FLEMINGTON.

One of the most recently established Hebrew agricultural settlements in the United States is located about 6 miles southwest of Flemington, the county seat of Hunterdon County, N. J.

In 1909 the colony numbered approximately 18 families, or about 125 individuals. With the exception of one or two Hebrews from Austria-Hungary, the settlement is composed of Russian Hebrews who have been in the United States only a few years. The immigrants had pursued various occupations before coming to the United States, though few had had experience in farming abroad. In the group, merchants, tailors, and carpenters and various other occupations were represented.

The first settlement was made in 1906, one family locating there in the spring and another in the fall of that year, while three or four families followed in 1907 and the remainder in 1908 and 1909. These families were each brought there by the Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society, in the administration of the Baron de Hirsch Fund. Before coming to this locality a number of the immigrants were employed as farm laborers for a year at the experimental or training farm conducted by the Jewish Aid Society on Long Island. The year on the farm was intended as a test of their capacity for farming; where a satisfactory record was made, the immigrant received the limited financial assistance of the society in establishing himself on a farm.

Most of the present settlers came directly to New York from Russia, and after a year at the Long Island training school were settled on farms near Flemington. A few families, though settled here by the Jewish society, did not take the year of training, but were engaged in different occupations in New York. Some had been merchants and tailors, and others worked as carpenters or iron workers. In establishing the immigrants the Jewish society in each instance first acquired the title to the property and sold it to the settlers, allowing them from ten to fifteen years in which to complete the payments and charging 4 per cent interest; cash payments seldom exceeded $100, and many of the settlers paid no cash and purpose to make no payments until the farms have been placed on a profitable basis. The price paid for the land varied from $25 to $50 an acre, depending on the location and the fertility of the soil. The farms generally ranged in size from 50 to 100 acres, but a few purchases of less than 50 acres were made. The immigrants were located on improved land, though in some instances the farms had been vacant for several years, allowing the buildings to fall into disrepair and the land to grow up to briars and bushes. Through the agency of the Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society the immigrants were. protected from imposition and enabled to acquire their property at a fair valuation.

Personal interviews with seven Hebrew farmers at Flemington revealed the fact that the colony is already enjoying a fair degree of prosperity, several having succeeded in making a living from the land during the first year. One had purchased only 5 acres and relied for a living, on the income received from summer boarders, and in two families outside employment was necessary to supplement the

income from the farm. Three or four families had been unsuccessful and returned to New York. The Society endeavors to locate other families on farms so abandoned.

SOIL, CLIMATE, AND TOPOGRAPHY.

The Hebrew landowners are located 6 or 7 miles southwest of Flemington and a slightly greater distance northeast of the Delaware River at the nearest point. The topography of the country presents a marked contrast to the level sandy areas of south Jersey. High ridges, heavily wooded with second-growth timber traverse the territory settled by the Jews and give the country a somewhat mountainous aspect. The soil is classed in the government reports as the "Pennsylvania loam" and consists of an Indian-red yellow or brown loam having a depth of 10 inches and underlaid by heavy loam or clay of the same color resting upon bed rock. Other phases of the Pennsylvania loam are gravelly loams and a heavy yellow clay loam, the latter being slightly more productive than the typical soil. The slopes are usually too steep for general farming, but are adapted to fruit culture. The Pennsylvania loam, where free from stone and not too steep, is largely used for general farming, but is best adapted to grass and grain, and has a particular value for stock raising, although comparatively little is done in that industry. Dairying is an important interest, and the Hebrews, following the example of the natives, have engaged in general farming, dairying, and poultry raising.

AGRICULTURAL CONDITIONS.

Though some of the Hebrews purchased farms 100 or more acres in area, a large proportion of the land was frequently unimproved and sometimes too rough and broken to admit of agricultural development, although in some cases well adapted for pasturage. The area of land in cultivation on the different farms seldom exceeds 40 acres and is considerably less than this amount in some instances. The Hebrews have followed the natives closely both in methods of agriculture and in the variety of crops grown, and all are devoting much attention to poultry raising and dairying. General farming is followed almost exclusively, though a few families who take summer boarders have devoted their attention to vegetable crops, chiefly with the view of supplying their own tables. Hay, corn, wheat, oats, and rye are staple crops, and buckwheat is also grown to some

extent.

The average yield of corn is about 35 bushels an acre, though some of the farmers who were interviewed reported a considerably higher yield. The average production of wheat and rye is about 10 bushels per acre and of oats 15 to 20 bushels. The yield of hay is about one and one-half tons to the acre. Data collected from 6 landowners showed a total value of all crops produced in 1908 of $2,796, or an average of $466 per farm. The total sales for the same year amounted to $1,080, an average of $180 for each farm. The greater part of the crops produced on the farm are fed to the cattle and poultry. Rye and some of the other crops of small grain are sold in Flemington. Rye brings about 75 cents a bushel, wheat commands a

somewhat higher price, and oats bring about 50 cents a bushel. During the season of 1909 corn was worth 75 cents a bushel, and hay $12 to $16 a ton.

The sale of poultry and dairy products is important in this locality, and the Hebrews, following the example of the natives, have acquired stocks of cattle and poultry. A local creamery furnishes a market for the milk, and eggs and poultry are shipped to New York, 50 miles distant, and reached by three different lines of railway. The total value of dairy products sold from 4 farms in 1908 amounted to $880. The total value of poultry products sold from the same farms amounted to $615, the average value of dairy and poultry products for the 4 farms amounting to about $374.

Fruit culture is receiving little if any attention, though small sales of apples were made by some of the farmers from orchards in bearing when the farms were purchased; several Hebrews sold a small number of live stock. The total value of all products sold from 6 farms in 1908 aggregated $4,681, or an average of $750 a farm. The showing is not discreditable in view of the short time the immigrants have been in the locality and the limited experience many have had in farming.

The expenses incurred by the immigrants in the production of farm products are for fertilizer, feed for live stock, and a small expenditure for farm labor. Data are not available for the amount expended for stock feed, although that probably constitutes one of the largest items of expense. Five of the 6 farms investigated had a total expenditure for farm labor and fertilizer of $520, and one farm reported no expenditures for these items, making an average of $86.67 for the 6 farms.

The live stock kept by the immigrants consists of horses and cattle, and one farmer was fattening a drove of 7 hogs for the market. The general average for each farm is about 3 horses, of little value, and 6 or 7 cows. The cattle are carefully selected for their value as dairy animals, and are of the best breed that can be purchased in the locality. Jerseys are the most popular variety and have an average value per head of about $50. The live stock sold consists principally of the surplus animals from the dairy herds. The Hebrew farmers do not equal the natives in the amount of dairy and poultry products marketed, but the settlement is yet in its infancy and it is too early to make a fair comparison.

The general appearance of the farms occupied by the Hebrew immigrants does not compare favorably with that of the homes of the native farmers. The dwellings, outhouses, and fences are usually unpainted and out of repair, and there is a general lack of order and neatness about the premises. A partial explanation of these conditions is found in the fact that many of the immigrants settled on farms which had been abandoned for several years and were in an advanced state of decay and neglect, and the immigrants have yet had but little time to devote to renovating and cleaning up the premises.

Opportunities for outside employment are rather limited in the immediate neighborhood, but a few return to New York during the winter months and secure work with numbers of their own race, usually as tailors.