SCOPE OF THE INVESTIGATION.

During the investigation conducted in October to December, 1908. all the Polish, Slovak, and Lithuanian farms in Sunderland, Leverett. South Deerfield, and North Amherst were visited by agents of the commission. The tables that follow in this report are tabulation of data concerning 58 typical families from whom schedules were obtained; they represent the following races:

Lithuanian..

Polish...

Slovak....

Total......

Families

The following table presents the whole number of persons from whom detailed information was secured in the course of investigation. Of the 306 persons from whom detailed information was secured, only 1 was native-born of native father. Of those who were native-born of foreign father, 48 were of Lithuanian, 86 were of Polish, and 13 were of Slovak descent. Poles show the largest number of foreign-born, followed by Lithuanians and Slovaks in the order mentioned. The total number of males is slightly larger than the total number of females, Lithuanians and Slovaks showing the larger percentage of males over females:

TABLE 36.-Number of persons for whom detailed information was secured, by sez and general nativity and race of individual, Sunderland, Mass.

PRESENT CONDITION OF SETTLERS.

Following is a general financial summary of the condition of the families investigated according to their own figures. Several own house lots and rent from 2 to 5 acres of additional land, which they plant in onions. These small land owners represent a group of people who have as yet been unable to buy farm land, but who have saved enough money to purchase house lots and build small houses."

This condition of affairs accounts for the notes referring to house lots, found in mmary, it being thought best to carry them separately rather than to include the total number of farms.

Twenty-two of the Lithuanians own or lease farms whose average area is 13.73 acres. Two of the Lithuanians are tenants, 16 own. farms averaging 17.33 acres. The remaining 4 own house lots only and rent the land they cultivate. Thirty Poles own or lease farms, which average 28.88 acres, more than twice the size of those operated by the Lithuanians. Twenty-two are owners, whose holdings average 38.13 acres. Three own house lots only, and 5 are tenants who own no real estate. The land first purchased by the Poles averaged $113 per acre, and the farms averaged 24.58 acres in area. The land now owned by the Poles averages $116 per acre, and the acreage per farm has increased to an average of 33.61. All of the Slovaks own farms, averaging (including 6 acres of rented land) 12.83 acres in ize, valued at $185 per acre or $2,183 per farm.

TABLE 37.-General financial summary, Lithuanian, Polish, and Slovak farmers, Sunderland, Mass.

The first settlers of Sunderland were the English Puritans, who pushed out northward into the present Sunderland "Meadows" from the earlier settlement of Hadley in 1670. In 1673 Sunderland was a plantation bearing the name Swampfield, from the numerous swamps. King Philip's war caused the sudden abandonment of the early settlement, but in 1714 settlers came from Hatfield and Hadley and formed

another. The first mention of the town in the records of the State occurs under date of November 12, 1718. The census of 1790 gives it a population of 462; from that time until 1865, when the population was 861, the town gained steadily. After 1865 the census records show an unmistakable decline until 1890, when the federal census recorded 663 inhabitants. That was the low-water mark.

the foreign influx brought the population up to 910 in 1905. Much has been said and written about abandoned farms and the tendency of the sons and daughters of New England farmers to forsake the farm for the city. This has been true to some extent in Sunderland, but in recent years the exodus of Americans has been more than balanced by the influx of foreigners. The following table shows the forward movement of the population of Sunderland in comparison with the population of Dana, Shutesbury, and Leverett. These last three towns are located near Sunderland, but the land is not as good, and immigration has not as yet reached these localities. Dana is about 17 miles from Sunderland in Worcester County; Shutesbury is 8 miles. and Leverett 4 miles from Sunderland; both are in Franklin County. TABLE 38.-Movement of population, Sunderland, Dana, Shutesbury, and Leverett, Mass., 1860 to 1905.

The table shows that the population of Sunderland has increased 31 per cent, or from 696 to 910 since 1895, this being the first census after foreign immigration had fairly set in. The increase has been due altogether to the foreign-born element. In Dana there was an increase during the same years of only 6 per cent in the total population. with the foreign element almost stationary. Shutesbury shows a decline of 53 per cent in total population from 1860 to 1905, and a decline of 16 per cent since 1895, while the foreign-born increased from 31 it 1895 to 38 in 1905.

Leverett, although showing a decrease in the total population of about 6 per cent in the 1905 census, shows an increase over 1895 of

Total.

Leverett.

Increase or

decrease.

Foreign

born.

more than 300 per cent in the number of foreign-born. This town is adjacent to Sunderland and is just beginning to feel the pulse of foreign immigration.

The first family of these recent immigrants came to Sunderland during the year 1888. Before this time a few single men had been employed by the Americans as farm laborers. Francis Clapp and Hiram Davis were the first two men who were influential in securing foreign laborers. In the early eighties, when native help became scarce, they conceived the plan of making regular trips to New York to secure incoming foreigners as they were leaving the ships and conduct them to the Sunderland tobacco fields. By this method they supplied the farmers with the necessary number of cheap laborers, receiving the first month's wages of the alien for their services in finding employment for him. From this small beginning the number of foreigners has grown steadily until they are now slowly crowding out the old-time American families. The early method of securing farm hands lasted only a few years, and many stories are told about the difficulties these two men met in obtaining the immigrants. Some of the newcomers suffered by falling into the hands of unreliable agents. In recent years there have been enough satisfied immigrants in the locality to supply the demand for farm laborers by simply writing their friends and relatives abroad to join them. Many of the aliens that settled here send money to Europe to pay the transportation of relatives to this country, where they are proving that it is easily possible to earn their living and buy a home in a comparatively short time.

The birthplace of the heads of families visited during the investigation were as follows: All of the Lithuanians were born in Russia. Eight of the Poles were born in Austria and 22 in Russia. Four of the Slovaks were born in Austria and two in Hungary.

Of the 30 Polish heads of families 22 came direct to the settlement from some foreign country; 4 came from Pennsylvania; 2 from New Jersey; and 1 each from Massachusetts and Illinois. Fifteen of the Lithuanians came from Europe direct to the locality, 4 came from Pennsylvania, 2 from Massachusetts, and 1 from Illinois. Two of the Slovaks came direct from abroad and 2 from elsewhere in the United States.

The fact that the majority came directly from Europe is undoubtedly due to the success of the first foreign settlers and the general prosperity that newcomers found upon their arrival.

PREVIOUS OCCUPATIONS OF SETTLERS.

The occupation abroad of those persons in the households investigated who were 16 years of age or over at the time of leaving their native land were as follows: In the case of the 31 Lithuanian males, 12 were working for wages as farm laborers, 10 were on their fathers' farms, 3 were farmers, 2 were without occupation, and 1 each were engaged in the following occupations: Tailor, blacksmith, stone mason, and post-office employee. Of the 41 Polish men, 28 were working on their fathers' farms, 4 were farm laborers, 3 were farmers, 2 were without occupation, and 1 each were engaged in the following occupations: Liquor dealer, soldier, spinner, and carpenter. One of

the Slovak men worked on his father's farm, 1 was a farmer, 1 a farm laborer, 1 a coachman, and 1 was without occupation. Nineteen of 25 females (Lithuanian) reported no occupation abroad, 3 were on their fathers' farms, and a similar number were on their husbands farms. Twenty Polish women out of 29 reported no occupation, 3 were servants, 1 was a spinner, 2 were on their fathers' farms, and 3 were on their husbands' farms. Three of the Slovaks were without occupation, 1 worked on her father's farm and 1 on her husband's farm.

Those who came to the settlement from other parts of the Unite States had for the most part entered the ranks of un-killed labor on arrival in this country, but, as previously explained, the majority of the Sunderland farmers came there directly after landing.

PROGRESS OF THE SETTLERS.

Sunderland, as well as the near-by towns that lie in the Connecticut Valley, seems to afford ample agricultural opportunities to farmers of all three races. The only obstacle in the way of immediate independ ence is the high price of farm land, which is a serious handicap to one with little funds; but there is a steady call for farm hands at good wages, and after a few years of service most of the foreigners select a piece of land, make a small cash payment and become independent landowners. If they buy unimproved land, they soon put it in cultivation, thereby increasing the number of acres of tilled land in the community.

Formerly the Americans thought that tobacco would grow only on the low bottom land along the Connecticut. But the incoming for eigners, finding this land all taken up and too high for them to purchase, succeeded in raising crops of tobacco and onions on the lighter land found at some distance from the river. The crops they raise on these new areas compare favorably both in yield and quality with those grown on the heavier bottom land. They first cleared away the heavy growth of scrub pine and oak, immediately planted the land to tobacco, and soon demonstrated that good crops can be produced on land formerly considered worthless by the natives.

From 10 to 30 foreigners come to this locality every summer and secure work on the tobacco and onion farms for a few months. In the late fall, after the tobacco and onions have been harvested and housed, the single men leave the town to find work in the near-by factories of Holyoke and Springfield. Sometimes three or four of the men who have worked steadily as farm laborers for two or three years go back to Europe for the winter. When they return in the spring they almost invariably bring some relatives with them.

As shown in Table 38, the population of Sunderland according to the state census of 1905 was 910, of whom 459, or slightly more than one-half, were foreign-born. Ten years earlier, in 1895, the town had a total population of 696, of whom 118 were foreign born.

The state census of 1895 records 7 persons from Austria, 57 from Poland, and 8 from Russia, or a total of 72 Slavic foreign-born.

The census of 1905 records 164 inhabitants as Polish, 124 as Austrian, and 102 as born in Russia, or 390 Slavs in all. In addition there are in nderland 302 children born of Polish, Slovak, or Lithu