The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1915-01-12
The Georgia farmers Living

States department Vi dSAlSuA'"AS' 49,
order to ascertain how much the aV-
erage farm contributed to the fam
ily's living in the form of products
grown and consumed directly on the
farm. There are two ways OF OBJ
tanning the necessities of life-rais-
ing them ones self and raising some
thing else to sell for money to buy
them with. Successful farming de-
ponds upon the proper combination
of the two methods.
The investigators found that in
the area studied in Georgia the cost
of board and lodging on the farm fol-
each individual was on an average
of S141 a year. This sum included
food, fuel, oil, house rent and house
labor, the items being as follows:
Food, $S8.92; fuel, $3.50; oil, 90;
house rent, $1,000; house labor
$500.
This is the lowest of all the re-
suits obtained from similar surveys
made of areas in Vermont, New York
Ohio. Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Kan
sas, Iowa, Texas and North Carolina,
the average for all these areas being
S176. The Georgia families, how
ever. were large and the total ex-
penditures for labor and rent were
therefore divided among a number of
persons. But even if the family, and
not the individual be taken as the
unit for comparison these items are
noticeably low.
Because the great bulk Of the
house labor is usually performed by
members of the family and the use of
house included in the occupation
of farm they are frequently omitted
in estimating the farmers income.
This, however, is hardly just. Had
the members of the family done the
work for somebody else they would
have been paid for it, and If it had
been performed by somebody else
they would have had to pay. In other
words, this labor has cash value,
and since it adds to the comfort of
the family must be included in the
revenue from the farm. AS mat
ter of fact, in Georgia about Is per
cent of the total was hired.
The charge for rent must be con-
sidered in much the same way. The
value of the farm house is usually
included in the value of the land, and
the whole regarded as the capital
which the farmer has invested in his
business. If this is done, however, 1t
is only fair to credit the farm with
having furnished its occupants with
shelter, which, as every city worker
knows, has a high cash value. On
the Georgia farms included in the
Investigation the average annual val
ue of this shelter, in other words, the
house rent, was estimated at $92 a
year. a figure which included inter
est, depreciation and repairs, but was
lower than in any other state except
South Carolina and Texas The
milder climate of the South does not
necessitate as substantial dwellings
as in the North and the value of the
average farm house is, in conse-
quence, much less.
The great factor in the cost OF
life is, however, food.
Of this the average family in the
Georgia area consumed annually
s4SO.45, of which $376.03 or 1873
per cent was furnished directly by
the farm. With the exception of
North Carolina in no other area was
the proportion of homegrown food
80 great. In New York, for exam
Pile it was only one-half, and the
general average for all the areas was
only SO per cent. This accounts for
the fact that although the Georgia
family had only one-half as much
money to spend on food-or at least
spent only half as much-as in Tex
as the individual had practically as
much to eat.
By raising vegetables for home
the Georgia family ma
terially reduced its grocery bill. In
money value vegetables formed 17.2
per cent of the family diet, groceries
PIT, whereas in Vermont these per-
centages were 10.5 and 81 respect
ively. and in Ohio rs and 25.5. The
Georgia farmers also ground a part
of their corn into meal, thereby do
ing away with the necessity of pur-
much flour and still further
reducing the cash outlay.
Of animal products the Georgia
consumed the average guam