AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



the product, then it is better for the tenant to pay 

 a fixed rent and secure the extra profits due to his 

 superior ability. 



The methods of letting land for a share of the 

 products are so very numerous that to describe 

 all the forms of share tenancy is practically im- 

 possible. In this connection we shall attempt 

 no more, therefore, than to outline briefly some of 

 the methods in common use in the North Central 

 states. 



Perhaps the simplest form of share tenancy 

 arises where one farmer has more land than he 

 cares to cultivate while some of his neighbors have 

 less than they wish to cultivate. This leads to a 

 form of share tenancy in which persons living on 

 their own farms and in their own houses simply 

 enter the fields of the landlord to grow a crop of 

 grain or to make hay on shares. The usual 

 method is for the tenants to furnish seed, teams, 

 tools and machinery. In some cases the bill for 

 binding twine and the threshing bill are paid en- 

 tirely by the tenant and sometimes these bills are 

 divided between landlord and tenant in the same 

 proportion in which the grain is shared. The 

 landlord's share of the crop varies in different 

 parts of the country from one-third to one-half of 

 the grain, to be put into the landlord's bin or 

 delivered at the market. When meadows are let 

 in this way one-half or more of the hay is deliv- 

 ered to the landlord in the mow or in the stack. 

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