28 BULLETIN 1285, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
stay in agricultural work, most of them (especially the foreign born) 
to keep on as farm hands. Nearly one-third of the group intended 
to leave farm work, most of them either to return to work in which 
they had previously been engaged or to enter industrial employment. 
Almost as many had no idea whether they would stick to agricul- 
ture for a living or not. Many of this group were youngsters still in 
school and whose principal interests still lay in finishing their educa- 
tion. The adults were willing to go wherever wages and working 
conditions most attracted them. 
FARM WORKING CONDITIONS 
The working day for employees considered in this study averaged 
10.2 hours in summer. 8.1 hours in winter. Working days on dairy 
farms averaged the longest both in summer and in winter. For 
summer work the 10-hour day was required on practically half the 
farms. The 9, 11, and 12 hour days were about equally common, 
each being reported by about one-eighth of the farms. In Salem 
County as many farmers were requiring in the summer days of 11 
or 12 hours as of 10 hours. On over half of the reporting farms the 
work day in winter was 8 or 9 hours. On the others it varied greatly. 
" Daylight saving," the summer advancement of local time one 
hour ahead of standard time, was general in the largely industrial 
northern part of the State, but in the predominantly agricultural 
sections to the south the use of. standard time prevailed. " Daylight 
saving" is disliked by farmers because it so frequently necessitates 
working at a disadvantage in the wet of the early forenoon and 
losing one of the late afternoon hours most valuable of any in the 
day for much work, Even in northern Xew Jersey farmers in many 
rural localities were working their help on standard time in spite 
of the difficulties with those who preferred to work on " daylight 
saving " time as did nonagricultural workers in the vicinity. 
The six-day week was the rule among farmers reporting. A few 
farmers granted their employees Saturday afternoon off. Eegard- 
less of the time worked by day or season hands, pieceworkers were 
often willing to work much longer on week days and also on Sunday 
in order to increase their earnings. On the other hand, on many 
clavs there was little or no chance to work because of weather or crop 
conditions. 
About one-third of the Xew Jersey farmers ordinarily expect no 
help from their employees on Sunday: half of them expect some 
employees to do chores; a few need help preparing loads for Monday 
market. Much the same is true of holiday work expected. Some 
farmers and some farm hands, more usually the foreign born, pay 
little attention to American holidays, especially when farm work is 
crowding. 
WAGES 
Farmers in some districts in 1921 and 1922 attempted to stabilize 
farm-wage rates by setting a scale of wages through the county 
boards of agriculture before the farming season opened. The fol- 
lowing j~ a copy of the wage recommendations of the Gloucester 
C< unty Board < i' Agriculture in 1922: 
