their fathers; 8 had been in business, 4 had been professional men, 2 clerks, 4 skilled laborers, while 9 had migrated immediately upon leaving school. The other 11 had been farm laborers, practically all of them in the Hawaiian Islands. (General Tables 120 and 121:)

Most of these men came to the United States to make money. Few brought enough capital to engage in any business on their own account; in fact, more than two-thirds had not to exceed $100. Upon arrival, four of those who had brought money with them from Hawaii, leased land and began to farm the first crop year, while nearly all of the others took employment in those branches of industry where the labor market was best organized. Thirty-five took work as ranch hands, 15 as section hands and construction laborers on the railroads, 12 found employment as domestics (7 as "school boys" while attending school), while the remaining 2 found other sources from which to make a living.

Beginning thus, the majority had become independent farmers within a comparatively few years after arriving in the United States. As already noted, four coming from Hawaii leased land for the first crop year. Nine others became independent farmers the second crop year, 13 the third, 10 the fourth, 8 the fifth, 9 the sixth, 9 the seventh, and 7 the eighth. The remaining 7 (of the total of 26) were in this country for longer periods before they began to lease land and farm on their own account.

As shown in Gneral Table 119, most of the Japanese farmers came from other localities and leased land the first year, many of them with little capital. Of 46 who leased without partners, 29 leased the first crop year in the community-being attracted usually from nearby places. Of these 29 (General Table 119), 11 had not over $200 when they began to lease and only 9 had property with values in excess of $500.

The majority, then, had comparatively small capitals to begin with. Nearly all had to develop their lands and could not make a living from them at once. Of 68 such farmers, 15 took outside employment for a part of the time, 10 borrowed money, while the remainder found their savings or capital sufficient to carry them over until crops matured. Roughly 25 per cent of them obtained supplies, chiefly from Japanese stores, on credit. Perhaps the majority about Moneta received assistance in this form.

On the whole the Japanese tenant farmers have not made very good progress in the accumulation of property. It is true that the amount of money brought to the locality by sixty-seven tenant farmers not including one who brought $7,000 to the locality and now owns $56,980, averaged $388.81 each, and that in spite of money sent abroad, they now have property, not including the value of furniture and growing crops," indebtedness deducted, averaging $909.64 each. Yet 27 have less property than they brought with them, one has the same amount, while 40 have made some gain.

The gain of one-third of these is less than $100 per year, of another one-third between $100 and $200, and of the remaining one-third in excess of $200.

a Most but not all of the crops had been harvested at the time of the investigation.

Eleven of 64 tenant farmers have debts in excess of the value of the property, furniture and crops excluded, they own. Half of the entire number were found to be in debt, the amounts varying from $100 to $5,000, and averaging $642. This shows the extent to which the Japanese are farming with borrowed capital."

The profits and losses for 1908 were ascertained for 77 farmers. They are not entirely representative, for the growers of strawberries are too fully represented in proportion to the other farmers. Yet the figures have considerable value in showing the conditions which obtained in 1908.

Of a total of 77 tenant farmers on 65 farms, 8 had deficits ranging from $150 to $300 and averaging $206.25 each. Twelve had neither profit nor deficit. The other 57 had profits ranging from less than $50 to $3,500, and averaging $525.09 each. The distribution by groups is shown in General Tables 124 and 125.

The comparatively small deficits were usually covered by loans from friends; in two instances wages had not been paid to laborers. Of the 57 who made profits in 1908, 16 sent a part or all of what they made abroad. The total amount sent was $2,050, or 7.4 per cent of the aggregate ($27,750) of the profits realized. Of this $1,560 was for the use of parents and $490 for wives and children still in Japan. More than one-half ($14,800) of the total was invested in improving the lands held and in purchasing necessary equipment; $7,550 was devoted to paying debts earlier incurred largely in raising strawberries when the prices were low. The remainder ($3,350) was deposited in banks or invested in bank stock.

The conditions under which the Japanese live in these localities are not different from those found elsewhere. The cost of food and drink per month, as reported for 117 persons, varied from $5.67 to $20 per person, and averaged $9.01 per month. Most of the Japanese derive a part of their foodstuffs from produce grown on the land controlled by them, so that the total cost is in excess of the average just stated (General Table 126).

The Japanese are housed generally in rough, unplastered, and unceiled frame structures of two, three, or four rooms. The majority of these have been built by the Japanese upon the "hay land" leased by them, the usual outlay for a cottage being about $100; for a cottage, bunk house, and barn $250. Very few of the houses occupied by them have been built for or occupied by white families. Most of them are in fairly good repair because recently built, but many are not well cared for because more than 80 per cent of the wives living here with their husbands work regularly in the fields. The furnishings are scanty and inexpensive. Few have separate living rooms and the majority do not have separate dining rooms.

• For net value of property, by groups, see also General Table 122.

The houses had been built by the present tenants on 30 of some 60 farms. Many of the others had been erected by earlier tenants. The total cost of 43 cottages and bunk houses and 40 barns, as reported, was $6,710.

The care of the house was reported by the agent as "bad" in 18 cases out of 66.

d Of 37 women on these farms, 29 worked regularly in the berry patches and vegetable gardens.

The agent estimated the value of the furniture at less than $50 in 40 of the 68 cases.

f Five of 68.

Eighteen of 68.

The living is of the simplest and most economical kind. Yet seldom are the houses badly crowded, for most of the tenants have erected separate quarters in which to lodge their employees."

Most of these Japanese farmers have concluded to remain permanently in the United States and have brought their families to this country. Of 78 farmers, 57 expect to remain here permanently, while 21 are still in doubt.

Forty-four of 80 males 16 years of age or over are married; 35 are single. Of the 44 wives, 34 are in the United States (General Tables 128 and 129). Because of the original intention of the great majority to return to Japan after a few years abroad, because of the high cost of transportation and because of the impossibility of making suitable provision for them to begin with, only 12 came with their husbands when migrating, and most of these had been employed in the Hawaiian Islands. Here, again, no doubt the desire to establish a home for the family in the United States had served as an important inducement to the Japanese to undertake farming on their

own account.

The majority of the Japanese farmers have been in the United States for several years and all have a speaking knowledge of English. Of 80, 18 have been in the country for ten years or more, 40 others for from five to nine years, and 22 for less than five years. The Japanese women, on the other hand, have migrated more recently, and, coming into little contact with members of the white race, do not have the same command of English. Of 36, only 10 have been in the United States for five years or more, while 26 have been here for less than five years (General Table 131). Fifteen speak English; 21, or three-fifths, do not (General Table 132).

While all of the Japanese men speak English, only 49 of 88 reporting complete data are able to read and write the language. Of the 15 women who speak English, only 3 are able to read and write it. Partly because of unfamiliarity with English, but largely because of racial interests, most of the Japanese take only papers-if anyprinted in their native language. The groups of people on 28 of 68 farms subscribed for no paper at all, while the other 40 subscribed for one or more. Only 6 subscribed for a paper published in the English language.

The Japanese have few associations with Caucasians except in business. There are few children of school age who attend the public schools. Most of the Japanese who belong to any church are Buddhists, and the smaller number who are Christians generally attend missions established for them and attended by them alone. None was found who had membership in any fraternal order to which Americans belong. The Japanese have their own places of amusement in Los Angeles, not far distant, and there come into contact with other races to a slight extent.

Here, as elsewhere, there are numerous organizations among the Japanese. The various producers and growers' associations have already been noted. In addition to these there are prefectural societies. and the Japanese Association, both of which have a fairly large proportion, especially of the larger farmers investigated, as members.

@ Sometimes two or more Japanese farmers build one bank house to be used jointly by their employees.

CHAPTER IV.

JAPANESE TENANT AND LANDOWNING FARMERS OF THE
FLORIN DISTRICT, CALIFORNIA.

[For General Tables see pp. 798 to 807.]

INTRODUCTION.

One of the largest colonies of Japanese engaged in independent farming is found in the "Florin District" near Sacramento, Cal. The number of Japanese residing there throughout the year is estimated (June, 1909) at 450, of whom some 314 are adult males, 73 adult females, and 63 children. In addition to these "settled residents," several hundred Japanese men come to the district for temporary work during the harvesting seasons. Some 146 of the settled residents own or lease land. In December, 1909, the holdings are reported as numbering 143, with a total acreage of 2,315. Of these, 35 holdings with 922 acres are owned, 95 with 1,078 acres rented for cash, and 13 with 315 acres, rented for a share of the crops. The total acreage farmed by Japanese in the summer of 1908 was, perhaps, slightly larger."

Florin is a small village and shipping station in the Sacramento Valley about 10 miles from Sacramento. Roughly speaking, the "Florin district" embraces some 20 square miles. The Japanese holdings are scattered throughout the entire district, not grouped in any one part of it. Some of them are of entire farms, while others are of small tracts into which farms have, temporarily or permanently, been subdivided for the purpose of cultivation. For this reason an increase in the number of Japanese farms is not to be regarded as effecting a corresponding reduction in the number of farms conducted by persons of other races.

Practically all of the Florin district is tillable and most of it is devoted to the growing of grapes and strawberries, the remainder to wheat and other hay crops. This use of the land is in decided contrast to that which obtained twenty years ago, for at that time wheat and hay were the crops of importance. The soil was thin and light, and not fitted for other cereal and forage crops. The continuous use of the land for growing wheat and hay gradually impoverished the soil (for these crops) while at the same time the prices realized for hay were low. For these reasons, the landowners (all white and chiefly native-born) gradually turned their attention to the growing of grapes and strawberries, crops for which the light thin soil was well adapted, as the markets for them were established and extended. Because of the low prices realized for strawberries and of the conditions under which they were grown, the growing of grapes was much

As reported in the Japanese-American Yearbook, 1909.

b Reported by the same authority as 2,361. This figure seems to have been approximately correct according to the incomplete census made by the agents of the Commission.

• Instances are found in which there are several Japanese tenant farmers on what is generally known as one farm because it is in one tract, fenced, owned, and at one time farmed by one man, and possibly will be so farmed again in the near future.

more extensively followed than the growing of berries, and became the most important branch of agriculture engaged in by the white farmers of this locality.

THE JAPANESE AS LABORERS.

In viticulture and berry growing much hand labor but little with teams is involved. Because of the lack of adaptability of white men to much of the hand labor and their disinclination to perform it, Chinese were from the first very generally employed on farms devoted to these industries until Japanese were substituted. In setting strawberry plants and picking the fruit Chinese were almost exclusively employed. In the vineyards, on the other hand, much of the hand work, including picking of grapes, was done by white men. The first Japanese found temporary employment in this district during the summer of 1894. During the succeeding summers they arrived in increasing numbers and by 1900 practically had control of the hand labor in the strawberry fields and did a good share of that in the vineyards. The Chinese rapidly diminished in number, partly because they were growing old, partly because of the successful competition of the Japanese. The members of the latter race, it would appear, during their first years in this locality worked for $1 per day without board. This was the wage currently paid Chinese, but the Japanese were younger and worked more rapidly. Furthermore, in strawberry culture they were the more effective growers. For these reasons they were preferred to the Chinese and practically displaced them.

The position thus indicated the Japanese have occupied for some years. Aside from a little work with teams, practically all labor in the strawberry industry is done by them. A part of the regular work in the vineyards (especially in those controlled by Japanese farmers) is done by them, and they constitute the majority of the much larger number required to harvest the crop. It is estimated that some 700 Japanese laborers come to the Florin district during the months of April and May when the first crop of strawberries is picked. Some 400 return to pick the second crop, which ripens from June 15 to July 30. During the months of August and September some 600 are added to the number regularly employed on ranches to harvest the crop of grapes.

The wages of Japanese laborers have gradually risen as have those of white men. Regular ranch hands employed by Japanese farmers are paid $1.50 per day of eleven hours, with lodging (but without board). When the days are shorter they are paid somewhat less. Men employed temporarily to pick and pack strawberries are sometimes paid by the day, sometimes by the box. Of 67 employed on 25 farms who were paid by the day, 43 received $1.75 each, 10 $1.70, 11 $1.50, and 3 $1.40 per day of 11 hours. The men working at piece rates work longer hours and earn somewhat more. Of 27, 1 earned approximately $2.25 per day, 16 $2, 2 $1.75, 1 $1.70, and 7 $1.50. These wages were without board. Frequently the employer furnished board, however, the charge being either 20 or (more frequently) 25 cents per day, or the actual cost. In other cases the men boarded themselves on the cooperative plan.

These wages given for men employed by 25 Japanese farmers are representative of the Japanese working for the farmers of that race.