62 LAND TENURE 



redeeming feature of farm tenancy in England and Scotland, where 

 it has apparently reached its perfection, is the long time tenure of 

 the renter. The significance of our too short time tenures is 

 brought out vividly in the various surveys alluded to above. Thus, 

 to quote from a survey of Montgomery County, Maryland: 



"Speaking broadly, it is common experience that under a system of tenan- 

 try the land is usually not so well farmed as when operated by its owners. 

 The tenant usually has but a short lease on the land; inferior methods of farm- 

 ing are apt to be employed; the needs of the soil are not so carefully studied 

 or attended to; there is generally a smaller working capital; the cost of opera- 

 tion is somewhat greater. In consequence, the property is not kept up; the 

 fertility of the soil is seldom increased or even maintained; and in the long run, 

 the net income is smaller. To have 45 per cent of the land operated under a ten- 

 ant system and to have that system on the increase, would thus seem to present 

 a problem worthy of consideration. The obvious solution would be along the 

 line of aiding the present operators to obtain the ownership of the land. In 

 Europe and to a lesser extent in some parts of the United States this need is 

 met by an ably managed and extensive system of cooperative banking. 



"Another interesting angle of this question has to do with the length of 

 tenure. The average length of tenure for all farms is 12.4 years. But more 

 than half of the farms and considerably more than half of the total acreage 

 of farm lands, have changed hands at least once during the last ten years. 

 This means an unstable element in the population large enough to cause con- 

 cern. For all owned land, the average term of occupancy is 15 years, but for 

 land operated by tenants, the average term of occupancy is only 4 years. One- 

 fourth of the entire farming population, then is shifting, a fact which must 

 necessarily hamper all efforts toward the betterment of rural life conditions 

 along social, religious and educational lines." 



A rural survey in one Tennessee community brings out this 

 situation: 



"Among the tenants 63 per cent rent land from neighboring farmers. 

 This land is in many cases under the direct supervision of the owner, who 

 designates what crops are to be raised, and sees to it that the soil does not 

 become too much worn out. In many cases the renters although retaining 

 their independence, are thus virtually hired men, who are paid in produce 

 instead of in cash. This is particularly the case with the 'share cropper,' 

 who owns neither land nor tools, but has tools, horses and seed furnished by 

 the owner of the land. The cropper as a rule cultivates from 20 to 30 acres, 

 and gives half the produce to the owner. Most of the croppers are negroes. 

 The 'share tenant' or 'renter,' who furnishes his own tools and horses, pays 

 to the owner one-third of the corn and one-fourth of the cotton. The cash 

 tenant pays usually $4.00 an acre. There are only ten hired men. Their 

 wages are from seventy-five cents to $1.00 a day and keep." 



There is of course another side to this picture. The Federal 

 government has been quoted as accepting tenancy as a permanent 

 institution. In line with this belief the Federal government has 

 issued a bulletin entitled, "A System of Tenant Farming and Its 

 Results." This bulletin shows a successful example of tenant 

 farming where the landlord has secured stability of farm operators. 

 An extended quotation is worth while in this connection. Accord- 



