34 
BULLETIN 1236, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
settle farther from the cities, 25 to 50 miles, better land is still obtain- 
able and at a much lower cost, but social, market, and transportation 
facilities should be carefully considered. 
Whether one should buy improved or unimproved land is not alwavs 
easily determined. A prospective settler with sufficient capital would 
in all probability progress more rapidly and at a smaller cost of time, 
labor, and money if he bought an improved farm. The results of 
the study show that he would be buying the product of the former 
owners's efforts in improvements at less than the market value. 
If the prospective settler is young, ambitious, and intelligent he 
will probably advance more rapidly if he buys improved land, even 
though he must go considerably in debt for it. Considerable cau- 
tion, however, should be exercised on this point. It was very 
apparent that a large majority of those who bought improved 
farms in this section on a small first payment, expecting to pay for 
the farm from farm profits, were induced to do so through false 
ideas. They were not familiar with farming conditions in this sec- 
tion and had very little knowledge of farm incomes. The business 
analysis of farms in this region, which has already been discussed, 
will give the prospective settler a better idea of what he can reason- 
ably expect from the farm in paying off a mortgage. 
Many settlers on these logged-off farms have been able to help pay 
for the farm, or increase their incomes, by means of outside work, 
such as county road work, teaming, cutting and selling cordwood, 
teaching, working in the logging camps, and clerking in the near-by 
cities. Too much reliance, however, should not be placed upon this 
means of paying for the farm, as the amount of work available has 
seldom been sufficient to meet the demand. Table 24 shows the 
comparative incomes on farms where the operator did outside work 
and where very little work was done off the farm. None of the fruit 
farms received an appreciable amount of help from outside receipts. 
Receipts from the day-old chick business were considered the same 
as an outside receipt and are an important item in the high incomes 
of the poultry farms. Poultry raising seems to fit in better with 
outside work than any of the other types. 
Several cases were noted where the operator was able to help his 
wife with most of the poultry chores during the mornings and even- 
ings and teach, clerk in the city, or do some other outside work during 
the day. 
Table 21. — Comparison of incomes on farms where the operators did and did not do 
outside work, 1921. 
Dairy. 
Poultry. 
Number of farms 
Average farm income 
Farm family income . 
Outside 
work. 
13 
$451 
$577 
Xo 
outside 
work. 
Outside 
work. 1 
44 10 
$162 $1,517 
$325 $1,899 
No 
outside 
work. 
33 
$356 
$524 
Mixed. 
Outside 
work. 
11 
$336 
$534 
No 
outside 
work. 
12 
$278 
$361 
1 Includes day-old chick business. 
