VALUE OF FOOD, FUEL, AND USE OF HOUSE. 30 
TaBLE XXIV.—Relation of size of house to size of farm, size of family, food consumption 
per person, and value of house. 
Average Consump- 
P : Persons : Average 
Size of house Number | size of tion of 
County and State. (rooms). offarms, | farm pena food per vane of 
(acres). y: person. Se 
{ CROC ESSA SE SES hse 32 38 3.7 | $152.52 $987 
Gloucester’ Nadi ose seeec 2: Siar Gh Quem eke 48 67 4.6 118. 41 1,591 
lio and Over << 46 92 5.41 120.83 2) 237 
and less.-..-..-. 3.9 88, 28 
@xtordsMehose se sas rf Phare PON eye 48 109 4.8 92. 30 1,091 
: 10 and over....... 48 148 4,7 102. 80 1, 624 
MANGeSss ne ee 56 333 5.5 103. 51 998 
Gass NE Dake Moo eg sos. St SiandiOmer aw aes A HY 458 6.9 101. 70 2, 240 
10 and over.......- 26 706 6.9 118. 70 2, 900 
DAN GM ESSey ws oer e 25 48 4.1 91. 24 
Santa Claras Calis 452 Sse. f and (axes sees 33 39 5.3 98. 40 1,516 
| SiANGiOvene asses 25 52 5. 4 113. 71 2,335 
HOUSEHOLD LABOR. 
The subject of household labor is included in this study, as it has 
an important bearing on the business operations of the farm. Con- 
ditions are generally such that the hired help have to board with 
the farm family. The housewife often cares for the family garden, 
does the laundry work for the household, and at times churns the 
butter. In doing so, she is contributing to the success of the farm, 
and is performing productive labor for that farm. 
On the farms studied in this inquiry comparatively little help was 
hired for doing housework, most of the work being done by the 
farmer’s wife and other members of the family. More than three- 
fourths of the families visited did not hire any labor for housework. 
Table XXV shows the average value of the house labor per family 
and per person for each section and the proportion of this hired. It 
will be noticed that on an average 5 per cent of the labor was hired, 
this per cent varying from 1 to 15. 
‘The average value of the house labor for all families visited was 
$228 per family and $49 per person. This value was determined by 
securing the wife’s estimate of what she would have to pay a house- 
_keeper to do the work for her. These estimates were based on the 
prevailing wages of domestic help in each region. 
One of the serious difficulties confronting the farmer’s wife is the 
labor problem. Domestic help is hard to get and often inefficient 
when secured. Along with this problem goes that of boarding the 
hired man. The average hired man demands more meat and a 
greater variety of diet than the wife would go to the trouble of pre- 
paring as a regular thing if the family alone were to be served. <A 
tenant house on the large farm, permitting the hiring of married help, 
would tend to solve the house labor problem. 
