In order to attain success with the crops mentioned above there must be a thorough preparation of the soil, constant care must be exercised in cultivating and weeding, and particular attention must be paid to draining and ditching. The Italian, with his large family to aid him and by his indefatigable energy, is enabled to show remarkable results.

The principal crop raised by Italians is onions, although some also raise celery, carrots, beets, and potatoes. Onions and celery require constant care and attention. From the time the crops are planted until they are ready for the market the Italians are busy on their farms. Carrots, beets, and potatoes do not require as much time and labor, and immigrants producing these crops have some spare time, which they improve by hiring out to neighboring farmers.

HISTORY OF SETTLEMENT.

The first Italian to engage in farming in the locality says that before coming there he had been employed as a general laborer in different parts of the State of New York. He was persuaded by an American to rent several acres of muck land near Canastota, and in 1897 put in his first crop of onions. It proved successful, and finding that he could earn more by farming than he could as a laborer, he continued in the onion industry and in 1898 induced several of his countrymen to enter the same business. Thus in 1897 and 1898 the first Italians came to Canastota to engage in farming. During the next three or four years others joined them from neighboring cities until in 1900 there were about 15 families engaged in farming in the muckland district. Most of these farmed for a share of the crop, a few paid a cash rental, while three or four bought land and engaged in farming for themselves. Each year more Italians are buying property, and it will probably be only a matter of time until people of this race will own most of the muck land.

The settlement has increased in size slowly but steadily. The first immigrant was induced to engage in farming by a native. This Italian in turn brought in a few friends from Utica and Syracuse, N. Y. Others, who were engaged in railroad or canal work near Canastota, seeing the success of their countrymen, rented or purchased farms, and each year the settlement was increased by the addition of three or four families. No effort has been made toward colonization, and immigrants have either come in through the advice of their friends or of their own accord.

The settlement is becoming better known and is increasing in numbers much faster than in former years. At first all immigrants lived in Canastota, going out to the farms each morning and returning in the evening. Of late, however, many are building houses on their land, and a settlement has been formed 2 miles northwest of Canastota, called Onion Town. Other Italians have shacks or huts on their land, where they live during the summer months, returning to town for the winter season.

TERMS OF PURCHASE.

The price of land varies according to the distance from town and also according to its state of cultivation. That which has not been. cleared of timber or drained sells at $30 to $50 per acre, while the

land under cultivation is valued at $100 to $250 per acre. The highest known price ever paid for muck land in this section was $300 per acre. A fair average is considered $150.

The usual terms of purchase are one-half cash and the balance in yearly payments on three to five years' time, secured by a mortgage on the land. Most of the Italians who own farms have purchased them in this way, and have easily paid off the mortgage in the specified time by their profits from the crops.

The terms of lease vary. The usual lease is for one-half the crop, the owner furnishing one-half the seed and fertilizer and plowing and placing the land in a fair condition for planting; the renter furnishing one-half the seed and fertilizer, supplying all labor in planting, cultivating and harvesting the crops and preparing the same for market. Where the land is remote from the village, or is of poor quality, or unimproved and without a dwelling, the owner usually furnishes all the seed and fertilizer, the tenant supplying the labor and receiving one-half the crop. Few Italians pay a cash rental for the following reason: The onion crop is very uncertain; it may be destroyed by high winds, hail, heavy rains, or drought, and the Italian renter does not care to risk the money involved in a cash rental.

EARLY STRUGGLES.

Practically all of the first immigrant settlers in Canastota secured land in an uncleared and undrained condition, and it required much labor to get it into condition for cultivation. The land was really a swamp covered with brush, and with trees from 3 to 6 inches in diameter. First, ditches had to be made for draining, brush and trees removed, stumps pulled, and decayed roots and logs which were embedded in the soil had to be dug out. Those who made purchases had expended most of their savings on the cash payment, and while the work described above was going on, a living had to be provided for the family. To furnish support the head of the family worked on the railroads or farms and gave all his spare time to his own land. In the meantime the wife and children were busy burning brush, grubbing out trees, and digging the smaller ditches. Americans did not have much confidence in the immigrants in the early days of the settlement, and it was hard to secure credit. Supplies had to be paid for in cash, and settlers had to practice great economy to make both ends meet. After the first crop had been produced conditions were better, although often it was very hard to meet payments. From time to time some have had a partial or total failure of crops, and the year following such disaster has been hard. At the present time most of the older settlers are well to do, and few have to seek work to keep the family through the winter. Those who now purchase uncleared land do not have the obstacles to overcome that the first settlers had, as there are now Italians in business who will make advances to the settler until he produces a crop.

PROGRESS OF COLONY.

The early settlers all rented homes in Canastota, and it was several years before any began to purchase residences. As is generally the case, all lived in the same part of town. As the settlement

began to increase in size immigrants began to buy homes in the village, after having paid for their land in the country. Some erected small dwellings on the farms, living there in the summer and returning to town for the winter months. During recent years many have made permanent homes on the farms or at Onion Town, the Italian village near Canastota. Stores and saloons have been started in the settlement, and each year the Italians are becoming more prosperous and more firmly established. The settlement continues to grow slowly but steadily. All Italians who work as farm laborers or as tenants are saving with the idea of buying a farm. Those who now come to the locality from a distance usually have money enough to make the first cash payment on a piece of land and are buying property at once, instead of having to wait several years until they could save the necessary money as the early settlers did. Mortgages are being rapidly paid off, and of those who purchased farms three or four years ago nearly all are free from debt.

Of the Italians who have purchased land none have deserted the colTwo or three families of tenant farmers have returned to Italy, and quite a number who work as day laborers go to the cities for the winter months and return in the spring. As far as can be learned the families which have returned to Italy have bought small farms or have gone into business with the money earned in this country. The men who went to the cities have engaged in general labor either on section crews or city construction work.

At the time the Commission's inquiry was made it was estimated that there were 500 Italians engaged in agricultural work near Canastota. There were approximately 150 males 16 years of age and over in the settlement who worked for wages. Of these, about 50 worked occasionally and 100 regularly. Those who work occasionally hire out to other farmers when their own crops are in good condition and do other work in the winter months. Those who work for wages regularly are employed as farm laborers from March and April until the middle of November. During the winter they work in the factories or on the railroads. The average wage is from $1.50 to $2 for ten hours' work.

About 50 women 16 years of age or over work occasionally for wages. These women are employed as weed pullers on the farms, and as stringers and huskers in the canning factories. They earn from $1 to $1.25 per day of ten hours. This work lasts from about the middle of May until the last of October.

About 75 children under 16 years of age work occasionally for wages. They receive an average wage of 75 cents per day of ten hours as weed pullers, and the work lasts from June 1 until September 1. The balance of the year they are in school.

SOIL, CLIMATE, AND TOPOGRAPHY.

The country to the south and east of Canastota is hilly, gradually becoming more level toward the north and west until the muck ss are reached, about 2 miles northwest of the town, where the gal contour of the country is flat.

sed on all sides of Canastota is very productive, but it is to suds beginning 2 miles northwest of the town that this

report will be confined. The following description of the muck lands is taken from the Eighth Report of the United States Department of Agriculture, Field Operations of the Bureau of Soils:

*

The muck of this survey is one of the most important soils of the section. It consists of a heavy black or dark-brown fine-grained vegetable mold, varying in depth from 12 inches to several feet. It is uniform in color and texture from the top to the bottom of the profile. It is mellow and easily tilled, and cultivation is difficult only because of the rapid and vigorous growth of weeds and of its miry character when wet. The muck surface soil, which sometimes includes the subsoil, is quite generally underlain by a bed of white to gray calcareous shell marl. Sometimes this marl is lacking, and the foundation is then a drab, bluish, or mottled plastic clay, similar to the subsoil of the Dunkirk clay. This clay is also usually found under the marl beds. These deep subsoil strata have no influence upon the soil from a cultural standpoint, although they influence the moisture and drainage conditions greatly. Practically every large area of muck is underlain by the marl, at least in part. Sometimes the organic matter forming the soil is more like peat than muck; that is, a more fibrous and less decayed accumulation of vegetable matter. * The topographic features of the areas of muck are remarkable for their uniformity. There is no considerable variation in the elevation of individual areas, although the altitude of different areas varies from 386 feet, the level of the large body of the lowlands, to about 1,400 feet in some of the upland areas. The surface of each area is a level plain with no variation, except, perhaps, a slight elevation around its edge. The natural surface drainage of the muck is exceedingly poor. In its natural features each area is a veritable swamp, and artificial drainage has to be resorted to in order to bring any of it under cultivation. The soils surrounding it all lie at higher levels and it receives the run-off from them. This swampy and poorly drained condition is the primary cause of its formation. Where areas of muck are now found there were formerly shallow lakes. In these the marl was deposited from clear water, as is taking place even now in a small lake or pond near Madison. The marl is the shell remains of a low order of fresh-water life which inhabits these clear lakes, forming its shell from the calcium carbonate held in solution. Following the period in which the marl was formed there was a long time of shallow waters and swampy conditions and a luxuriant growth of reeds, tules, and other aquatic vegetation. The partial decay of many successive growths of this vegetation in the presence of water has formed the covering of dark-colored vegetable mold or muck.

This type is the most recent in formation in the county and is still in process of formation in the undrained areas or swamps. The large area of the lowlands was covered by a heavy forest growth of various species, principally black ash, but upon becoming partially drained the ash died. Many of the smaller areas, as well as the larger ones, in the upland section of the country are covered with a dense growth of cedar and tamarack, which furnish many fence posts and hop and telephone poles of excellent quality. There are also some white pine and other varieties of soft wood. Muck when well drained is the typical onion and celery soil of the county. It is also well adapted to the production of potatoes, cabbage, peppermint, and the root crops, as carrots, beets, turnips, etc. The greatest use of the type in Madison County is the production of celery and onions.

From "Field Operations of the Bureau of Soils, 1906" (p. 124), the following is quoted concerning climatic conditions prevailing in Madison County:

The climatic conditions prevailing in that section of the State in which Madison County is located are characterized by a wide range in temperature between the summer and winter seasons. The winters are usually about four or five months long, and very often extremely cold weather and heavy snows are experienced. Sometimes the winters are mild and open, and often such weather prevails for short periods during an otherwise severe winter. The summers are usually warm, with occasional periods of extreme heat. During this season severe thunderstorms often occur and occasionally a hailstorm. * *

The precipitation is quite evenly distributed throughout the year, but periods of drought sometimes occur late in the summer season, and the rains are often very heavy in the springtime and frequently retard planting. The annual precipitation varies considerably, the amount for the wettest years being nearly 70 inches, or about 50 per cent greater than the mean, and that of the driest years about 30 inches, or from 25 to 30 per cent less than the mean. About one-fourth of the precipitation falls in the form of snow.

Below is given a table compiled from records of the Weather Bureau stations in this section of the State, only one of which, Bouckville, is located within the

a The figures for Bouckville represent the temperature and precipitation for the year 1904, without depertures from the normal.

The following table gives the dates of the latest killing frosts in spring and the earliest in fall. From this table it is seen that immunity from frost can not be expected earlier than the middle of May in the spring nor after September 20 in the fall. The average length of the growing season, as deduced from the records at Bouckville covering the seven years, 1898 to 1904, inclusive, is 149 days.

Practically all of the Italians in the settlement are from southern Italy, the majority coming from Naples or its vicinity. Only two or three families in or near Canastota have come directly to the locality from Italy, most of them having lived in the United States between ten and twenty years. The majority prior to the time of coming to the settlement resided in New York State, either in Syracuse, Utica, Cortland, Buffalo, or New York City. Before engaging in farming most of them were general laborers, either working as section hands on the different railroad lines in the State, in stone quarries, in the street-cleaning departments of the cities mentioned, or in general construction work of one form or another. Very few were skilled laborers. The wages earned were from $1.50 to $2 per day and, in most instances, work was not steady and several months were lost each year.

The early Italian settlers who own farms are men of a better stamp than usual. Only those who practice great economy and are willing to undertake a task requiring great labor before any appreciable results could be attained, have purchased farms. Only men of foresight and judgment could see that the swampy, undrained, uncleared