FARM LABOR IX MASSACHUSETTS, 1921. 19 
houses and the men occupying them agreed to work for the landlords 
when needed, being free to work elsewhere much of the year; conse- 
quently, rental was charged regularly instead of being furnished as a 
part oi the wage. The average value of monthly rentals charged 
was $10, of rentals furnished in connection with wages, $10.62, for 
this district. 
Fuel was frequently given with rental as a perquisite, and usually 
consisted of wood from the farm. Cranberry growers commonly 
expected their workers to gather dead wood for cooking near their 
shacks or sometimes to cut wood in designated places. The Fal- 
mouth strawberry pickers were generally furnished stove wood for 
cooking. Usually neither class of employers placed any value upon 
this fuel. Dairy and general farmers very often furnished their help 
whom they housed with wood for household purposes, often averag- 
ing a cord a month; farm values for this ranged from $8 to §10 per 
cord. For all farms reporting it, the average value of fuel furnished 
was S5.57 per month. 
Employers occasionally reported giving their help the use of horses, 
tools to cultivate garden plots, and vehicles with which to occasion- 
ally go from and to the farms. Usually no value was placed upon 
such help, but where valued it averaged $4.06 per month. 
Of farm products given as perquisites, milk was most frequently 
named. Fifty-three farmers reported the value of this, and prices 
ranged from 7 to 15 cents per quart according to the type of dairying 
conducted. The most common quantities and values furnished 
were 2 quarts per day and S6 per month. In a few cases where more 
milk was supplied the men were boarding other farm help in their 
homes. 
Vegetables were supplied farm employees comparatively seldom, 
partly because many employers raised none, and partly because many 
farm employees had garden space allowed them. Few farmers re- 
ported upon this topic. Some laborers were freely allowed to take 
cull stufTof small market value; in other cases the worth monthly ran 
to $15. The average was $6.09. 
Occasionally other extras were given such as pasturage or hay for 
an animal, electric light or telephone for the tenant house, and eggs, 
fruit, or ice. 
LIVING ACCOMMODATIONS FOR FARM HANDS. 
Cranberry growers furnish practically no accommodations for their 
workers, except that most of them have shacks where they may pre- 
pare meals and live and sleep in mild weather. The workers provide 
their own food and dishes. The pickers, forming the larger part of 
the help, stay, at the most, but a few weeks in early fall. 
Similar provisions are usual among the Falmouth strawberry grow- 
ers. Here the pickers often bring their own tents, but usually the 
employers, according to their circumstances, provide tents, shacks, 
or rooms in their own houses. 
Most other types of Massachusetts farmers make more provision 
for their employees. Those boarded are generally single men. The 
majority of market gardeners and tobacco and onion growers board no 
help, while the majority of dairy and livestock men and general farm- 
ers do, or in some cases provide farm boarding houses or boarding 
places with other employees. Boarding of farm laborers usually in- 
