790 EXPEKIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Concrete silos (Chicago and Pittsburg, 1911, 1. ed., pp. 88, figs. I'l). — This 

 pamphlet discusses the theory and use of silos and silage and gives practical 

 information relative to the location, design, construction, and cost of mono- 

 lithic reenforced concrete silos and concrete block silos. 



Water power for the farm and country home, D. R. Cooper (Albany, N. Y.: 

 State Water Supply Com., 1911, 2. ed., pp. Jf5, figs. 31). — This pamphlet has for 

 its purpose the calling of attention to the large amount of undeveloped small 

 water power in the State of New York and the uses to which it can be put on 

 the farm. It outlines briefly the amount of work which can be done by a small 

 water power plant of average capacity, and calls attention to several success- 

 ful examples and the details and cost of construction of each. A general 

 method of procedure and an outline of the prime requisites in planning and 

 constructing small water power plants for use in farm work are given under 

 the heads of maximum and minimum stream flow, tributaryodrainage area, 

 water storing, available head, concentration of head, location and construction of 

 dam and power house, types of water wtieels and connections, dynamo and stor- 

 age batteries, transmission, motors and connections, and efficiency determination. 



Home labor saving devices, Mrs. J. A. Widtsoe (Dry Farming Cong. BiiL, 

 6 (1912), No. 3, pp. 105-112). — A plea for labor saving devices in the farm 

 home, including a discussion of the cost of such articles as compared with that 

 of the labor saving agricultural implements ordinarily used on farms of vari- 

 ous sizes. 



RURAL ECONOMICS. 



Tenancy in the Western States, B. H. Hibdaed (Quart. Jour. Econ., 26 

 (1912), No. 2, pp. 363-376). — This is one of a series of articles discussing 

 tenancy and its problems In the various groups of States in the United States 

 (E. S. R., .26, p. 686). 



One of the most prominent characteristics noted of this group is its newness 

 and relatively small percentage of tenancy, only 16.6 per cent of the farms be- 

 ing in the hands of tenants in 1900 and 14.1 per cent in 1910. This low and de- 

 creasing percentage is attributed to 2 mean causes : (1) The great number of new 

 farms taken from the public domain has increased the number of owned farms 

 and contributed but little to the number of tenant farms; (2) the development 

 of special lines of agriculture, particularly the growing of fruit, has resulted in 

 an increase in the number of small farms in the hands of owners. It is fur- 

 ther stated that the wheat-growing industry has greatly declined in many 

 sections of these States within the last decade, and that the proportion of 

 farms in the hands of tenants has decreased accordingly. 



Tenancy is found to increase with the value of the land. Thus, in California, 

 the percentage of tenancy is 20.1 in counties where land is worth $60 or more 

 per acre, and is 22.5 in counties where values run from $30 to $60 per acre. 

 However, some counties in Colorado with land selling for $35 and over per acre 

 show 25.7 per cent of tenancy, and others with land at from $20 to $35 per acre 

 show 30.8 per cent. 



Farm tenancy in the United States, B. H. Hibbard (Ann. Amer. Acad. 

 Polit. and 8oc. Sci., 40 (1912), No. 129, pp. 29-39). — A few broad generalizations 

 are here drawn. 



That there has been an uninterrupted increase in the proportion of tenancy 

 In the United States for the last 30 years is clearly illustrated. In 1880 out 

 of each 100 farms, 25 were operated by tenants, by 1890 the number had risen 

 to 28, by 1900 to 35, and by 1910 to 37. However, the rate of increase seems to 

 be decreasing, there being actual decreases In the proportion of tenant farms in 

 some of the geographic divisions, the proportion varying in many cases with the 

 value of land per acre, the value of farms as units, or the character of farming. 



