i919] RURAL ECONOMICS. 791 



cutting. While the plowing was the hardest operation, this was the best per- 

 formance, as the outfit averaged an acre an hour. It was also found that the 

 operator is one of the most important factors in the operation of a tractor on 

 account of the carelessness factor. 



Common tractor troubles, H. H. Fenton (Kans. Agr. Col. Ext. Circ. 13 (1919), 

 pp. 12). — This circular outlines tractor troubles and their remedies. 



A common-sense farm home, L. J. Smith (Canad. Thresherman and Farmer, 

 24 {1919), No. 8, pp. 36-38, figs. 2).— The author presents a farmhouse plan in 

 which it has been endeavored to secure a well-ari-anged interior together with 

 an attractive exterior. This plan is based on Manitoba conditions. 



Plans for the construction of a privy for use in towns and villages ([Bien.] 

 Rpt. Bd. Health Miss., 1916-11, pp. 359-372, pL 1. figs. 3).— General information, 

 drawings, and specifications are given on sanitary privy construction, with spe- 

 cial reference to types from which the receptacles are removed from the inside 

 or outside. 



RUEAL ECONOMICS. 



Farm leases in Kansas, W. E. Grimes {Kansas Sta. Bui. 221 {1919), pp. 32, 

 figs. 9). — Data are presented which were gathered in 1914, 1915, and 191G by 

 surveys of farms in eastern and central Kansas. It is stated that in 1910, 36.8 

 per cent of all farms in the State were operated by tenants, and eastern coun- 

 ties had more tenants in proportion to the total number of farmers than western 

 counties. 



A comparison is made of farm business and practices of owners and tenants 

 to show their successes as operators in matters of profits from crops and live 

 stock, crop yields, and rates of interest and terms of loans granted them. It 

 is shown that tenants' labor incomes were higher than owners', that the owner's 

 interest on investment was greater than the landlord's rent, and a smaller 

 labor income to the owner than to the tenant resulted. Owners kept at least 

 one-third more live stock than tenants, and tenants' live stock returned rela- 

 tively less than owners', one of the most important reasons for which was that 

 landlords limit the area of pasture and feed crops as much as possible. Crop 

 yields on farms operated by owners were on the whole higher than on tenant 

 farms, and the yields on tenant farms tend to further depression under present 

 methods of leasing. The tenants paid from 1 to 2 per cent more interest than 

 the owners, and they borrowed for much shorter terms. 



Undesirable economic and social conditions developed on rented farms are 

 discussed. Comparisons of the methods of renting in common use indicate the 

 following advantages and disadvantages : Cash renting is least profitable to both 

 landlord and tenant. Crop-share renting is the most common method and more 

 profitable than cash renting to both landlord and tenant. Stock-share renting 

 is less frequently used, but produces more desirable conditions than any of the 

 other methods. The author's suggestions for methods pf improving leases in 

 Kansas are by a wider adoption of the stock-share lease, elimination of absentee 

 ownership of land, providing better methods of maintaining soil fertility of 

 farms rented for cash or for a share of the crops, and improved credit facili- 

 ties and the provision of better opportunities for acquiring ownership. 



The evolution of share renting during a hundred years, A. M. des Ro- 

 CHETTEs {Jour. Agr. Prat., n. ser., 32 {1919), No. 25, pp. 505-507) .—This ar- 

 ticle briefly describes the stipulations in contracts of metayage, a system of 

 share renting peculiar to France, and shows that the advantage to the renter 

 htxs been consistently greater through the period from about ISIO to the present. 



Evolution in rural life; scientific cultivation, C. Blanchabd {U Evolution 

 dans la Vic Rurale — La Culture Scientifique. Macon [France]: X. Perroux & 

 Son, 1919, pp. 54). — The evolution and manner of land ownership and exploita- 



