14 
BULLETIN -L- 
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
FAMILY INCOME. 
From the standpoint of economic well-being the family income is 
the item of greatest importance in the operation of the farms in the 
cut-over district. In computing labor income the value of the 
family labor is properly considered an expense and is charged against 
the farm, but labor income is merely a measure of the success of 
the business management of the farm, while family income is the real 
measure of the resources available each year to meet all obligations. 
If the farm is free of debt, the entire family income is available to 
the farmer and his family to meet the expense of living and to get 
ahead. In addition they have a home and what the farm furnishes 
toward the family living. Table 5 classifies these farms on the basis 
of family income. 
Table 5. — Farms classified on basis of family income. 
[Average of 801 farms.] 
Less than 0. 
to $300. 
$301 
toS500. 
$501 to 
$1,000. 
$1,001 or 
more. 
Family income 
-$140 
46 
$162 
216 
26 
$397 
1S3 
23 
$710 
231 
29 
? 1.457 
1 9 5 
Percentage of farms 
6 
16 
This table shows that only 6 per cent of the farms failed to make 
incomes above farm expenses. A study of the records of the farms 
with minus family incomes gave evidence that at least some of these 
families have small incomes from outside sources. Of the 801 farms, 
16 per cent produced a family income above SI, 000; 29 per cent, 
$501 to 81,000; and 23 per cent, from $301 to $500. 
LABOR INCOME. 
For the year 1914, 3 per cent of the farms surveyed made an aver- 
age labor income of $1,450, 9 per cent $700, 11 per cent $398, and 
28 per cent $134. The following table shows that 51 per cent of the 
801 farms studied made plus labor incomes. 
Table 6. — Farms classified on basis of labor income. 
[Average of 801 farms.] 
Less than 0. 
to $300. $301 to $500. 
$1,000. 
i or 
more. 
Labor income — $280 
$134 >-:;>s 
222 
11 
$700 
72 
9 
SI. ISO 
24 
3 
These figures were secured for the crop year 1914. The year was 
somewhat abnormal in the small price received for potatoes, and in 
some of the areas studied the yield of oats was quite low because of 
