MANAGEMENT 



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absentee landlordism, where the landowner takes no interest in 

 his land or his tenants except as sources of income, are so dis- 

 astrous as to leave nothing to be said in its favor. When the 

 safety of the investment and all the other factors are considered, 

 it is seldom in this country that the price of land rises so high 

 in proportion to its rent as to yield an abnormally low rate of 

 interest. It is only where some other motive than the desire for 

 income, such as the desire for social esteem, leads to the purchase 

 of land that the prices reach such abnormal heights. Generally 

 speaking, therefore, in view of the facts that this is still a growing 

 country and land values are still rising, that our laws and customs 

 are not favorable to long leases on satisfactory terms, and that 

 land values are not as a rule abnormally high in proportion to 

 rent, it is safe to say that it is better for the capable farmer to 

 buy than to rent, as soon as he is able to buy. 



For the young farmer, however, with limited capital and ex- 

 perience, it is not usually possible to buy land without depriving 

 himself of the means of equipping his farm. For this reason it 

 is the almost universal custom in this country for the young 

 farmer without capital to pass through a series of progressive 

 stages toward the position of farm owner. The first stage is 

 commonly that of a farm hand. After having acquired some 

 knowledge and experience, and having saved up enough money 

 to buy a team and set of farming tools, he begins his career as 

 a renter. If he is a success as a farmer, and his accumulations of 

 capital are not swept away by some of the multifarious calamities 

 which always hang over the head of the farmer, he will eventu- 

 ally become a farm owner, at first with a mortgage on his farm, 

 but finally free from debt. 



Cash or share tenancy. During the interval when the farmer 

 is ( >f necessity a tenant, the question as to whether it is better to 

 pay cash or share rent is a practical one. Generally speaking, the 

 reasons are overwhelmingly in favor of cash rent, though there 



