14 Selected farm expenses, cooperation, and farm facilities. W. L. Austin. U.S. Dept. Com., Bur. 
14 BULLETIN 1214, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
According to the figures in Table 4, in these households there was 
nothing that could be called overcrowding as that word is commonly 
understood in housing legislation. The average figures are 1.9 
rooms and 1 bedroom per person. None of the groups averaged 2 
persons to a bedroom; only in 3 families that had 8 or more chil- 
dren was the number of rooms in use less than the number of persons 
in the household; and in over 40 per cent of the homes an average of 
more than 2 rooms was used per person. Both the number of rooms 
and of bedrooms used per person decreased as the number of chil- 
dren increased. The average value of the house bore no apparent 
relation to the size of the family. 
Among the farm facilities affecting the comfort and convenience of 
the house listed in United States Census for 1920 “ are running water | 
piped into the house and gas or electric lights. The figures are 
based on houses occupied by operators and they are thus comparable 
with those from the 402 Livingston County homes. Among the 
latter, 19.8 per cent had water piped in. The corresponding census 
figure for New York State was 23.5 per cent; and for the Middle 
Atlantic division, 23.3 per cent. Vermont had the highest percent- 
age of any State, 62.9 per cent; and New England of any Jivistots 
47.9 per cent. For the whole country the average is 10 per cent. 
Another interesting pomt is that among the 402 houses in Liy- 
ingston County 12.9 per cent had both hot and cold running water, © 
and ae in 15.1 per cent there was special provision for sewage 
disposal. 
Gas or electric lights were found in 27.1 per cent of the houses of 
owners, in 17.7 per cent of the houses of tenants, and in 24.6 per cent 
of all 402 houses. Corresponding figures from the 1920 census re- 
ports are: New York State, 12.9 per cent; Middle Atlantic division, — 
14.1 per cent; New England, 15.3 per cent; and the entire United 
States, 7 per cent. The highest figures for this farm facility are for 
the Pacific division, 19.3 per cent; and for Utah, 43.4 per cent. 
If, as the census report suggests, the prevalence of such farm facili- 
ties is an index of progress significant fait both an economic and a 
social point of view, the figures just quoted bear out the belief that the 
area studied is above the average in these respects. 
Furniture, bedding, draperies, linens, ornaments, cleaning and cook- 
ing equipment, and all the otheritems grouped as furnishings and moy- 
able equipment have much to do with the comfort and satisfaction 
which a family gets from its home. Unfortunately, it is difficult to 
obtain significant data about these items. A special detailed study 
of household equipment would doubtless suggest what points should 
be included in general studies of the cost or standard of living. Until 
that has been done, the only figures worth considering seem to be 
estimates of the total value of house furnishings and possibly the fre- 
quency with which certain articles occur. 
Among the 402 families in Livingston County the estimated value 
of house furnishings averaged $822, with $813 among owner and $847 
among tenant families. ‘The general average equals about 40.8 per 
cent of the annual expenditure and 35.1 per cent of the estimated 
value of the house. Unfortunately there are no data from other in- 
vestigators with which these figures can be compared. 
Census, 14th Census Repts., Vol. 5, p. 513-514. 1923. 
