Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1909-12-12
Many Questions to Be
Asked by Enumerators
1910 Census Will Be Repete With Information If the Plans
Now Making Are Carried OCT IN Foil

staff this summer a number of farm
economists and farm management ex-
perts who assisted in the preparation
: Of the questions with view to sim
plicity and clarity Of language AMI
the avoidance of technical terms not
in common use A comparison. of the
new schedule with the one used in the
census of 1900 shows that great pro
gress has been made in this direc-
ton, 1t is believed the enumerators
" ill have less difficulty in understand
ing what information the 1910 sched
ule is trying to bring out and that
the farmers will be able to give full ar
ard more accurate replies. The new
Schedule will also facilitate the use
Of more thorough system of office
checking whereby inaccuracies may
be discovered.
Three Glasses of New Questions.
The new inquiries fall into three
classes: First, those seeking infor-
nation not obtained by former cen
suses; second, those calling for more
extensive data on previous census
topics; and, finally, those concern
ing conditions or industries which
have arisen since the last census.
In the first class are those inquir
les concerning age Of the farmer and
the country of his birth; mortgage
Indebtedness; acreage to be planted
to crops in the year 1910; breed Of
pure-bred animals; and acreage of
mixed timothy and clover hay.
In the second class are the inquir-
les relative to the amount of feed
purchased for live stock and the
amount and value of live stock pur-
chased; the value Of eggs solo, value
| of wax sold, separate from honey;
and amount of pasture land under
irrigation.
In the third class the new ques-
tions provide for the separation of
wheat into it's various varieties
common spring, common winter, dur
UNI or macaroni, Emmer, and spelt;
for the increase Of the number Of the
varieties Of vegetab 1es from seven
to twelve; for the addition of guinea
fowls and pigeons to the poultry list;
for the statement of the amount re-
ceived for standing timber; for the
amount Of woodland on the farm;
and for the amount received for pas
turing domestic animals.
The farmers answers concerning
their ages should throw much light
on social conditions in agriculture.
From these it will be possible to cal
culate with reasonable accuracy the
age when a young man passes out of
the ranks of the hired farm hands"
and becomes either a tenant or own
er of a farm, possessing his own i'm
Elements, machinery, live stock, and
property. The answers will help fix
the age at which a farmer may ex-
pect to stop being "renter" and ar
rive at the dignity of ownership of
the soil. Whether or not it is becom-
ing more and more difficult for an
American farmer farmer to rise from
the tenant" class to that of farm
ownership will be pretty clearly in
dicated by the classification of mort
gagged farms by age periods. If
farmers under IS have, relatively, the
greatest mortgage indebtedness, it
will be fair for statisticians to as
sumo that the Indebtedness has been
incurred in the purchase of the farm.
AiiS E*t1tASiIy VI VIC
The inquiry concerning the coun-
try in which the farmer was born is
also of great social significance. The
replies should show whether or not
the native American is holding his |
own in agriculture. They will, for
the first time, enable comparisons !
between the various nationalities to
ascertain which are the most sue
cessful in agriculture, as indicated
by the size of their farms and the
value of their crops per acre. This
| inquiry will have an important bear
| ing on the immigration problem. 1t
will show what nationalities are 60
| ing into agriculture and which of
these are the most likely to become
| owners of farms If this informa-
ton is classified for counties, it will
throw light on the relation between
nationality and social activity. Is it
the native American, the German, the
Scandinavian, or farmer of some
other nationality who is most active
ly taking up agricultural co-opera-
ton or developing a better rural
school? ~
The inquiry OF, the acreage Of crops
to be harvested in 1910 is an impor-
tant innovation. 1t not only enables
the census bureau to get data a year
later than usual, but it will permit
the United States department of ag-
riculture to check up the estimates Of
it's special agents as to the area Of
the various crops. Very soon after
the federal farm census is taken
the winter-wheat harvest will begin
and this acreage data will at once
be available for checking the esti-
mates of the total amount of winter
wheat in the harvest of 1910. >
The fact that the 1910 schedule
calls for the number and breed Of
thorou gh-bred animals shows the
strides America is making in .improv-
ing its stock. The information will