282 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



agree that the best tenants do get the best rented farms, and 

 that the inefficient tenants have to take what they can get, 

 which is usually the more sterile or run-down farms. One land- 

 lord expressed himself as follows on this point : 



"If you mean by the best tenant, the one who takes proper care of 

 the soil, and then makes the most money, one year with another, the 

 best tenants are on the best land. A good tenant gets a good farm, 

 and he can hold it. The inefficient tenant is always looking for a farm 

 and the landowners with good farms want only the best tenants ; so 

 the inefficient tenants are crowded to the poorer grades of land." 



Time of paying rent. The lease should be most explicit as 

 to when payment of rent is to be made. Where the land is let 

 for a share of the proceeds, the common practice is to divide the 

 money as soon as the sales are made. It is very common for 

 the division to be made at the creamery or cheese factory, and 

 one check is sent to the landlord and another to the tenant. 

 Where land is let for cash, the practice varies widely, and yet 

 there is a tendency to make the time of payment conform to 

 the time when the tenant is likely to make sales. One-half at 

 the middle of the year and the remainder at the end of the 

 year is a common practice, with the modification that in the case 

 of the last year of the tenancy all payments shall be made one 

 month before the end of the year. Monthly payments are be- 

 ing introduced on dairy farms which are let for cash. This 

 conforms to the time of receiving payments for the milk and 

 grows very naturally out of a change from the share system to 

 the cash system on dairy farms. 



Guarantee that the rent shall be paid. In many of the North 

 Central states, laws have been passed during recent years which 

 declare that the landlord shall have a lien for his rent upon 

 all crops grown upon the leased premises. In others there are 

 no statutory laws providing for a landlord's lien, although, of 

 course, a lien can be created by agreement of the parties, if 

 properly made, and it is quite common to have a clause in the 

 lease which secures the payment of the rent. In some cases 

 the owner of the land requires that all of the products shall 

 remain his property until the rent is paid, and in some cases the 



