56 TWENTY-FIRST REPORT. 



apparently location does not have any matei'ial influence. In all cases, con- 

 siderable fluctuation was found in the amount of net earnings of the individual 

 farmers comprising the community, but the general average did not fluctuate 

 nearly so much. For instance, in Livingston County, New York, >vhich is 

 perhaps the richest in soil fertility in New York, 26% of the farmers made 

 over $1,000, 6% over $2,000, and the rest less than $1,000, the average being 

 $006. In Lenawee County, Michigan, 300 farmers employing an average 

 capital of $11,756 (including land, buildings, live stock, machinery, etc.) made 

 an average gross income of $1,069. But, if the 5% interest on the investment 

 is deducted, or $588, the net earnings of each farmer are $481. 



Up to this point, the farmer's income has been ti-eated from the viewpoint 

 of a landowner. However, we must not lose sight of the fact that 37% of all 

 farmers in the United States are tenant farmers. So far as income is con- 

 cerned, the farm tenant receives wages. He needs very little capital, since 

 land and buildings make up nearly 90% of all farm capital, and these are 

 supplied by the landlord. As a consequence, the tenant's income ought to be 

 larger than the corresponding labor income of the landowner, if the former is 

 to maintain an equivalent standard of living. As a matter of fact, it is larger. 

 Among 153 tenant farmers in Lenawee County, Michigan, whose total capital 

 invested amounted to $1,562 per capita, the total receipts were $1,111 and the 

 average total expense $450. Hence, the gross income received was $661. But, 

 allowing 5% interest on the investment, the average labor income was $583. 

 However, considering the North Central States as a group, the average labor 

 income of tenant farmers is about $700. 



From the standiwint of a landlord, land is thought of as a given amount 

 of capital bearing a current rate of interest. On the tenant farms mentioned 

 above, the average investment of landlords was $12,218. The average total 

 receipts were $856 and the average total expenses were $231. Thus, the 

 average income of the landlord was $625, which represents a return of 5.11% 

 on the investment. The average return throughout the states surveyed was 

 from 3.5% to 8%. 



Some eminent economists have written lately as if tenancy were a catas- 

 trophe and that our farming population was headed in that direction. As a 

 matter of fact, however, tenancy represents progress almost everywhere it 

 exists in the United States, and while the percentage of tenancy has been 

 increasing, it is significant to note that the increase has been at a diminish- 

 ing rate. 



For practical purposes, one method of calculating the farmer's income is 

 to compare it with the incomes of other classes. According to the last census 

 figures, the average iijcome received by all ministers in the United States was 

 $663 ; that of lawyers, $682. Despite the tendency to increase the salaries of 

 teachers, the average income of the latter in 1913 was less than $700. Thus, 



