18 BULLETIN 1220, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
BONUS SYSTEMS. 
Bonus systems or inducements of financial value for increased 
efficiency of farm labor were seldom reported. In some cases har- 
vesting work was paid for by a system of piecework as in hanging 
tobacco or picking berries; wages in these cases depended much upon 
the worker himself. Occasionally a penalizing scheme was used to 
keep help on the job, such as withholding until next pay day a part 
of the wages due. In strawberry picking, sometimes one-half cent 
per quart was docked if the picker did not stay through the season. 
A dairyman interviewed was introducing a bonus system dependent 
upon his receipts from milk sales, which in turn were determined by 
the cleanliness of his milk as produced by the men. Occasionally, 
especially in the cranberry district, foremen were given a bonus or 
commission based on production or profits of a season's operations. 
As a whole, bonus systems based upon farm profits are difficult of 
computation and prolific of dissatisfaction. 
PERQUISITES. 
One hundred and ninety of the 622 farmers reported that they 
gave perquisites of value in addition to wages to employees whom 
they did not board. These varied greatly in kind and value, some- 
what acoording to the employer's circumstances and also to 
customs and values locally. Many farms considered in this study 
produce specialties only, and this fact decidedly limited the nature 
of the perquisites which could be furnished. Consequently cran- 
berry, strawberry, and tobacco and onion producers give little in 
the way of milk, vegetables, or fruit. 
Many farmers reported that the values of perquisites given to their 
men in addition to wages range up to $25 per month, and occasionally 
in the case of such as foremen whose families board other farm help, 
up to $50 and even $75 per month. 
General farmers constituted one- third of those placing a value 
upon perquisites given, and they reported the greatest average 
monthly values, $22.96. Together with dairy farmers, they made up 
half the reports, and the average value of perquisites for those 
farms was reported as $21.94 monthly. 
Shelter or housing is one of the most common perquisites. Cran- 
berry growers commonly provide bog. shacks tor their workers, 
especially pickers. Usually no value is placed upon such accommo- 
dations, as they are little more than shelters against mild weather 
and their value is low. Some strawberry growers had shacks; 
others, having none, gave their pickers the use of tents or rooms in 
their houses; some pickers bring tents. Aside from these, practically 
a fifth of all farmers and a quarter of dairy farmers reported giving 
house rent to employees. Rental values as a whole ranged from $8 
to $25 per month, with extremes of $5 and $50; the average value 
was $13.11, the most common value was $10, with two-thirds as 
many at $15. Market gardeners gave the highest rental values 
because of surrounding urban conditions, averaging $15.50. 
Among the tobacco and onion growers of the Connecticut Valley 
the housing of farm labor was most generally recognized as a desir- 
able means of holding good help. Here, however, the practice is 
different from most of the rest of the State in that the tenant is charged 
a regular rental more often than not. Farmers frequently built 
