MEANS OF ACQUIRING LAND 



may borrow this money at the bank, placing 

 a mortgage upon the farm, thus settling 

 with the other heirs at once. Or he may 

 pay the other heirs rent on their share of the 

 farm. In any case he will, if successful, 

 gradually cancel his obligation and become 

 owner of the farm. That no heir is willing 

 to assume this responsibility is the most 

 common reason for a farm changing from 

 one family to another, and the disruption of 

 community interests. 



The customary, or normal, method of 

 acquiring land has been and still is a com- 

 bination of tenancy, inheritance and mort- 

 gage. Without some tenant system and 

 without the farm mortgage, it would be 

 impossible for the average young man to 

 acquire a farm. That men are constantly 

 advancing from farm tenant to landowner 

 is shown by statistics giving the percentage 

 of tenants by ages. The majority of farmers 

 under 30 are renters. Most farmers over 

 45 are owners of farm land. Thus in 

 Illinois, in 1900, approximately 75% of the 

 farmers under 25 years of age rented their 



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