Mistrust may be justified between some owners and some renters. How- 

 ever, a great many people have carried out the owner-tenant relationship 

 more or less satisfactorily and there is no obvious reason why mistrust 

 should be an impossible obstacle between well meaning parties. What seems 

 principally needed is some understanding of and respect for the other person 

 and his interests. Some would-be renters may not respect as much as they 

 might the rural residents' desire for privacy, for having his premises kept 

 neat and clean, for keeping the cows inside the pasture, and for leaving hay- 

 land seeded at the end of the lease. On the other hand some nonfarmer rural 

 residents may expect too many services from a busy farmer or may not co- 

 operate as they should because of not understanding the significance of some 

 farm operations. Unquestionably there often is a considerable gap in under- 

 standing between active farmers and owners of idle farm land. Both parties 

 might well work at improving this understanding, but the impartial assistance 

 of third parties who appreciate both points of view could hasten the narrow- 

 ing of the gap. 



3. Rent Required By Owners 



Most of the owners of idle farm land did not know what rent they would 

 require or they were unwilling to say. Apparently they really had very little 

 idea of what their land should rent lor since they had little acquaintance 

 with farming, and, as we shall see later, it is not easy to arrive at a reason- 

 able rental figure in many situations. Some indicated that they would be will- 

 ing to have, their land used rent free, at least for a period, in return for im- 

 provement practices such as plowing, seeding, and fertilizing. Current rent- 

 ing practices are discussed in Chapter IV. 



4. Owners' Attitudes Toward Improvements 



A desirable modern New England dairy farm requires many things be- 

 sides raw land of potential agricultural value. If it is to be used as a farm 

 unit, it should have at least these additional things: a house with the princi- 



Figure 5. Fields on which standing hay is sold gradua'ly reach the stage where the hay is 



not worth cutting and bru:h takes over. Where the non-farmer owner i; unab'e to reseed 



and fertilize, a local farmer who is short of land may be willing to make those improvements, 



if compensated by low rent and the security of a long lease. 



33 



