6 BULLETIN 1214, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
In most cases, operator and home maker were man and wife; but 
in 16 cases the husband was dead and a son was acting in his place, 
and in 5 the wife was dead and a daughter was acting in her place. 
There were also 6 cases in which a farm owned or rented spinel by 
several brothers and sisters was operated by one of the brothers, while 9 
a sister acted as home maker. The 402 families consisted of 1,609 
persons (excluding children living away from home and not sup- 
ported from the family purse) and the average family size was 4. 
Twelve of the households included, in addition to the immediate 
family of the operator, another family related by marriage. Im all, 
the households included 1,983 individuals of whom 240 were hired — 
men and 9 hired girls. The average size of the households was 4.9. 
Of the farm operators and home makers in the 402 families, 492, 
or 61.2 per cent of the total number, were born in Livingston County; 
208, or 25.9 per cent, in other counties of New York or in other States 
and Canada; and 104, or 12.9 per cent, were foreign born, by far the 
greater number of these in Ireland. 
CLASSIFICATION OF FAMILY GOODS. 
No thoroughly satisfactory classification of the goods consumed in 
the household has yet been devised. Practice is more or less uniform 
as regards food and clothing, although different investigators subdi- 
vide these headings differently. The items included under housing 
vary considerably, and those grouped as operation still more. Some 
authorities make a separate division for furnishings and equipment; 
while others consider that the more permanent articles, such as dining- — 
room or bed-room sets, belong under investment or housing, and | 
things more frequently renewed under operation. Personal items are 
sometimes made to include those for the maintenance of health, and 
for various minor goods, such as stationery or toilet articles, otherwise 
placed under operating, clothing, or unclassified. 
The items which are most difficult to classify and on which opinion 
and practice are most divided are those for the less material and less 
essential needs. Various designations have been used for this grou 
of goods, perhaps the least objectionable and most generally RRS: 
being advancement. Here are usually found the items connected 
with school and college attendance; general self-improvement; 
physical and social recreation; religious, philanthropic, civic, and 
social organizations; attendance at lectures, concerts, games, and en- 
tertainments of various kinds; and travel for pleasure or personal im- 
rovement. Savings and the items concerning maintenance of 
Heulth should also be placed here, some workers hold; while others 
prefer to keep these separate. 
A further difficulty comes in the case of goods that serve a mixed 
or indefinite purpose. The cost of the telephone, for example, — 
should usually be divided between the farm business and the home; 
but even as used for the home, it serves partly to carry on the busi- 
ness of the household and partly to keep up the social contacts of the 
family. Shall the solsehOw! charges for it then be listed as operating 
expenses or advancement, or must one divide the cost between the 
two? In the case of musical instruments, a piano seems to belong 
with furnishings; but how about a cornet? Some investigators 
tend to lump these under sundries, miscellaneous, or incidentals; 
but careful workers are inclined to distribute them as far as possible 
