The next table presents a showing of the live stock on the farms under consideration. It is evident that little milk and less beef is produced in the Italian section. It may be said that no poultry and poultry products are sold and very few fowls are kept. Most farmers have one good horse; some have two. The horses look well, as a rule, and are reasonably well treated. One hog, or, perhaps two, are raised for home use; none are marketed for pork. Not one-fifth of all the farm households keep a cow. There are no fences. Grass is a luxury in Hammonton, and the cost of keeping a cow over winter is high. Neither there nor at Vineland have the Italians been attracted to dairying, although they are fond of milk.

TABLE 27.-Classification of live stock kept by South Italian farmers, Hammonton, N. J.

It remains to say a word about the Italian's garden. On a small plot of ground about the house he raises a large part of the yearly sustenance for himself and family. Many of these little gardens are models of neatness, good tillage, and productiveness. Peppers, beans, pease, onions, cabbage, and tomatoes are raised in considerable quantities; but sweet corn, potatoes, beets, carrots, parsnips, cucumbers, squash, and pumpkins, some or all, are found on nearly every farm. Italian beans, okra, and peppers are almost the only distinctive Italian vegetable introductions to the community. Peppers and beans are raised for market in large quantities at Vineland, but Hammonton growers have not begun to produce these crops commercially to any extent. The Italian's garden adds not a little to the family income. From spring until autumn a large part of the food of the family comes from this source, and in the winter the rafters are hung heavy with the fruits of it. Sweet potatoes and some early Irish potatoes are grown for food, and berries in season, peaches, pears, grapes, and wine help out the daily bill of fare. While it is not found in the tabulations, this exceedingly important fact must not be overlooked that aside from flour and macaroni the greater share of the family's food supply comes from their own land.

FERTILIZERS AND METHODS.

Barnyard manure seems never to have been a main reliance of Hammonton farmers. It is generally thought that the elements of plant food in a fertilizer leach through the porous soil very quickly and that only those fertilizers are of benefit in which the elements of fertility are immediately available. High grade phosphates and ready-mixed "complete" fertilizers from several standard fertilizer companies are used. Not many of the farmers make heavy applications to any crop, but all apply small quantities to every crop

arly. To secure the best results of course, the ferall ver best lapted to the crop should be appled =

; proper times. It is a matter of oi

verage Italian does not seen ab

lation, even after years of trial. in the buying of fertilizer. lis economy or penuriousness does not to any angle uantities, and the time of application is determined mere by habit nd by observing his neighbors than by practical test er experiment, he fertilizer is bought from a kocsi desier, agents of the fertilizer ompanies who take orders early in the spring, or, occasionally, y the members from the Italian farmers cooperative society which uys for a number of members at one time. This last is not the common practice. Most of the fertilizer is bought from agents of the fertilizer companies, who sell their fertilizer on credit, payable in July after the berry crop has been sold. With few exceptions the quantity of fertilizer used is insufficient; one, or at most two, bags, 200 pounds each) of "complete" fertilizer is ordinarily applied to an acre of vines, berries, or sweet potatoes. This is applied broadcast by hand during the spring. There are some who buy heavily, but seem to exercise little judgment either in the selection or the application of fertilizer.

One of the most noticeable characteristics of the Italian's method of farming is his attempt to economize land and to utilize every inch of cleared ground for some usable crop. The garden plots are cultivated right up to the houses or outbuildings; the barnyards or back yards are very small and the space in front of the house is ornamented with grape vines and rows of vegetables instead of flowers, trees, grass, and ornamental shrubbery. The fields are cultivated close up to the boundary line of the highway or the neighbor's farm. No corners are given up to weeds, briars, and young bushes. Uncleared land is cleaned up as rapidly as possible, and all brush or roots are saved to burn in the stove or the little beehive ovens. Even the rank blackberry canes, trimmed out or cut down where a berry patch is broken up, are often used for firing these outdoor ovens. Nothing is wasted and nothing that seems to have any possible use is thrown away. Leaves, dried grass, and refuse of every sort is gathered up and saved for litter or for fuel.

Not nearly all of the men are really gardeners, nor can they be called intensive farmers. They work hard and persistently, but often their efforts are misdirected, certainly not directed by scientific knowledge. Old settlers say that their first attemps were blundering in the extreme. Not only were they ignorant of all but the simplest operations, but they lacked judgment, and were almost inexpressibly stupid when it came to the use of tools, implements, or horses. Although they have gained in technical skill, and can handle horses and simple machinery, they have very little scientific knowledge and do not yet know how to apply capital and labor most advantageously. With a few exceptions they are not carrying on an intensive system of agriculture.

BUILDINGS AND IMPROVEMENTS.

The general appearance of an Italian farmstead is usually more or less depressing, despite its rich surroundings of fruit. At its best it is a cluster of lodges in a vineyard, at worst a bare, unpainted frame

house set down in the middle of a berry field. The farmsteads are close together; practically every family occupies a whole house, and boundary posts, other than a picket fence around the house and yard, furnish the only dividing line between neighbors. There are no lawns and very few flowers, but grape arbors everywhere; what might be the front yard is a vineyard, a vegetable garden, a wood yard, or a run for the chickens. Occasionally may be found a crude system of open ditches for drainage.

The houses are almost all unattractive two-story frame buildings, sometimes 16 by 16 feet, sometimes 16 by 32 feet, of two or four rooms respectively. Most of them have been painted green, yellow, or pink, and the majority of them look gaunt and ugly. Some of the more recent houses have porches and gabled ends; the most recent are built tall and square with one or two porches and a coat of bright green paint. Many of the houses first built cost less than $500, but the new houses, built by those who have acquired some property, are being put up for from $1,000 to $1,200. A few have built modern houses and one or two very fine residences on attractive sites have gone up. The most noticeable fact about the houses is their cheap ugliness and the bareness of their treeless surroundings. Recent buildings show a marked improvement in appearance and style of architecture.

There are few barns, a shed-like building for the horse and the cow, a wagon shed, a wood shed, a sort of granary, a tool house, a place for a pig and some chickens, a brick oven, a dry closet-and one bas named all the buildings he is likely to find on any farm. Most of the buildings have a broken down, decayed, dilapidated appearance, and with some exceptions they are built of rough lumber, second-hand stuff of all sorts, sizes, and conditions, and have not been painted. A great many of the houses and almost all the outbuildings have been constructed partially or wholly by the owners themselves. The autumn is the time of building. There is more money after berries are sold and more leisure, since farming operations are over for the year. Aside from the house, $100 will cover the value of buildings on most of the farms.

The surroundings of many of the immigrant homes are very unkempt filthy, frequently disgusting. The stench from the open closet, close to the house, the decaying sewage in the back yard, and the filth about the outbuildings is often nauseating. In warm, damp weather piles of rubbish of all sorts, for which one can see no possible use, take up much of the room in the little barnyard. The air of homelikeness, neatness, comfort, and thrift is strangely absent in most instances. Were it not for the close growing grape vines and the covered arbors around many of the homes, the outlook would be depressing, indeed. The absence of trees is characteristic. "You will see one difference in the Italian and the American farm right away," said an intelligent young Neapolitan farmer. "Not often has an Italian trees around his house. I have some, but not my neighbors."

MARKETS AND MARKETING FACILITIES.

It has been said that no farmers in south Jersey have better marketing facilities for berries and fruits than those living near Hammonton, and when one takes into consideration the fact that

5 per cent of the produce marketed is of the perishable variety hat can not wait even a day for an upward tuin of the market, erhaps this is true. Practically all berries are picked, packed n crates, hauled to the railway depot, and disposed of before sunet on the day of picking. During the height of the berry season he little town takes on an air of life, buste, and business activity that one would scarcely believe possible. The berries go forward over the Reading and the Pennsylvania lines to Philadelphia and New York, both by freight and express, leaving Hammonton late every afternoon.

About half past 2 or 3 o'clock every afternoon the berries begin to come in from the farms. By 4 o'clock there is a solid stream of one and two horse wagons, buggies, or other vehicles, each loaded with crates of berries, extending for blocks from the railway station. Some come with 20 crates, some 50. some only 4 or 5. Each man must await his turn to unload his berries into one of the several cars destined for New York, Philadelphia, Newark, Boston, Buffalo, or Pittsburg. Several cars are loaded every day when picking is at its best; the largest shipment for one day was 17 carloads, sent out during the nineties.

Three marketing agencies are available. First are the buyers for produce houses and commission men in the cities. From ten to twenty of these men come every day and bid against each other. Frequently there is sharp competition. The closing prices of the previous day's sales in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and other cities are chalked on a blackboard, fastened conspicuously on the wall of the freight depot, and with these quotations to guide him the farmer is ready to drive a sharp bargain with the buyers, who climb on his wagon, open his crates for inspection, and bid briskly for the choice berries. These agents, both Italian and non-Italian, buy the berries outright and pay the farmer on the spot if he wishes. There have been some attempts at agreement and combination between the buyers, but with no permanent success. There are too many buyers, and when demand is great there is no holding them all to one price. The active competition of buyers has been of great advantage to all growers, but especially to the ignorant immigrant, who would otherwise be at the mercy of the distant commission man. There are some growers who still ship directly to commission men in New York or Philadelphia, but few are Italians. The rate of commission is 10 per cent of the selling price, but some firms allow a large shipper the usual 3 per cent rebate which ordinarily goes to the local buying agent of the commission house. As elsewhere, nearly all shippers complain of dishonesty and losses at the hands of the commission merchant. A delay of a few hours on the road brings the berries into the market late, and the price drops at once. Recently one of the express companies inaugurated a Sunday fast express which was scheduled to arrive in Boston very early on Monday morning, in time for the opening of the market. The first load sent through contained a large percentage of Italian produce. Through some untoward circumstance, the shipment was delayed and arrived in Boston twelve hours or more late. The returns hardly paid the express charges. The express company made plausible excuses, and the Italian growers somewhat hesitatingly accepted

the excuse and a second trial. The second shipment was twentyfour hours late. There was no third. Thoroughly disgusted, the Italian growers withdrew their patronage from both the express company and the railway line interested. As a direct consequence, almost all shipments consigned by Italians during this (1909) season were sent over the competing line of railroad. For days not a dozen crates of Italian berries went forward over the delinquent road, although thousands were being shipped from the rival depot.

Delayed shipments, inadequate icing, dishonest returns, exorbitant commission charges are some of the everyday troubles of the independent shipper. There is no redress, no way to fix responsibility for losses, and no insurance, except in the honesty of the commission house. On this account, individual shipments long ago proved unsatisfactory, and a third method of marketing was resorted to-cooperative marketing.

There are four cooperative marketing associations in which Italians are interested, two at Hammonton and two at Elm, a little shipping station on the Central Railroad of New Jersey, 3 miles from Hammonton. The salient facts in regard to these associations are set forth in the table below; membership and gross value of shipments are tabulated for 1908:

TABLE 28.-Cooperative marketing societies in Hammonton, N. J., and vicinity.

The first fruit growers' union was organized in 1867, and after 1885 there were always a large number of Italians represented on the roll of members. It existed for the purpose of combining shipments, selecting reputable commission firms, reducing shipping costs, buying fertilizers and supplies for members, and incidentally to furnish a fraternal bond between the fruit growers. In 1890 a large threestory building was constructed to serve as a meeting place, a general store and a place of storage for supplies of various sorts. As usual, the selling end was a source of discord, and the active cause of the final dissolution of the society. The store was mismanaged; too much credit on too little security was extended during the flush days of the blackberry crop. When the crop failed, the crash came at once, and the society went to pieces in 1898.

In 1899 the Shippers' Union was formed, partly out of the wreck of the old Fruit Growers' Union. It started with a small membership (25), entirely American. In 1900 one Italian joined; in 1904 there were 12; in 1907, 21; on the roll of 1908, 26 Italians and 24 nonItalian members are recorded. The Italian sales average much smaller than the American.

An exclusively Italian association, the Union Italian Colony of Fruit Growers, generally referred to as the "colony," has been in