The Carlisle independent., 1910-01-27
CENSUS WILL DEVELOP DATA
Expected to Show Many important Features as to Present Status
 of the American Farmer.

rand states that the new inquiries in the census of 1910 are expected to de velop important data on the questions | whether or not the native American farmer is holding his own against the foreign homemaker in this coun- try; the age period when the hired farm hand" becomes an independent farmer himself; the age when the ten ant farmer ceases to be renter" and becomes an owner; and also con- cerning other vital facts relative to the social and industrial tendencies among the millions of tillers of the soil in the first decade of the twen- tieth century.
 The new questions were added to the farm schedule by authority of the act of congress providing for the thir- teenth and subsequent decennial cen sus, but United States Census Di- rector Durand was instructed to de- termine the form and subdivision of inquiries-in other words, to frame the main questions and the sub-inquir- ies concerning the 5S groups of topics embraced in the schedule.
 As approximate accuracy in the re- turns from the enumeration depends not only upon the supervision and enumerators. but largely also upon the form of the schedule, Census Di- rector Durand called into consulta- tion with himself and his administra- tive staff this summer a number of farm economists and farm-manage- ment experts who assisted in the pre- paration of the questions with view to simplicity and clarity of language and the avoidance of technical terms not in common use. A comparison ot the new schedule with the one used in the census of 1900 shows that great progress has been made in this di- rection. It is believed the enumera- tors will have less difficulty in under standing what information the 1910 schedule is trying tG bring out and that the farmers will be able to give fuller and more accurate replies. The new schedule will also facilitate the use of more thorough system of office checking whereby inaccuracies may be discovered.
 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 concerning conditions or industries which have arisen since the last census.
 In the first class are those inquiries concerning the age of the farmer and the country of his birth; mortgage in- debtedness; 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 inauiries relative to the amount of feed pur- chased for livestock and the amount and value of livestock purchased; the value of eggs sold; value of wax sold. separate from honey, and amount of pasture land under irrigation.
 In the third class the new questions provide for the separation of wheat
 
 spring, common winter, Durum or macaroni Emmer, and spelt; for the increase of the number of the varie- ties of vegetables from to 12; for the addition of guinea fowls and pig cons to the poultry list; for the state l ment of the amount received for standing timber; for the amount of II amount received for pasturing domes- tic animals.
 The farmers answers concerning their ages should throw much light on social conditions in agriculture From these it will be possible to calculate with reasonable accuracy the age when young man passes out of the ranks of the hired farm hand and becomes either a tenant or owner of a farm, possessing his own implements, machinery, livestock and property. The answers will help fix the age at which a farmer may expect to stop being a renter" and arrive at the dig nity of ownership of the soil. Whether or not it is becoming more and more difficult for an American farmer to rise from the tenant" class to that of farm ownership will be pretty clearly indicated by the classification of mortgaged farms by age periods If farmers under 35 have relatively, the greatest mortgage indebtedness, it Will be talr tor statlstlcans 10 assume that the indebtedness has been in- cured in the purchase of the farm.