taken the work away from their negro competitors. Near New Orleans there are many Italians with small market gardens who retail their produce from house to house, especially in the Italian quarter. The Italians occupy a large section of the French market of the city. This industry is capable of great development, and it seems likely that many more Italians will take up vegetable growing as soon as they accumulate sufficient capital to buy the necessary land.

It was not possible to visit nearly all the small colonies of Italians nor all the plantations in Louisiana on which Italians are employed, nor can any adequate approximation be made of the total number of this race now engaged in agricultural pursuits in that State. Rural settlements other than those mentioned in the reports are at Alexandria, Houma, La Place, Lafayette, Lake End, Lutcher, and Thibodauxall of which towns, with the exception of Alexandria and Lake End, are in the sugar-cane area of Louisiana.

THE ITALIAN CITIZEN.

Opinions differ regarding the desirability of the Italian as a permanent element in the southern population. Unfavorable comment on Italian immigration is frequent and outspoken in many parts of the South. There are several reasons for this criticism. The regrettable Italian disorders and disturbances in New Orleans have done much to create prejudice against Italians as a body. The uncompromising attitude adopted in many communities toward all persons of foreign tongue has kept foreigners out of those districts. hostility of the country merchant, or supply man, is frankly based on what he calls the "stinginess" of the Italian. The Italian is not a lavish spender. His wants are few, his supply bill is short; his farm and garden furnish most of his food. In contrast to the negro he is not a good customer. There are many also who feel that the Italian will not assimilate with the American population.

The

It is only fair to say that nearly all of these criticisms are modified on longer and more intimate acquaintance with a farming colony of Italians. The striking qualities the Italians exhibit are thrift, industry, and peaceableness, and these qualities in many cases have won the somewhat reluctant admiration of those who originally assumed a hostile attitude.

Progress in citizenship is a matter of leadership and environment. Where there is some one to urge the application for naturalization papers or to set before the community the economic or social advantages of citizenship and suffrage, the Italians are not slow to make their way to the polls. Where local issues are discussed by their neighbors and a lively, wide-spread interest in suffrage is manifested, the Italians take sides and qualify as voters. Unfortunately, in a number of colonies the immigrant has not learned his political worth. His tenant neighbors are politically apathetic. There is no one to encourage citizenship or point the way. Where there is no vision, no motive, there is no interest, and the proportion of adult aliens is great. That the local native politicians discourage the political aspirations of the immigrant is not clearly proved, but that many colonists receive no local encouragement to take part in public affairs is certainly well attested. Where the Italians have become citizens they take great interest in local issues, vote rather solidly,

and in some instances elect Italian officers or at least hold the balance of power.

In some regions there are few adequate school facilities of any sort. The absence of compulsory education laws in the southern States has placed the Italian at a disadvantage when compared with others of his race who have settled in rural districts in the more northern States. There are parents who take little interest in the education of their children unless emphatically urged, and who keep them at work on the farm from the time they are strong enough to run errands until they leave home. This disregard of educational advantages is particularly noticeable in the cane and cotton areas.

THE POSSIBLE PLACE OF THE ITALIAN IN SOUTHERN AGRICULTURE.

That the Italian has made a good pioneer farmer in a number of places in the South there is no doubt, especially where he has engaged in truck farming and small fruit growing on the sandy virgin coast lands. These lands were purchased at low prices, and small acreages have yielded a living from their occupation. It is probable that the Italian has made a permanent place for himself as a vegetable grower along the coast. Here he is a property owner and a settled element in the agricultural economy of the community.

As a cotton grower he has been successful, especially where he has been able (as at Bryan, Tex.) to begin as a share hand without capital and work his way up to independence or land ownership. Where the purchase of land is not possible, because the plantation owners desire to keep their plantations intact or because land in small parcels is too high, and the Italian must remain a tenant, the situation is less favorable with respect to his future. It is doubtful whether he will be content for long to remain in the tenant class.

The Italian is said to be a desirable agricultural laborer, but where land is cheap and where opportunities for economic and social advancement are many the Italian rural laborer for wages will not outlast the first generation. Certainly the second generation, and probably many of the first, will become tenants or owners of land and themselves employ newcomers. It is evident that the path of Italian progress parallels that of other foreign races, and a study of the foreign-born, in rural Texas especially, shows that the farm laborer very soon accumulates enough capital to buy a farm on time and permanently leaves the farm labor class.

ITALIANS IN NEW YORK STATE.

According to the census of 1900 there were 1,203 Italians engaged in agricultural pursuits in the State of New York. Of this number 965 were males and 238 females; 900 of the males were born in Italy and 65 were of the second generation. Of the first generation 572, and of the second generation 47, were agricultural laborers, while 328 of the first generation and 18 of the second generation were farmers, planters, overseers, etc. Of the females engaged in agriculture 213 were of the first and 25 of the second generation.

In the Commission's investigation of Italians in agriculture in the State of New York, a study was made of those owning or renting farms and depending entirely for a livelihood upon the income thus derived, and also of those employed as farm laborers during the

agricultural season but engaged in other forms of labor for the remainder of the year. The investigation covered approximately 4,425 persons depending entirely or in part on agriculture for an income.

It was found that the great majority of Italians engaged in farming or employed as farm laborers in the different Italian settlements investigated were from southern Italy. Most of the farm owners had been in the United States for a considerable period of time, usually from ten to twenty years, while those who were renters or who were engaged in seasonal occupations, such as general farm labor, employment in canning factories, fruit picking, etc., showed a shorter period of residence, many having been in this country less than five years. The reason assigned for the fact that Italian farm owners report a longer period of residence, as compared with farm laborers and renters, is that few possess sufficient money to purchase a farm at the time of landing in the United States, and it usually takes a considerable length of time for a tenant or a farm or general laborer to put aside sufficient capital to acquire a piece of property. Most of the farms now owned have been paid for with money saved out of the earnings of the owner since his arrival in this country.

There are two classes of Italian farm laborers: First, those who live in agricultural localities and are employed more or less regularly by their fellow-countrymen who are engaged in farming, or by neighboring American farmers or by canning factories; second, those who go to the country for the farming season, returning in the fall to other occupations in the cities. Laborers of this second class are generally employed by large canning companies, through padrones, and the men are worked in gangs and are usually quartered on the farm of the company.

PREFERENCE FOR AGRICULTURE.

The Italian farm owners, renters, and farm laborers investigated had been in varied occupations in the United States prior to the time of entering agricultural pursuits. The great majority, however, had been general laborers, pick-and-shovel men, railroad section men, and laborers on general construction work. A small number were reported as skilled laborers or factory employees; a few had been employed in textile manufacturing. Not any were formerly coal miners or iron or steel workers. In Europe their occupations had been as diverse as in the United States, but the majority were farmers or farm laborers. The reasons given by Italians for entering agriculture were various. Many of the farm owners or renters had been farmers or farm laborers in Italy before coming to this country, and naturally were anxious to return to their old pursuits; some became farmers through the advice of friends who had attained success in agriculture; others came to agricultural settlements to be near friends or relatives and took up farming as a means of livelihood; a few engaged in farming thinking the outdoor life would be of benefit to the health of the family. Farm laborers who reside in agricultural communities were actuated in entering agricultural pursuits by the same causes as those mentioned above, and most of them are saving money with the idea of eventually purchasing a farm. On the other hand, Italians who are brought out from the cities for the farming season are induced to work on the farms because the whole family can find

ready employment through the summer months, wages are fairly good, and the cost of living is much lower than in the city. Though anxious to come to the country for the summer as farm laborers, they are really industrial workers and very few have any idea of eventually becoming farmers.

ITALIAN RURAL COMMUNITIES.

At Albion, Oneida, and Geneva, N. Y., Italians were investigated in seasonal occupations. In Albion and its vicinity there are about 350 Italians, including men, women, and children, who depend upon agriculture for part of their yearly income, and 300 additional farm laborers of this race are brought in each summer from Buffalo, N. Y., for the canning season. About 475 come from the cities to Oneida for the canning season, and in Geneva and its vicinity there are about 1,500 Italians, including men, women, and children, who depend on farm work for their livelihood during the agricultural season. Most of these enumerated are engaged in some other form of labor during the winter.

At Canastota there are about 50 families depending entirely upon agriculture for their support. Of these, 20 own farms, the rest being either tenants or farm laborers. In Lyons and Clyde and vicinity there are approximately 100 families deriving an income from agriculture; 40 own farms, about 20 are renters, and about 40 live in the towns and work on farms in the summer. In Port Byron and its vicinity 35 Italian families are engaged in some form of agriculture; 10 own farms, 10 are tenants, and 15 are farm laborers. Near almost all the larger cities in the State may be found Italians who own or work in market gardens, and in one or two localities Italian owners or laborers in orchards or vineyards are reported, there being a considerable settlement thus engaged near Fredonia. Very few Italians engaged in general farming or employed as general farm laborers were observed.

AMERICANIZATION.

From a general study of the three classes of Italians in agriculture it was found that those owning or renting farms are more nearly Americanized than individuals of the other two classes. As a general rule, they have been in the United States for a number of years, and thus have had the opportunity to acquire the English language and adopt American customs; and as property owners they naturally show more civic interest. In all localities it was stated that the proportion of Italian property owners who had taken out naturalization papers was much greater than the proportion of tenants or farm laborers who were naturalized. The interests of the Italian farmer and his American neighbors are the same, and the community of interest thus formed has done much to bring about the Americanization of the race. The residence of the Italian farm laborer in the agricultural community where he is employed offers advantages tending toward early Americanization which the Italian of the cities or of industrial centers does not possess. In many cases the Italian farm laborers are employed by the American farmer, and thus come into daily contact with Americans and more readily learn the language and customs of the country. Further, their associates are the Italian farm owners of earlier immigration, and this association has an

Americanizing influence. It is noticeable that the Italian farm laborers secured from the cities are much less intelligent, self-reliant, and progressive than are farm owners, tenants, or general farm laborers of their race residing in the country. In the cities whence they come, the seasonal laborers live in Italian colonies, trade at Italian stores, work in gangs of Italians on the railroads and on construction work, and associate very little with Americans. On the farm they are employed in gangs, usually under the immediate supervision of an Italian. They are quartered together, and here, as in their winter work, are surrounded by few Americanizing influences.

SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURE.

Italians have engaged but little in general farming, most of them confining themselves to the small crops. Only a few instances were observed in which Italian farmers owned as much as 50 acres of land, the usual farm being of from 5 to 15 acres, while many comprise but 1 to 5 acres. Practically none of the operators have had any previous experience in general farming and almost all are ignorant of the methods of raising the staple crops. Few know anything about the care necessary in handling horses or live stock to insure the best results, and as most of the tilling and planting on the Italian farms is done by hand the farmer and his family are able to cultivate only a limited acreage. The size of the farm generally depends upon the size of the family, as the average Italian farmer is averse to employing farm laborers. It was also observed that Italians generally confine themselves to one or two crops, such as onions, celery, etc., with which they are uniformly very successful. The South Italians in New York on large farms where wheat, oats, corn, hay, and staple crops are raised have achieved no marked success, due to the causes mentioned and to the lack of intelligent fertilization, crop rotation, and preparation of the soil. Their forte seems to be specialized commercial agriculture.

The chief objection on the part of American farmers to Italian farm laborers is that they require too much supervision and that few show any initiative. On the other hand, South Italians have proved very satisfactory on truck farms, nursery farms, and the farms of canning companies. Here, where little machinery is used and most of the work is done by hand, they are worked in gangs. Many farmers prefer them to Americans, because, it is stated, the Italians work more steadily, and are more reliable and more easily handled, than American farm hands.

HEBREW RURAL COMMUNITIES.

INTRODUCTION.

The census returns for 1900 throw no light on the number of Hebrews who were engaged in agricultural pursuits. In a measure they are included in the nationality group "Russian," but there are large numbers of Russian farmers who are not Hebrews, and, on the other hand, the variety of nativities which the Hebrews represent precludes the possibility of classifying all Hebrew agriculturists under "Russian." Allowing for certain probable errors, discussed later, the most available authoritative source of information on the number and distribution of Hebrew farmers in the United States is the Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society of New York. In the capac