VALUE OF FOOD, FUEL, AND USE OF HOUSE. 31 
Kerosene oil is used both for lighting and cooking. Some gasoline 
was used for cooking but very little for lighting purposes. Of the 127 
families visited in New Jersey, 78 used kerosene or gasoline stoves for 
cooking, 9 used acetylene gas and 4 electricity for lighting. In the 
Maine area 42 of the 148 families visited used kerosene stoves for 
cooking and kerosene was used exclusively for lighting. In North 
Dakota 54 of the 109 families used kerosene or gasoline for cooking, 
and for lighting 2 used acetylene and 1 used electricity. In Cali- 
fornia, of the 84 families interviewed, 30 used kerosene or gasoline 
stoves for cooking, and for lighting 8 used electricity and 2 used 
acetylene gas. We can thus see that nearly half of these farmers do 
some cooking with kerosene and gasoline, but that practically all of 
them use kerosene lamps for lighting. 
USE OF HOUSE ON THE FARM. 
The business of most farms demands almost constant attention 
throughout the year and it is therefore to the advantage of the farmer 
to make his home on the farm. A house is thus a necessary improve- 
ment on a farm, and is often an important part of its real estate value. 
Investigations made by the United States Department of Agriculture 
indicate that in the eastern part of the United States the value of 
the house is commonly 20 per cent or more of the value of the farm. 
On the higher-priced corn-belt farms this percentage is more generally 
from 5 to 10 per cent. Improvements to the house tend to enhance 
the value of the farm. The interest on the investment in the house 
and the cost of maintenance of it are paid for by the farm business, 
and are not personal expenses to the farmer. He may be said to 
have his house rent furnished free by the farm. 
An attempt is made to arrive at a value of what the use of the house 
is worth to the farmer. The value of the house seems the only basis 
upon which the rental value can be determined. 
Table XXIII shows the average value of the farmhouse and its 
rental value for the sections studied. The present value is the 
farmer’s estimate of what his house is worth to-day. The average 
value of the farmhouses for the 825 farmers giving estimates was 
$1,322. This value, however, varies from $560 in the North Carolina 
area to $1,880 in the New York area. 
The rental value of the house is taken as 10 per cent of its present 
value. ‘This is assumed to be a fair charge for interest, depreciation, 
insurance, repairs, and taxes. The average annual rental value of the 
houses for these farms is thus $132. 
