OFFICE OF FAKM MANAGEMENT AND FARM ECONOMICS. 571 



In the former State the tobacco crop on 75 farms in each of two 

 areas has been intensively studied, with a complete farm survey record 

 taken on many of the farms at the end of the year. In New Jersey 

 about 160 enterprise surve}' records were obtained on tomato and 

 potato farms, and about 40 farms were started on detailed accounting 

 on the entire farm business. 



In Ohio, Kansas, Montana, and Minnesota a total of 150 farms are 

 cooperating in reporting complete details of the farm operation. 

 Ohio is maintaining two routes of from 20 to 24 farma each; Kansas, 

 two routes of about the same number; Montana, one route of 20 

 farms ; and Minnesota, two routes of 24 farms each. 



A study of the use of farm motor trucks was inaugurated and com- 

 pleted in the Division of Farm Equipment, and tabulations have been 

 m(w:le of 8,000 replies to a questionnaire. 



LAND ECONOMICS. 



In cooperation with the Iowa State College of Agriculture, an in- 

 vestigation was made of the phenomenal advance in land values that 

 took place in Town during the spring and summer of the year 1919. 

 It was found that the average value of Iowa farm lands increased 

 $121 per acre in the five years from 1915 to 1920, and that $G3 of this 

 increase occurred between March, 1919, and March, 1920, the twelve- 

 month including the period of the boom. Over 65 per cent of the 

 buyers and over 56 per cent of the sellers were farmers, while, con- 

 trary to general belief perhaps, less than 7 per cent of the buyers and 

 but a little over 11 per cent of the sellers were real estate men. The 

 facts brought out relative to per cent returns on investment in these 

 lands make it clear that they are valued in excess of their earning 

 capacity. The investigators point out that with land paying but 3 

 per cent on capitalization and loans running at 6 per cent or more, 

 buying a farm on a deferred payment plan is a hopeless transaction, 

 from the strictly business viewpoint. The results of this study have 

 been published in Department Bulletin 874. 



A similar study has been made in the bluegrass region of Ken- 

 tucky, in cooperation with the Kentucky State College, and the re- 

 sults are now being tabulated. 



A general bulletin on the farm-lease contract has been completed, 

 and a studj' of the special problems of the rental contract in dairy 

 regions is nearly completed. Considerable material has been accum- 

 ulated on methods of renting land in regions of tobacco production 

 and in cotton production regions. A study of methods of renting 

 land in small-grain-producing regions is in progress, and an exten- 

 sive study is being carried on in the relationship of landlord and 

 tenant under the plantation system, with special reference to its 

 bearing on plantation organization. 



An extensive series of studies has been carried on during the year 

 with respect to land settlement and colonization in the cut-over re- 



fions of the three Great Lake States — Minnesota, AVisconsin, and 

 lichigan. These studies, carried on in cooperation with the Min- 

 nesota Experiment Station, the Wisconsin Experiment Station, and 

 the University of Michigan, include investigation of the various set- 

 tlement agencies with a view to determining the good an<l bad char- 

 acteristias of the methods employed. Practically all the important 



