250 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



or two thirds, varying with the amount of stock, seed, etc., 

 furnished by the proprietor." l This probably relates to the 

 state of New York. 



H. L. Ellsworth, an owner of large areas of land near La- 

 fayette, Indiana, throws some light upon tenant farming in 

 Indiana in 1845 : "I was offered sixteen bushels of corn as 

 rent, per acre, instead of one-third of the crop which is the usual 

 share for the landlord. I have rented one thousand acres of 

 ground for sixteen thousand bushels of shelled corn delivered in 

 the crib." 2 Similar methods of renting land were in use near 

 Coshocton, Ohio, where in 1850 there were " many large land- 

 holders," some of whom rented out their lands on shares, or for 

 20 bushels of corn per acre. The tenants occupied only from 

 year to year. 3 



As far west as Oskaloosa, Iowa, farm land was rented to 

 tenants as early as 1858. 4 In Illinois, in 1859, when land could 

 be purchased for $2.50 an acre land was let to tenants for a 

 share of the grain. 5 Near Belvidere, Illinois, in i860, a region 

 which had been settled about 25 years, the " renting so many 

 farms without having them stocked " is mentioned as having 

 a bad effect upon the agriculture of the region, but is explained 

 by the lack of capital. 6 Near Madison, Wisconsin, a landlord 

 was advertising for a man " to carry on a large farm either 

 as foreman or on shares, for a term of years." 7 



These statements give no basis of passing judgment on the 

 question as to the numerical importance of tenant farmers prior 

 to the Civil War, but they give such evidence of the existence of 

 tenancy as keep the student from being surprised when he comes 

 upon the statistics of tenancy in 1880 and finds that a fourth of 

 the farmers did not at that time own the acres they tilled. 



1 The Cultivator, 1844, p. 151. 2 Pat. Office Report, 1845, P- 384. 



* The Cultivator, 1850, p. 358. * Country Gentleman, 1858, Vol. XI, p. 33. 



6 Caird, "Prairie Farming in America." 



8 Country Gentleman, i860, Vol. XV, p. 234. 



7 The Wisconsin Farmer, 1859, Vol. XI, p. 72. 



