52 BULLETIN 1466, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
The average value of all goods increases slightly, although not regu- 
larly, with an increase in the length of vacation periods. The per- 
centage for food decreases somewhat irregularly from about 45 to 
about 37 per cent as the days of vacation increase from none to 30 
and over. At the same time the percentage for advancement goods 
increases roughly from 6.4 to 11.9 per cent. 
There is a decrease in the number of persons per family along 
with increased periods of vacation, indicating a higher level of living 
per individual among the families taking longer vacations. 
FACTORS INDICATIVE OF FAMILY'S ABILITY TO PROVIDE ECONOMIC GOODS OF 
FAMILY LIVING 
Only four factors which are in any way indicative of the farm 
family's ability to provide the economic goods of family living are 
available for further study. These are (1) acres operated per farm, 
(2) number of years the operator has been a farm owner, (3) mort- 
gage indebtedness on the farm operated, and (4) income from 
sources other than the farm business. 
With the exception of income from sources other than the farm 
business only owner families are represented in the tabulations by 
factors regarded as indicative of the family's ability to provide. 
Neither the number of years the operator has been a farm owner nor 
the mortgage indebtedness on the farm operated apply to tenants or 
hired men. Acres operated per farm were considered from the 
standpoint of both owners and tenants separately and combined. 
Since the relationships were similar and apparently of about equal 
degrees in all cases, further consideration of this factor is limited 
to owner families. 
The four factors listed above are not regarded as complete indices 
of the farm family's ability to provide the economic goods of family 
living. In fact, any of the four may be less indicative of the ability 
to provide than farm income or family income would be, if either 
of these measures were available. It should be noted, however, that 
income as conceived of ordinarily can not be regarded as a satisfac- 
tory or complete index of the farmer's ability to provide. Income 
represents the returns for only one of the years during which the 
standard of living prevailing during the year of study has been in 
the process of establishment. Either farm or family income for one 
year may be far from the usual or the representative income. A part 
of the expenditures for goods during the year are often made before 
the income from that year is available. Funds accumulated from 
previous years or anticipated from investments or the use of bank 
or store credit are not commonly included in income. Considered 
from all angles it is probable that some of the factors available — 
acres operated per farm and the number of years the farm operator 
has been a farm owner, especially — may be almost as indicative as is 
farm or family income of the liquid assets available for family living. 
