THE FARMER'S STANDARD OF LIVING 
23 
It should be noted that approximately 9 per cent of the 2,886 
farm families, 265 in number, reported no expenditures for furniture 
and furnishings. Of the 2,621 families which reported expenditures 
for this purpose 295 were in the New England States, 1,022 were 
in the Southern States and 1,304 were in the North Central States. 
The summary and analysis of inventory lists of the different items 
of furniture, bedding, draperies, ornaments, cleaning and cooking 
equipment, and tableware owned would give some indication of the 
comfort and satisfaction the farm family gets from its home. Un- 
fortunately such lists were obtained from only a few of the families 
here represented. The nearest approach to this would be a summary 
of the expenditures per family per year for furniture and furnishings 
item by item. This summary has been made for four of the States 
included in the study and a preliminary report embodying the results 
has been issued. 
OPERATION GOODS 
The average value of operation goods, amounting to $213.10 is 
13.3 per cent of the value of all goods used. The value of operation 
goods and the proportion that the value of operation goods is of 
the value of all goods are highest with the New England families. 
A considerable part of the higher average value of operation goods 
in New England homes is due to the higher average value of fuel 
furnished by the farm, which in turn may be due to larger quantities 
of fuel consumed and to higher prices per unit reported for fuel. 
The average expenditures for the principal kinds of operation 
goods are given in Table 4. The values of furnished and purchased 
fuel are repeated in this table in order that comparisons of the 
values of the different kinds of goods may be made more readily. 
Table 4. — Average value per family of different kinds of operation goods 
used during one year, 2,886 farm families of selected localities of 11 States, 
1922-1924, owners, tenants, and hired men 
All 
States, 
2,886 
families 
New 
England 
States, 
317 
families 
Southern 
States, 
1,130 
families 
North 
Central 
States, 
1,439 
families 
Operation goods, total 
Fuel: 
Furnished by the farm. 
Purchased -- 
Hired help 
Household supplies 
Laundry outside 
Automobile 
Horse and buggy. 
Carfare.. 
Telephone. 
Postage, express and freight-. 
Insurance on furniture and equipment 
Ice > and charge for city water 
$213. 10 
$255. 30 
$193. 80 
$219. 00 
43.20 
42.00 
12.40 
8.30 
6.50 
79.70 
8.70 
1.20 
4.40 
3.00 
1.20 
2.50 
100. 60 
38.50 
10.70 
11.90 
8.80 
56.90 
5.60 
1.70 
9.50 
4.10 
3.60 
3.40 
36.10 
30.30 
16.80 
7.50 
9.50 
68.70 
15.70 
.50 
2.10 
3.10 
1.10 
2.40 
36.10 
51.90 
9.30 
8.30 
3.70 
93.30 
4.00 
1.70 
5.00 
2.60 
.80 
2.30 
1 Includes ice furnished by the farm in some of the homes of the New England and the North Central 
States (averaging $0.20 per family). Charge for city water is for several homes situated adjacent to village 
or city water supply. 
One of the most noteworthy points brought out by Table 4 is that 
the use of the automobile (for household purposes), $79.70, repre- 
sents an annual cost which approaches closely the cost of fuel, $85.20. 
The average cost of the use of the automobile per family varies from 
