UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1220 
Washington, D. C. T April, 1924 
FARM LABOR IN MASSACHUSETTS, 1921. 
By Josiah C. Folsom, Junior Agricultural Economist, Bureau of Agricultural 
Economics. 
CONTEXTS. 
Page, j Page. 
Object and methods of study 1 Wages, requisites, and living accommoda- 
Number, classes, and seasons of employment tions for farm employee? 15 
of farm employees 2 j Nonagricultural employment available. .. .".. 20 
Methods of obtaining farm employees 5 j Recreation and social standing of farm em- 
Nationality, residence, ages, and dependents ployees 21 
of farm employees 
Education and occupational history of farm 
employees 
Hours and days per week required of farm 
employees 
Savings and future plans of farm employees. . 22 
Improvement of the farm labor situation 23 
Summary and conclusions 23 
OBJECT AND METHODS OF STUDY. 
The object of this study was to investigate farm labor conditions 
in Massachusetts, with special reference to ways and means used in 
obtaining and holding labor, the kind of laborers on farms, and their 
occupational history and ambitions. 
The study was carried out in the summer of 1921 by mail and per- 
sonal canvass. Two questionnaires were used, one for employers of 
farm labor, the other for the laborers. Address lists of farmers, most 
of them known to have hired farm labor, were secured, largely through 
the Massachusetts Agricultural College. These included operators of 
aU types of farms in all parts of the State, and to them the employer 
schedule was sent. The personal canvass centered in localities where 
some specialized type of farming predominated, and was designed to 
reach mostly farms of that type; but on the routes traveled it was 
intended to pass by no farm hiring one or more workers. Near 
Boston, however, only market gardeners were visited. Both the 
employer and laborer schedules were used in the personal canvass. 
The general localities visited (fig. 1) and the predominant type of 
agriculture of each were as follows: The Connecticut River Valley in 
Hampshire and Franklin Counties, tobacco and onions; the town of 
Colerain, apple growing; the town of Barre, dairying and general farm- 
ing; lower Plymouth County centering around Wareham, cranberry 
growing; the town of Falmouth, strawberry growing; Marthas Vine- 
yard Island, farming for summer-resort markets; southeastern 
Middlesex County, centering around Arlington, market gardening. 
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