FAMILY LIVING IN FARM HOMES. 
AREA STUDIED. 
The selection of area and families for such a study is influenced by 
various considerations, perhaps chief among them being the eco- 
nomic level that is to be represented. For a preliminary inquiry 
into the standard of living in en homes, an area in which something 
like average farming conditions prevail and a level neither excep- 
tionally high nor exceptionally low is unquestionably best. 
Since it is as unfair to paint an economic picture a shade too dark as 
a shade too light, it was felt wise to choose a region where farming is 
generally recognized as moderately profitable. A study? of 720 farms 
in Livingston County, N. Y., in 1919, by the Department of Agricul- 
tural Economics and Farm Management of the New York State College 
of Agriculture, showed this area to be of the general type desired, 
namely, a prosperous section where diversified farming is the main 
source of wealth. The fact that the records of the farms included in 
this earlier study could be consulted was a further argument in favor 
4 the same area for the study of farm homes, and it was accordingly 
chosen. 
The area lies in the northern part of Livingston County. It is 
crossed by several railway lines; its three or four main highways are 
of macadam or concrete and in good condition, and most of the other 
roads are graveled. 
The 402 farms represented in this study are about 14 per cent of 
the total number in the county and have an average size of 131 acres, 
or 9.2 acres larger than that for the whole county. The main crops 
are hay, corn for grain and silage, wheat, oats, beans, cabbage, and 
sweet corn and peas for canning. Milk is the leading dairy product, 
the principal market being Rochester. 
Of the 402 farmers represented in the study, 295 are owners and 107 
tenants. Ninety-five of the owners were hiring additional land, 36 
of these paying cash rent, 50 giving a share, and 9 paying both cash 
and share. Thirty-five of the 107 tenants paid cash rent, 52 gave a 
share, and 20 paid cash rent on a part and share rent on a part of the 
land farmed. 
COMPOSITION OF FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS. 
To reduce the difficulties caused by the varying make-up of families 
in any analysis of the standard of living, the present study was lim- 
ited to such families as had an adult male as farm operator and an 
adult female as home maker. The choice was further restricted to 
homes in which the same individuals were acting as operators and 
home makers as in 1919, when the study of the farm business was 
made. Four hundred and two such families were found among the 
720 represented in the previous study. 
In the present discussion, family is arbitrarily taken to mean a 
group of persons who are all supported from a common income, re- 
pon ese of whether they are all related by blood or marriage. By 
ousehold is meant all the persons sheltered and fed in one dwelling. 
Thus, a household might consist of more than one family, hired men, 
and boarders. 
2 Data as yet unpublished by the New York State College of Agriculture. 
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