Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-21

gainfully occupied persons must be
classified into standard list of rea-
sonable number. a task requiring expert
skill and Judgment. The entries con-
corning unemployment must be ex-
amined with special care. for it is no
easy matter to define unemployment or
to express clearly the causes of it.
Moreover, code numbers must be assign
ed for each individual for each fact on
the schedule. so as to permit the punch
ing of the cards used in the detailed
tabulation. Each of the more than
100 1000, 900 of inhabitants is represented
by card on which from 20 to Is holes
are punched to set forth the facts con-
corning him. After the punching these
cards must be sorted In various ways
and run repeatedly through the tahulat-
ing machines in order not merely to
obtain bare totals concerning each of
the many classes distinguished, but
also correlated totals, groups within
groups in very complex fashion.
Moreover, in order to develop facts
concerning families 1t will be necessary
to punch q separate card for each
family. This Is a new undertaking, for
hitherto we have obtained from the
census practically no information con-
corning families except the mere num-
Der of them. This family card will con-
tain such items as the number of per-
sons In the family, the number of chill
dren, the number of bread-winners. the
tenure Of the home, the amount paid
for rent, or the value of the home. If
owned; the occupation OF the father
or chief bread-winner. and various
other facts Of fundamental Importance
for the understanding of our economic
and social life.
Next in magnitude to the census Of
population is that of agriculture. From
each of the 5000, 900 or more farms O
detailed report is obtained. The sched-
ule contains $50 inquiries, and from SO
to 100 Of these apply to any given farm.
All these schedules have to be carefully
examined by the clerical force of the
Census Bureau to determine their COM
pleteness and the consistency of the
items with one another. For each farm,
from 20 to 80 cards must be punched.
The sorting and tabulation of all these
Is quite as complex task as that Of
tabulating the population census.
Special Farm Steps Involved.
The Census Bureau Is undertaking
special steps at this time to measure
the new trends in American agriculture.
There have been conspicuous changes
in the character of our farms, and these
changes differ in different parts Of the
country. In some parts of the East
there has been a tendency toward
wiping out the line of demarcation be-
tween agriculture and other business
Scores of thousands Of places produce
crops and animal products and yet are
not farms In the sense ordinarily UNI
derstood in earlier periods of time; the
agricultural operations are not the sole
support of the family and often not
even its main support. In some parts
Of the West, on the other hand the
average size of the farm has become
larger and agricultural operations have
been more and more mechanical and
commercialized.
At the present census all places where
agricultural products are raised in APP
preciable quantities will be canvaSsed
and these places will be classified ac-
cordin gto their size, the annual value
of their product, the nature of their
principal products, and the relation OF
the farm operations to any other busi-
ness which the producer may pursue.
The census schedules, moreover, contain
more questions than hitherto regarding
the conditions of life on the farm and
the equipment of the farm home. The
problems of agriculture have been very
much in the limelight during recent
years, and the census will afford great
mass of information needed for their
proper solution.
The census of population Is taken
once in 10 years and that of agriculture
once in five years. On the other hand,