TWENTIETH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART VII 581 



The declared intentions of the purchasers, however, indicate that prob- 

 ably about 36 per cent will be rented and the remaining 64 per cent will 

 be operated by the purchasers. This leads to the conclusion that the 

 recent activity has resulted in an unusually large proportion of farms 

 falling into the hands of purchasers who intend to operate them person- 

 ally. This result may be interpreted as due to the tendency of the non- 

 farming owners of land to dispose of their holdings at the favorable 

 prices prevailing during the recent period of activity, and to the fact that 

 farmers, whether owners or renters, have been enabled to acquire a con- 

 siderable portion of these holdings because of the agricultural prosperity 

 of the last few years. 



The relative increase in farms to be operated by owners, however, 

 is only the immediate results of the recent advance in land. It does not 

 indicate necessarily what will be the ultimate result with respect to the 

 ratio of renters to owners operating their farms. It is entirely possible 

 that if the existing high level of land prices continues, and particularly 

 if a period of agricultural depression occurs, the tendency for renters to 

 buy land will be greatly retarded and a large proportion of farms will 

 fall again into the hands of absentee owners. 



(B) Division of increment between different classes. 



An analysis of the total increase in value from the sale of farm lands 

 was made for 392 cases in twenty-two counties. The cases in which 

 property was purchased since March 1, 1918, and the sales effected dur- 

 ing the period of the recent advance, give a total increment of $1,036,582. 

 Of this amount 69 per cent was received by dwellers in towns and 31 per 

 cent went to dwellers in the country. 



In addition to the increment appropriated by non-rural classes as a 

 result of the recent advance in the price of land, there also must be 

 reckoned the gains of real estate men in commissions on sales made. 

 Of 945 sales, about 73 per cent were effected through an agent. The 

 average percentage of agents' commissions on the value of sales for which 

 records were obtained was 1.61 per cent. The generally prevailing rate 

 for farm sales appears to have been $2 an acre. 



(C) Farm earnings previous to increased price of land in 1919. 



Table VIII shows the labor income and landlords' per cent on invest- 

 ment on Iowa farms: 



Landlord's Per Cent 

 Year. Labor Income. on Investment. 



1918 *$2,656 4.07 



1917 * 3,285 4.34 



1916 * 1,659 3.12 



1913 303 2.48 



1915 370 3.95 



♦Selected farms. 



Labor income or operators' wages is the amount left to pay the farmer 

 for his own labor after allowing 5 per cent for the use of capital, pay for 

 family labor and other farm expenses. In addition the operator and his 

 family get the living furnished by the farm. 



