STATU i^ A\D TEXDEXCIES IN RURAL LIFE 443 



woodlands. Of other unimproved land, the acreage 

 was 2,890,803. The average number of acres to a 

 farm in Michigan was 96.9; the average number of 

 improved acres 65.8. The value of farm lands and 

 buildings is $1,437,862,310, the State's rank being 

 fourteenth. The average value of land and build- 

 ings to a farm is estimated as $7,313, at $75.58 an 

 acre. The rank of the State in value for each farm 

 was twenty-ninth, and in value an acre, sixteenth. 



Classified with reference to their size, there are 

 in Michigan 12,744 farms under 20 acres. The farms 

 ranging in size from 20 to 49 acres numbered 40,765 ; 

 from 50 to 99 acres, 71,391 ; from 100 to 174 acres, 

 52,645; from 175 to 499 acres, 18,075; of 500 acres 

 and over, 827. These figures clearly bring out the 

 fact that Michigan farms average of only moderate 

 size, a good acreage in the minds of the farming 

 population appearing to be 80. 



Of the total number of farms, 34,722 were oper- 

 ated by tenants, in which respect Michigan ranked 

 twenty-fourth. There were 23,280 share tenants; 

 422 share-cash tenants; and 9,312 cash tenants. Of 

 farms operated by their owners, Michigan ranked 

 sixth, having 159,406. There were 72,866 owned 

 farms free from mortgage (the rank of the State 

 being here eleventh). Of the owned farms, 78,761 

 were mortgaged, in which respect the State ranked 

 second. Thus it appears that 51.9 per cent of the 

 owned farms were mortgaged. The farm mortgage 

 debt in Michigan was $144,103,067 for 67,119 farms 

 reporting this item. In the amount of its farm mort- 



