TENANCY AND L AN D O W NER S HI P 



vated by a tenant who paid "a fixed rental in 

 money, or a stated amount of labor or farm com- 

 modities," and by a share tenant if operated by a 

 tenant who paid "for its use a share (as one-third, 

 or one-half or other proportion) of crops raised." 1 



Share tenancy. -Share tenancy is preferred by 

 many tenant farmers because the risk is less. The 

 thought of paying a fixed rent whether the crop 

 is large or small and whether the prices are high 

 or low is not attractive to the majority. And 

 again, many of the tenants do not possess suf- 

 ficient wealth to enable them to own all of the 

 stock necessary to operate a farm on a cash basis. 



The landlords who live in close proximity to 

 the land which they let, and who have time to 

 devote to its supervision, usually prefer a share of 

 the crop because they find it more profitable to 

 them. The share system is more profitable to 

 the landlords largely because of the close super- 

 vision which they give to the farms let on shares. 

 Many of the tenants are young and inexperienced, 

 and are willing to leave the general management 

 of the farm to the landlord, who is very likely to 

 be an elderly farmer, and the fact that he has a 

 farm to let suggests that he has been a successful 

 farmer. All tenants are not so willing to be di- 

 rected by their landlords, but if they pay a share 

 of the products as rent the landlord's right to give 

 advice is apparent, whereas, if cash is paid there 



1 Twelfth Census, Vol. V, p. 759. 

 261 



