmers who trade beef. A mem- 

 ber will butcher a beef animal, and it will be distributed equally 

 among the members. The other members will take turns in sup- 

 plying an animal in other weeks. When a difference in quantity 

 occurs between members it is equalized at a fair rate per pound. 

 They may have a butcher who gets the hide and tallow for his work. 

 By this system the farmers can have fresh beef during the summer 



at farm prices. 



FUEL. 



The farm serves as an important source of fuel for the average 

 farm family. Fifty-four per cent (Table XXI) of the fuel used by 

 the families visited was supplied by the farm. The average value 

 of the fuel used per family was $55.14, This, however, does not 

 include kerosene used by occasional families for cooking during the 

 summer. 



The average consumption of coal was 2.6 tons per family. In 

 the North Dakota area the average family used 3.7 tons of hard coal 

 and 3,1 tons of soft coal. In addition to the wood and coal used, 

 as indicated in Table XXI, the average family in the Kansas area 

 used 12 loads of corncobs, and in the Iowa area 7.8 loads. 



