FARM TENAMCY 93 



§ I. lyENGTH OF TENANCIES. 



According to the best information available a tenant stays on a given 

 farm hardly three years. The share tenants move a little oftener than do 

 those paying cash. In contrast to the short period of occupancy by ten- 

 ants the farms operated b^^ owners are held by a given owner probably about 

 sixteen years. Thus even the owners are not in the habit of staying on the 

 same farm permanently. It must be remembered that America is a new 

 country, and that there is still a strong tendency among farmers to move 

 west and take advantage of the cheaper price of land. Likewise there are 

 many small farms sold in order to purchase larger ones. As a result the farm 

 population at best is not extremely stable. 



Tenants are continually on the mtDve because of a variety of circum- 

 stances. Many times it has been said that the short lease is the curse of 

 American tenant farming. But the short lease is the result rather than the 

 cause of evils. American farm land has been rising rapidly in value. It has 

 been, in consequence, for sale. As a result of these facts many a farm chang- 

 es occupants because of a change in ownership, and the owner, so long as 

 he holds the farm for sale, is bound to lease it for short periods of time. 



Another important cause of short tenures is the fact that the tenants are 

 themselves developing into farm ow'ners. In the normal course of events 

 a 3-oung man starts farming on a small scale, and therefore wants a small 

 farm. A few years later he is better satisfied with a somewhat larger farm, 

 and hence moves if he finds an opportunity, as he usually does. But fully 

 as important as the desire to rent a bigger farm is the prospect of owning 

 a farm for himself. The rate at which tenants become owners is growing 

 somewhat slower. Nevertheless the great majority of those who stay in the 

 farming business a lifetime manage by some means to become landowners. 

 Of all farmers below the age of twenty-five, over three fourths are tenants, 

 whereas of those over sixty-five years of age about six sevenths are owners. 

 It is thus plain that the short periods of occupancy of farms by tenants is 

 in no small measure due to the constant rise of tenant^ to ownership on their 

 own account. 



§ 2. Speculation and tenancy. 



Very closely related to length of tenure and to the amount of tenancy 

 is speculation in land. From the very beginning of the public land policies 

 of the country speculation on the part of individuals has played a major 

 role. The cheap government price has alwa\'s been tempting to investors, 

 and rare indeed is the case of land which has not been held many years 

 primarih^ for the rise in value. This speculative period has lasted well 

 beyond the early years when land was cheap, and mainly unused. It pre- 



