STATUS OF AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISE 237 



4. The number of farms operated by tenants in- 

 creased slightly for the nation as a whole be- 

 tween 1920 and 1925. The percentage of 

 farms operated by tenants was highest in the 

 predominantly agricultural states, ranging 

 from 34 per cent in the West North Central 

 to 53 per cent in the West South Central. The 

 agricultural census of 1925 shows that the per- 

 centage of farms operated by tenants in these 

 regions has increased during the past five 

 years. 



5. The number of persons engaged in agriculture 

 declined from 13,278,000 in 1920 to 12,065,000 

 in 1925. 



6. The gross income of agricultural enterprise 

 declined from $16,621,000,000 in 1919-20 to 

 $13,324,000,000 in 1924-25. 



7. The farm population constitutes about 30 per 

 cent of the total population. But the farmers 

 received only 17.7 per cent of the national in- 

 come in 1919 and that declined to about 14 

 per cent in 1925. 



The Effects of this Situation 



These statistics are sufficient to indicate the gen- 

 eral trend of the agricultural situation. The effects 

 are shown by the increase in farm indebtedness, and 

 the number of farm bankruptcies and bank failures 

 in agricultural regions. The facts are as follows: 



