Vashon Island news-record. [volume] (Vashon, Wash.) 1919-1954, 1930-04-03
THREE ACRES rs FARM
SAYS CENSUS OFFICIAL
Farm Is All Land EARNED BY One
Perscn, Whether II is Ts,rec Acres
Or Three Thousand Acres


A farm, according TO the Census
Bureau, Is all the land farmed by one
person. whether IL is three acres or
three thousand acres.
Sounds simple. doesn't itp Well, it
wasn't SO simple for the Government
officials to decide what should be con-
sidered farm by the enumerators
during the census to he taken in April.
Much study and years of practical ex-
perience were necessary before the short,
concise definition was agreed upon.
DR.. L. G. Gray and Or. o. q Baker,
Of the Department of Agriculture, as
sisted census officials In deciding upon
what should be called q farm.
The amount OF land owned by one
person has nothing TO do with the
definition Of farm so far as the
census bureau is concerned The ques-
ton is NOS how much land does he own
but how much does he operate or
farm. A man who owns 800 acres
might farm half of 1t himself and rent
the other half out to three tenants, so
acres to each This would 60 down on
the census records as four farms be-
cause the land farmed by each man is
considered as unit,
On the other hand, one man might
rent various tracts of land from 10
different owners. He might rent few
acres on shares, few more from some
body else for money rent, and the rest
from other people on different terms.
The different pieces of land might be
widely separated. If they were all
farmeo and managed by one man,
however, they would ali be put down
together as one farm. If, however, a
separate manager were hired to
supervise q certain portion of the land,
that portion would so down as a
separate farm.
no tract of land of less than three
acres will be registered as a farm I'M
less it produced more than $3.50 worth
of farm products last year. In the
census of 1880. if piece OF land OF
less than three acres was farned by
a man who gave his entire time to the
task. it was listed as farm regardless
of how little it produced, but this year
none Of these small tracts will be
counted unless they produced $3.50
worth of products, regardless of how
many people spent thelr luii Ihne
cultivating the area. ms chsnge III
the classification OF farms is the only
difference between the census bureaus
regulations for farm enumeration IN
1880 from those OF ten years ago.
There is necessarily a pofoerlano
between what is farm ana "ila0 IS
not. Small places on the eoge o.
towns or villages are otten tne MONIES
OF city workers VINO undertake 10 keep
COW, some chlcsenns, ana prooapiy
cut little nay or raise large garoeh
OF small crop. II the agricultural pre-
ducts from such place alt'ouilCea W
more than s22o IN 1879, II VIII De re :
turned as farm, fegafoless OF now
much or now 'lttie Time the Guy WORK
Ell gave 10 MS farming purSults' ana
regardless OF no" smali the tract Oh
land tended. indeed, II a man lving
On Flflth Avenue OF New YORK ClCy
raised more than s25o worth OF straW-
berries or asparagus on los oo by
100 feet, his place would De returned
as farm. Ihe vaiue OF the agrlcul-
tural products is the criterion.
or. the other mana, a large country
place OF III, 10 or ~ acres may not
necessarily quarry as a larhl' actuai
farming Or aerlcaltruai operations
must be carried OUT oelore any tracs
OF lane VIII ne classed III this category.
"A large country estate retlred
capitalist is not farm Ill all the
work done around the place CONSISTS
IN moving the laWnss and clipping
the hedges. Ii the estate Is OF more