19201 RURAL ECONOMICS. 893 



The improved New Jersey multiple unit laying house, T. L. Owen and 

 G. H. Pound {New Jersey Stas., Hints to Poultry men, S (1920), No. 12, pp. Jf, 

 jUjs. 2). — This circular presents working plans incorporating certain improve 

 nients in tiiis laying liouse. 



Septic tank for sewage disposal on the farm, R. L. Patty (S. Dak. Ayr. 

 Col Ext. arc. 35 {1920), pp. J{, fig. 1). — This circular briefly describos the septic 

 tank and tile absorption area for the disposal of farm sewage, which Is pre- 

 sumably adapted to conditions in South Dakota. 



rtjual economics. 



Farm land values in Iowa, L. C. Gray and O. G. Lloyd (U. .'?. Dept. .Af/r. 

 Bui. S74 {11)20), pp. I,'), fig. 1). — The matter of increases occurring in farm land 

 values, farm earnings, and the shares received by landlords and by tenants, 

 also the probable effect of these changes upon the opportunity of farmers to 

 acquire the land they cultivate, is presented in this bulletin, prepared by the 

 Office of Farm Management and Farm Economics in cooperation with the Iowa 

 Experiment Station. 



The data concerning actual sales were obtained in GO counti(>s in northern 

 and western Iowa. Comparison is made of land values, distribution of farm 

 earnings, and receipts and expenses on 965 farms in adjacent townships of 

 Black Hawk, Tama, and Grundy Counties for the year 1913, and of 832 farms 

 in Warren Couiily in 191."), with similar data from about 400 farms in the same 

 areas for the year ended with March, 1918. 



Trends of land values in the country as a whole as shown by estimates of 

 average values of farm land and improvements by States, 1915, 1919, and 1920, 

 obtained by the Bureau of Crop Estimates are set forth, as well as census and 

 farm-management .survey statistics for the increase in the average value per 

 acre of Iowa farm land since 1850 and the range of prices paid for farm land. 

 An average increase from March 1, 1918, to August, 1919, of $65 per acre is 

 shown, which compared with the increase of $81 per acre from March, 1918, to 

 March, 1920, reflects the full extent of the " boom." Sixty-six dollars an acre 

 is given as the figure for the average increase, 1919. Information was obtained 

 regarding the extent of activities in buying and selling farms in Iowa, 1919, 

 and details as to the occupations and intentions of buyers and sellers. Nu- 

 merous details of terms of sale are also noted. 



Special emphasis is then given to data on farm earnings and Incomes of 

 owners, tenants, and landlords, 1913. 1915, 1918, and 1919, and their net worth 

 on March 1, 1919. The percentages of increase of farm income per acre between 

 1913 and 1918 were 47 for owner, 84 for owners additional, and 74 for tenants. 

 For all farms, the increase in farm income per acre was 65 per cent. In con- 

 trast with these rates of increase, average farm-land values of these farms 

 increased only from 17 to 23 per cent during the same period. On the basis 

 of land values In 1918, farmers of all classes of tenure in what is termed the 

 Tama district made farm labor incomes averaging $1,537, whereas in 1913 the 

 average for all farms, after deducting 5 per cent on the value of all farm 

 capital, including land, was only $300. The farm labor incomes of owner 

 operators in the Tama district were 361 per cent higher, those of owners addi- 

 tional 367 per cent higher, and those of tenants 478 per cent higher than in 

 1913. Allowing 5.5 per cent for the use of capital, the average farm labor 

 income was about 16 times as great as in 1913. When farm lab<n' incomes of 

 1918 are similarly calculated on the basis of the land values of August, 1919, 

 however, the result is a minus labor income of $148 for owners in the Tama 



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