IRRIGATED FARMING IN TWIN FALLS COUNTY, IDAHO 4] 
VARIATION IN VALUE OF FARM-FURNISHED FOOD PER ADULT PERSON 
Family-used perquisites during the four years of the study consti- 
tuted about 9 per cent of the total ouput of the general crop farms. 
These perquisites are made up of the various food items and shelter. 
They are items of return from the farm that are often little appre- 
ciated and their values vary widely from farm to farm. 
It is not easy for farmers to increase materially the value of the 
shelter (the use of the dwelling) furnished by the farm. Usually 
that would mean the erection of better dwellings which would require 
considerable capital. The quantity of food furnished per adult per- 
son, on the other hand, may be much or little as the farm operator 
- chooses. For this reason the following discussion is confined to the 
food furnished by the farm for the use of the family, the shelter 
being omitted (fig. 21). 
VARIATION IN THE VALUE OF THE FARM FURNISHED FOOD PER ADULT PERSON ON 207 
FARMS, 1919 
VARIATIONS IN NUMBER OF FARMS - 
FOOD PER ADULT Q 10 20 30 4.0 50 60 
DOLLARS 3 
175 — 199.9 
150 — 174.9 
125 — 149.9 Z 
| 
100 — 1249 ‘ = 
| | | | 
75 — 999 
| | | | 
50 — 749 S00 
| 
25 — 49.9 
O — 249 
Fig. 21.—In computing the number of adult persons per farm, persons under 16 years of age were 
considered as equal to two-thirds of an adult and those 16 or over asadults. The numbers in the 
upper part of the chart and the bars indicate the number of farms that furnished the designated 
values of food per adult person. A few farms furnished very little home-grown food per adult 
person, while the amount furnished by a few others was high. The average amount for 207 farms 
was about $94 per adult 
Of the total value of the farm-furnished food, dairy products were 
40 per cent, meats 21 per cent, garden products and potatoes 18 per 
cent, eggs 13 per cent, and fruits 8 per cent. The value of the farm 
food furnished per adult person averaged $94, and ranged in value from 
less than $15 to as much as $195. This wide variation would seem to 
indicate that the production of home-grown food may be profitably 
increased on many of these farms. It is usually cheaper to raise it 
than to buy it. Ifit isnot produced on the farm, the family frequently 
does without it. It is by giving special attention to the production 
of home-grown foods that some farmers are able to tide over periods 
of depression successfully when the prices of farm products are ruin- 
ously low. 
