This thesis represents the results of a standard of living study of seventy-two farm families in Carroll County, Maryland, for the year beginning in the summer of 1936 and ending in the summer of 1937. The data were collected in the summer of 1937. Carroll County is located in the northern part of the state and borders on Frederick County on the west, Howard County to the south, Baltimore County on the east and borders on Pennsylvania to the north. See Figure 1. The county is very irregular and comprises an area of 447 square miles of 286,080 acres. Topographically, the land is gently rolling to hilly with many streams. There is an excellent drainage system in the county. The area is adapted to the production of field corn, sugar corn, and other general crops, being a fertile agricultural region. Oil of Chenopodium or "worm seed oil" has been produced on many of the farms in Carroll County for the past 100 years, and is a very lucrative crop. Dairying is the principle type of farming in the county. Even though the county is definitely agricultural, several clothing, shoe, and canning factories, and a distillery flourish, thus supplying a ready market for farm produce. The county has an excellent system of public records and is served by three railways-- the Baltimore and Ohio, Western Maryland, and the Pennsylvania. No part of the county is over ten miles from a railroad. It has a splendid home market and is ideally located in relation to two of the principle markets of the East, Baltimore, and Washington. There are two local colleges to serve the youth of the county-- Blue Ridge College, located at New Windsor, and Western Maryland College, located at Westminster. The average acreage per farm was 106 acres, of which 83 acres were under cultivation. The number of tenant farms surveyed was so few that no breakdown of farms was made on an owner-operated and tenant-operated basis. The analysis was based on averages for all farms. The length of tenure on the same farm varied from 1 year to 54 years, the average tenure being 20 years. Distribution of families by length of tenure on the same farm is shown in Table 1. The purpose of the study was to determine as accurately as possible the amount of cash available for family living; now the farm families use their incomes; to judge their standards of living; and determine the adequacy of their diets according to accepted standards. The information was obtained by means of a questionnaire and a personal interview with each family. The questionnaire, or schedule, was explained and was left with the homemaker and farm operator, so that an accurate record of food consumed by the family during the week, and number of meals served to individual members of the household could be recorded. At the end of the week the worker returned for the schedule and recorded the data as given by the homemaker and farm operator.