CHAPTER XXn 



FORMS OF LAND TENURE IN THE UNITED STATES 



IS A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TENANCY A GOOD THING ? 



In the discussion of the size of farms it was noted that for a 

 given farmer engaged in a given type of farming at a given 

 stage in his own development, and with given conditions with 

 respect to wages, interest, land values, and prices for his prod- 

 ducts, there is a size of farm which will pay him best. The 

 question now to be taken up relates to the various ways in which 

 he can get the use of the amount of land he finds it most profit- 

 able for him to operate. 



Few young farmers are financially able to own the amount of 

 land they can operate to best advantage. If each man operated 

 the land he is capable of owning, many young farmers would 

 be operating farms too small for their energies, and many old 

 farmers would have in hand far more land than they could 

 utilize advantageously, to the loss of the young farmer, the old 

 farmer, and the people of the nation who consume farm 

 products. 



Farm tenancy is an institution which provides for getting the 

 land into the hands of those who are in a position to cultivate it, 

 but who are unable to buy farms. In its best forms, tenancy 

 in a limited amount may be a good thing. In iqio there were 

 2,354,676 or 37 per cent of the farmers of the United States 

 reported as tenants who owned none of the land they farmed, 

 and 593,825 or 9.3 per cent who leased part of the land they 

 cultivated. Thus, it would seem that nearly half of the farmers 

 are using tenancy as a means of securing the use of the land 

 they feel capable of operating, but which they are not yet able 

 to own. It is, therefore, a matter of great importance that the 

 methods of leasing land be such as will be conducive to good 



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