FARM EXPENDITURES.

The following table gives a partial account of the chief items of expense incurred by the 42 farmers under consideration for labor, including general monthly or day labor, but omitting all labor paid by the piece, such as picking lima beans, berries, peppers, etc. No account is taken of the board or lodging furnished. The item "fertilizer" is fairly accurate, since each farmer pays his fertilizer bill after an account has been rendered by the fertilizer companies, and the amount is thus a matter of record. The items for feed, seed, and forage are less accurate, but are fairly reliable.

TABLE 22.-Farm expenditures, 42 typical Hebrew farms, southern New Jersey. [Annual average for two years.]

It will be noted that all the farms investigated report some expenditure. Thirty report expenditures for fertilizer and paris green, 12 of this number having expended $200 to $400 for these items. Twentyseven farms show expenditures for farm labor, 9 having expended $100 to $200, and the same number $200 to $400. Twelve farms report expenditures for feed, seed, and forage, and 3 report expenditures for rent. Thirteen farms show total expenditures of $200 to $400, the average number of acres cultivated on these 13 farms being 22.12. Twelve farms, with an average of 37.46 acres in cultivation, show total expenditures of $500 and over. Four farms, with an average of 15.75 acres in cultivation, show total expenditures of $100 and under $200. Of the 35 farms showing expenditures, none report a total less than $50.

PROPERTY OWNED, INVESTMENTS.

On the tax list of Deerfield Township, which includes the Rosenhayn colony and some of the farmers at Carmel, 250 names of Hebrew taxpayers occur out of a total list of 660 assessed persons in 1908. That is to say, nearly 38 per cent of the taxpayers are of Hebrew origin. Of the 250 about 100 own farms, some own town property of some value, and many are employed in the clothing manufactories or in some other occupation.

In Pittsgrove Township 181 Jews were taxpayers in 1907-8. The percentage of Hebrew taxpayers is about 40. One hundred of those enumerated are owners of real estate in farms.

It is difficult to get at the real value of the property owned by these taxpayers, since neither the assessments nor their personal estimates of property owned can be entirely relied upon. However,

it is possible to present data from two sources upon this point. These data are shown in the two tables which follow. The first table shows the range of assessments of 45 farm properties selected at random from the 200 farms listed in the two townships, while the second table presents estimates made by 42 farmers of the property they owned in 1909.

TABLE 23.-Range of property assessments, 45 Hebrew farmers, southern New Jersey, 1908. [Compiled from official tax lists.]

The assessed valuation, as shown in the above table, is supposed to be real market value, but probably in most instances does not approximate more than two-thirds or three-fourths of that amount.

As will be seen from the next table a widely different valuation was placed by their owners on the 42 farms studied by Commission agents.

TABLE 24.—Land and improvements now owned, condition of land, size of farms, and average value, 42 typical Hebrew farms, southern New Jersey.

It should be understood that the two preceding tables do not necessarily concern the same farms, and consequently the two sets of data can not be compared except in the most general way. However, the farms in both cases may fairly be considered as typical of the colonies, and the wide difference in values, as represented in the two tables, naturally creates doubt as to the actual values.

A few recent sales of property near Rosenhayn will give some idea of exchange prices. A Hebrew farmer recently added 20 acres of uncleared land to his farm a half mile from the depot for $300.

The Baron de Hirsch Fund bought 300 acres of improved farm land with fair buildings a few miles from Carmel for $40 per acre. An Italian bought 38 acres, very little improved, near Rosenhayn in 1908 for $2,800, but it is stated that the actual value was about $1,500. A farm of 32 acres of cleared land with a small orchard and a good twostory frame house on it sold for $2,600 in 1908. Farther out from town a newcomer- a Hebrew bought 28 acres of land, nearly all unimproved, with a poor house on it, for $900. About 2 miles from the railway station is a farm of 84 acres with a fair house, good barns and outbuildings, some grapes, and a small apple and pear orchard. It has nearly all been tilled and is tillable. A short time ago it was disposed of at a sheriff's sale. A Hebrew had bought it a few years before for $5,000, and was unable to meet his payments. It sold for much less-some $3,000-at auction. Two recent sales of improved land near Carmel, each a lot of 15 acres, are noted. One with good buildings and fertile soil brought $2,200; the other, with a poor house, $1,100. While these actual sales show great variation, owing to difference of soil, location, improvements, and bargaining skill, it is patent to an investigator that land is selling at a price higher than that shown by the tax duplicates, but much lower than land owned by Gentile farmers a few miles distant. The farms owned by Americans near Woodruff and Deerfield, 3 and 8 miles distant, are somewhat heavier and raise white potatoes well, but in large lots sell for $75 to $100 per acre, with ready buyers, a difference in market value not wholly accounted for by better soil or character of crop.

The 42 farmers included in the Commission's detailed inquiry reported the value of all property, including land and improvements, live stock and implements, and crops on hand as follows: $500 to $1,000, 4; $1,000 to $1,500, 3; $1,500 to $2,500, 8; $2,500 to $5,000, 21; $5,000 and over, 6. The value of live stock and implements in most cases is quite small. On 8 farms the value of these items was placed by the owners at from $100 to $250; on 20 farms from $250 to $500, and on 12 farms from $500 to $1,000. In two cases only was the value placed as $1,000 or more.

It will be seen from the above that the bulk of the property is in land and improvements, but it may be said that the ratio of personal to real estate is greater in the majority of instances among the Hebrews in this locality than on the Italian farms at either Vineland or Hammonton.

The statement which follows presents in a condensed form the general financial condition, etc., of the 42 farmers under consideration. It shows a total real-estate valuation of $137,500 on 42 farms with an aggregate of 1,679 acres of land in farms. The gross value of all property aggregates $188,106. The proportion of farms showing indebtedness is large; 35 farms, or 83 per cent of all investigated are charged with an aggregate indebtedness of $40,030, or an average of $1,144 a farm. There is no doubt that this reported indebtedness is below the true figures. Most of it is on land, but at least 20 per cent was incurred for improvements and equipment. It is significant, however, that a number of farmers who have been settled many years have not yet paid off the original mortgage given for the very first purchase of land. A great deal of this indebtedness is carried by the Baron de Hirsch Fund at a low rate of interest. The

old settlers, it is said, feel that this is not a debt but a gift, the repayment of which is not an obligation, but a matter of choice. Of course, the impression is false, but in a measure the colonists have acted on it; hence their tardiness in paying their obligations. It is safe to state that the total indebtedness amounts to more than 25 per cent of the real value of the property.

A number of the Hebrews have good bank accounts, but most of them have nothing aside from their property in the farm and its equipment. Those who do acquire a surplus are likely to move away and invest in some enterprise other than farming.

STANDARD OF LIVING.

The standard of living among the Hebrew families of southern New Jersey is not essentially different from that of native families. of the same economic status, except that, as a rule, their houses are not so well appointed and are not kept as clean. The kind and grade of clothing ordinarily worn does not differ materially from that of their neighbors, and the food consumed is also much the same. Nearly all the Hebrew families possess some books, and as a rule some papers or other periodicals are taken. The women and children do some work in the fields, but this practice is not nearly so general as among the Italians in rural communities.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUTSIDE EMPLOYMENT.

In all these colonies there are opportunities for labor sufficient to employ the full number of available laborers, chiefly in tailoring and clothing establishments. The number of these establishments varies from year to year, depending somewhat on the subsidies offered by

a Including 21 acres of land rented by three farmers in addition to the land they own

the Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society to operating companies. In 1909 there were fewer shops in operation than in 1905 in Rosenhayn and Carmel, but at Brotmanville, a little hamlet near Alliance, entirely populated by machine operators on clothing, the number of workmen had somewhat increased.

In 1909, when the Commission's inquiry was made, there were 8 garment factories in Alliance, Norma, Carmel, and Rosenhayn, employing approximately 350 Hebrew operatives. At the same time a canning factory at Norma furnished to about 100 workers, all or most of whom were Italians.

In 1905 there were four clothing and knit goods factories, a brickyard and an iron foundry at Rosenhayn, employing a total of 190 persons. In 1909, however, only a small clothing factory employing about 35 persons was in operation. A considerable part of the labor used in these establishments comes directly from abroad, or from New York and Philadelphia, and as a rule these form a very shifting element in the population. The farmers use the factories less and less as a means of supplementing the farm income, and almost none of the farm owners now work in any of the factories after the first two years on the land. Surprisingly few of the farmers' sons and daughters are found in the factories, although there are some who work with great regularity, and add materially to the family income. In the Carmel factories many more farmers' children are found than in the Alliance or Rosenhayn colonies. More than one-half of the employees at Carmel are women and girls.

The wages paid at Carmel are representative. The work day is nine and one-half hours. Wages are chiefly piece wages, and range from $3 to $10 a week. Very few receive more than $6 a week, this being the wage paid examiners and foremen. Some work is taken home, and in the winter in most homes the sewing machine is kept busy the greater part of the time.

It appears that many of the young people from the farms are leaving the colonies and entering other occupations in the cities and elsewhere, although a number of excellent farms are managed by farmers' sons. Those who go away do not become farmers elsewhere, as a rule, but having once left the farm, never return to it. A great difference of opinion exists as to the capacity of the young Hebrew for agriculture. Some feel that he is taking up farming as a last resort, and that all who can find any other outlet for their talents, especially along commercial lines, are doing so. A few of the young men have taken advantage of the opportunities offered by the Baron de Hirsch Agricultural School of Woodbine, N. J., for training in scientific and specialized agriculture, but many more display an

interest in a business education.

SOCIAL, EDUCATIONAL, AND RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS.

The social side of life is made prominent in these Hebrew communities, and family gatherings, dances, theatricals, picnics, or excursions are frequent and do much to foster sociability and make rural life enjoyable.

Another factor in the social life of the colonists is the annual influx of summer boarders. These city dwellers not only bring in an urban atmosphere, but add much to the gaiety and social enterprise and