15. Thirty-three of this number are reported to be at school. (General Tables 315 to 322.) Yet it has been said that there is a tendency to take the children out of school at the age of 14, or even earlier, and put them to work. This practice has become less general during the past few years. It is found in the majority of cases where the children are kept in school that a business-college education is preferred to high school. The pecuniary advantages of such a course are apparent, for a business training requires a much shorter time, and upon its completion the pupils are prepared to undertake remunerative work. No attempts have been made to teach the children Portuguese, except in a few isolated cases, and no efforts have been made to teach English to adults.

These Portuguese show little interest in literature. Only 14 of 36 families subscribe for newspapers or periodicals. Six of this number take English newspapers only, 3 have newspapers printed in the Portuguese language only, while 5 read both English and Portuguese newspapers.

In the agricultural families studied only one or two of the older daughters are reported as at work. Most of them when they leave school remain at home until married, assisting their mothers. The married women do not do much work outside of the home. In the neighboring towns, however, many Portuguese women and children are engaged in gainful occupations, especially in the canneries during the fruit season.

The Portuguese are inclined to be clannish, partly because the Americans do not care for their society. As one evidence of this tendency few have intermarried with other races. Of the 33 men who are the heads of households, 7 were married previous to imigrating to this country; the other 26 have married here. Sixteen of the latter have foreign-born Portuguese women as wives, the other 10 native-born women of Portuguese parentage.

These people have also adhered to their Roman Catholic faith. Nearly all belong to the local church and are regular in their attendance. Their race solidarity is also shown by their fraternal organizations. They have two of the latter in connection with the church, one for men and one for women. With scarcely an exception the Portuguese men and women are members of these organizations and in case of sickness or death receive the benefits paid by them. These institutions serve, also, as the chief center of Portuguese social life. It must be added, however, that while few immigrant Portuguese obtain membership in American fraternal organizations their American-born children frequently do.

Because of their clannishness and of some prejudice of the natives against them, the Portuguese have been assimilated but slowly. The partial assimilation which has taken place has been chiefly through the contact incidental to business, and through the associations of the children. The children of all races mingle freely in the public schools, with the result that the second generation of Portuguese have been well Americanized, find a place in American fraternal orders when they grow up and in the social life of the community. Moreover, a perceptible change in the standard of living of the foreign-born is being wrought by the efforts of the parents to satisfy the wants of their children based upon the possessions and opportunities of their associates.

CHAPTER XV.

IMMIGRANT FARMERS ABOUT SEATTLE AND TACOMA, WASH

INGTON.

[For General Tables see pp. 906 to 933.]

INTRODUCTION.

Such agriculture as is carried on within a radius of 40 or 50 miles of Seattle has been developed chiefly during the past twenty years, for before that time the market for most crops was very limited. Seattle's population of 42,837 in 1890 had increased to 80,671 in 1900, and in 1907 was estimated at some 240,000. Tacoma, with a population of 36,006 in 1890 and 37,714 in 1900, had a population of 90,000 in 1907. At the same time the population of the neighboring towns has greatly increased. Pierce and King counties in 1890 had a total population of 114,929; in 1900, 165,568. In 1907 it was estimated at 395,000. With this rapid growth of population the market for vegetables, small fruits, and other crops of "small agriculture" has rapidly expanded.

Another fact that has been important in this connection is the development of Alaska. Most of the supplies for that rapidly developing country are brought from other places. Seattle is the main port from which supplies-potatoes, eggs, butter, and various other things are sent.

A third fact of importance in this connection has been the establishment of milk-condensing plants at Kent, Auburn, and other small towns near Seattle, and the increase in the number of creameries. These are among the important branches of manufacture, and, combined with the city's consumption, have created a large market for milk and have given rise to an unusually good profit in dairy farming. These facts, the growth of population, the Alaskan trade, and the condensed-milk industry and the manufacture of butter, have created a large demand for vegetables of all kinds, small fruits, milk, and poultry products. They have determined the kind of agriculture which shall be followed and have made it possible to engage in that business with profit. Few cereals are grown in King and Pierce counties, and the large acreage devoted to hay and other forage crops is largely incidental to the dairy industry.

Immigrants constitute a large percentage of the population of King and Pierce counties. Moreover, they are prominent among the farmers, especially those growing truck, potatoes, berries and other small fruit, and those engaged in dairy farming. Of the immigrant races engaged in farming, the Japanese, Italians, Scandinavians, and Germans are important. The Japanese are engaged chiefly in the

• Washington State Bureau of Statistics, report 1907. It is probable that the figures here given are somewhat exaggerated, but those given in Census Bulletin No. 71 are too small.

growing of strawberries and blackberries, potatoes and vegetables, and in dairying. A few have poultry farms and a few have general farms. The Italians are chiefly growers of vegetables, including only a few potatoes. They are also engaged, to a certain extent, in dairy farming, while a few have general farms. Few of them grow any small fruit. The Scandinavians and Germans are engaged in more diversified farming than either the Japanese or Italians. of them produce poultry, dairy products, and vegetables and potatoes for sale. A large number grow fruit, berries, currants, goose

berries, etc.

Agents of the Commission, during the months of May and June, 1909, investigated 53 farms conducted by Japanese, 11 conducted by Italians, and 33 conducted by Scandinavians and Germans. In addition to collecting data relative to these farms and the members of the families occupying them, a census was made of the holdings and principal crops of the Japanese tenant farmers in the different localities of the two counties which have been mentioned.

THE SCANDINAVIAN AND GERMAN FARMERS.

Data were obtained for 35 Scandinavian and German farmers living in the localities between Seattle and Tacoma and occupying 33 farms. The total acreage of the 33 farms was 1,533.75. Three of the 33 contained less than 10 acres, 9 contained 10 acres but less than 20, 12 contained 20 acres but less than 50, 7 contained 50 acres but less than 100, while the remaining 2 contained 153 and 270 acres, respectively. The average per farm was 46.48 acres; the median farm 30 acres. Twenty-six of the 33 farms were owned by those who tilled them, 3 were leased, while the remaining 4 were in part owned and in part leased. The total number of acres owned was 1,327.75; the total leased 206. Four of the 7 tracts of land leased were for cash rentals, which varied from $9 to $20 per acre. Two were for shares of the crops grown, while 1 was for cash and for labor performed in clearing land. (General Table 323.) Of the 1,327.75 acres owned, 889.75 is cultivated, the remainder pasture or unimproved land. The farms, as a rule, are well improved. Almost all have good houses, barns, and fences, and more than 9 in 10 have good orchards. The values of the land and improvements are shown in General Table 337. Two of the farms are worth less than $2,500, 6 between $2.500 and $5,000, 11 between $5,000 and $10,000, while 11 are worth $10,000 or more. Most of these farmers are engaged in diversified agriculture. Of the 33 farms, 2 were devoted to dairy farming, 3 to dairying and vegetable gardening, 1 to dairying and poultry raising, 1 to truck growing exclusively, 1 to fruit growing exclusively, and 1 to fruit and truck farming. Of the other 24, 23 were "general farms," while 1 was devoted entirely to the production of grain. Yet the great majority produce vegetables, milk, and poultry or other animal products for sale. All but one farmer kept one or more cows and 18 kept more than 3. Twenty-five kept poultry, while 16 kept pigs. During the year 1908, 28 of the 33 sold animal, 26 dairy, 23 vegetable, 15 fruit ("bush" and "tree"), and 5 grain and forage products. (General Tables 327 and 340.) The total value of the crop produced for sale was $72,585. The value of vegetables

and potatoes was $34,895; of fruit, $6,965; of milk and other dairy products, $21,225; of poultry products, $1,875; of live stock, $2,155; of other products, $5,470. These farms are typical of those cultivated by the Scandinavians and Germans in these localities. Though almost all produce a great variety of crops, the chief interest is in dairying, fruit growing, and small farming. The value of crops sold in 1908 varied from $100 to $26,000. The average (for 31) was $2,341 per farm.

Most of the Scandinavian and German farmers came to the United States when young unmarried men, and have resided here for many years. Of the 35, 26 were under 25 and 8 under 18 years of age at the time of their arrival in the United States. Only 5 were married men. Twenty-seven have been in the United States more than twenty, 33 more than fifteen years. Comparatively few of the members of these races engaged in farming are recent immigrants.

In their native land approximately one-half (15) of the farmers investigated had been farmers, farm hands, or youths working on their fathers' farms. One of 31 had been engaged in business; 12 had been wage-earners other than farm laborers, while 3 had had no occupation previous to their immigration to this country. Approximately three-fourths of them had less than $100 upon their arrival and only one had more than $400. (General Tables 331 and 333.) The one who came with some capital ($2,000) became a farmer on his own account, while the other 30 became wage-earners in different parts of the country. Of these, 15 found their first employment as farm hands, 2 as railroad laborers, 4 as common laborers, and 9 in other occupations, principally in cities. The majority of them worked for wages for several or many years before they became farmers, for one reason because a large majority purchased to begin with the land they tilled. One became a farmer at once, another within two years, and 5 others within seven years of their arrival in this country. The others worked for from eight to forty years before becoming farmers on their own account.

Few of these farmers investigated had come to Washington upon their first arrival in this country. In fact, 14 of them had been engaged in farming elsewhere before coming to the localities in which they now reside. The opportunities to purchase "logged off" land at low prices and to engage in profitable farming, and the general desire to move west caused those engaged in farming elsewhere to leave the land they had occupied and settle here. Most of the others were carried West as a part of the general labor supply.

Many of the Scandinavians and Germans had sufficient capital to purchase land at once when they came to this district. Thirteen of 33 (General Table 323) had at least $2,000, and the average for all was $1,708. Twenty-two of 33 purchased land immediately upon coming, while 7 more made purchases after working in the community for from one to ten years. Only 4 of the entire number leased land when beginning, and one of these later bought a farm and ceased to be a tenant farmer. In this the Scandinavians and Germans are in contrast to the Italian and especially to the Japanese farmers. (General Table 323.)

The first purchases of 30 farmers aggregated 984.25 acres. In 16 cases the number of acres purchased was from 3 to 20. The total