62 



The increase in number * of farms in decennial periods 

 in the States, as shown by the national census, is as fol- 

 lows : — 



1850 1,449,073 



1860 2,044,077 



1870 2,659,985 



1880 4,008,907 



It is the distinctive peculiarity of American farm occu- 

 pancy that the tillers of the soil are the owners of the land. 

 Foreigners come here not to become tenants, but pro- 

 prietors. They move directly onward toward the free 

 Grovernment lands, which furnish a vital inducement to 

 immigration. They go west rather than south — first, 

 because they can obtain the best lands in fee simple, and 

 not as renters ; and a second consideration is the fact that 

 j)rairie lands can be selected, which can be opened and 

 made productive the first year. Therefore we find that 

 2,984,306, or about three-fourths of all in number, and a 

 far greater proportion of the total value, are occupied by 

 the owner. Then there are persons, temporary occupants 

 of holdings for various reasons, in the north, and in the 

 south a large number of freedmen, who are averse to 

 working for wages, and unable to own and stock a farm, 

 who are compelled to work the land for others. Preferring 

 semi-proprietorship, or a sort of partnership in the produce 

 of the farm, there are 702,244 who occupy land on shares 

 in various proportions, according to the fertility of the 

 soil and the conditions of the partnership as to furnishing 

 and feeding of farm animals, the use of implements, etc. 

 The following figures will show how much smaller are 

 these farms, which are usually fragments of original farms 

 of greater area. The number rented at a fixed rental in 

 money is very small — only 322,357. The following state- 

 ment gives the classification by size and also by tenure : — 



* This is quoted ft-om the United States of America Report of the Department 

 of Agriculture for 1881 and 1382, page 645. 



