xxviii AGRICULTURAL BULLETIN 



by the farmers, and for 50,452 of these the amount of mortgage debt 

 is reported. Only these last mentioned farms are included for 1910 in 

 the next table, which presents data relating to mortgaged farms for 

 1910 and 1890. In this connection it should be noted that in 1890 the 

 amount of mortgage debt of farms with incomplete reports was estimated 

 according to the percentages and averages obtained from farms with full 

 reports, but that no such estimate is here made for 1910. The table gives 

 a comparative statement of the value of mortgaged farms owned entirely 

 by their operators and the amount of indebtedness, together with the 

 average value of such farms, the average debt per farm, and the average 

 equity per farm for 1910 and 1890. Data regarding the amount of mort- 

 gage debt were not obtained in 1900. 



The average debt of mortgaged farms increased in the 20 years from 

 $1,319 to $4,048, or 207 per cent, while the average value of such farms 

 rose from $3,964 to $14,574, or 267.7 per cent. Thus the owner's equity 

 increased from $2,645 to $10,526, or 298 per cent. As a result of the greater 

 increase in farm values than in farm debt, the mortgage indebtedness, 

 which was 33.3 per cent of the value of the mortgaged farms in 1890, had 

 decreased to 27.8 per cent of the value in 1910. 



Owned Farms or Farm 

 Homes Mortgaged 



1910* 



1390t 



Increase 



Per 

 cent 



Number 



Value— land and buildings. 

 Amount of mortgage debt. 

 Per cent of debt to value.. 

 Average value per farm... 



Average debt per farm 



Average equity per farm.. 



50,452 



8735,265,320 



8204,242,722 



27.8 



$14,574 



$4,04S 



$10,526 



77,111 



$305,658,069 



$101,745,924 



33.3 



$3,964 



$1,319 



$2,615 



$10,610 

 82,729 

 $7,881 



267.7 

 207.0 

 298.0 



'Includes only farms consisting wholly of owned land and reporting value of farm and 

 amount of debt. 



tlncludes all owned farm homes, estimates being made of value of farms and amount 

 of debt for all defective reports. 



Farms by size groups, 1910 and 1900. — The following table shows the 



distribution of farms by size groups at the censuses of 1910 and 1900: 



Size Group 



Number of 

 Farms 



1910 



1900 



Increase* 



Num- 

 ber 



Per 

 cent 



Per Cent 

 Distribution 



1910 



Total 



Under 3 acres 



3 to 9 acres 



10 to 19 acres 



20 to 49 acres 



50 to 99 acres 



100 to 174 acres.. 



175 to 259 acres 



260 to 499 acres 



500 to 999 acres 



1,000 acres and over. 



—11,578 



—583 



2,539 



120 



—5,797 



—10,953 



198 



2,160 



1,252 



—388 



—126 



100.0 



0.4 



2.1 



2.6 



9.4 



21.7 



35.0 



16.7 



10.8 



1.2 



0.1 



*A minus sign (— ) denotes decrease. 



