AGRICULTURAL FINANCE 



27 



Banks, the principal source of note credit, held 48 percent of the notes and 47 

 percent of the amount due. Finance companies, which were primarily sub- 

 sidiaries of manufacturers, were next in importance with 28 percent of the notes 

 and 13 percent of the amount due. However, the Bureau of Agricultural Eco- 

 nomics reports for Massachusetts that Production Credit Association, Farm 

 Credit Administration through Emergency Crop and Feed loans, and Farm 

 Security Administration through Rural Rehabilitation loans had 61 percent as 

 much credit as insured commercial banks in agricultural loans other than real 

 estate on January 1, 1941. This was slightly more than twice the' proportion 

 indicated by this study. 



General farm expense and purchase of automotive equipment, other machinery, 

 and livestock were the purposes given for 88 percent of the notes and accounted 

 for 61 percent of the amount outstanding. Two notes by fruit growers for the 

 repair of hurricane damage accounted for 24 percent of the amount outstanding 

 on notes. 



Banks held notes for all purposes. Many of the notes for automotive equip- 

 ment and other machinery were held by dealers and manufacturers' subsidiary 

 finance companies. 



Notes ranged in age from less than a month to 17 years. Sixtv-four percent 

 had been made within a year of the inventory date, but the amount outstanding 

 on these notes was only 34 percent of the amount due. However, there were 

 small notes as well as large ones that had been outstanding for more than two 

 years. 



Open Accounts 



Open accounts in this study mean unpaid bills that were still due March 1 

 1941, when all that could be paid on bills had been paid. If it was the farmer's 

 practice to get grain during the month and pay for it when he got his milk check 

 this was not considered an open account. However, if the grain dealer required 

 payment within ten days and this had run over and was due at the beginning of 

 the month, this was considered an open account. So far as possible all of these 

 open accounts refer to March 1, 1941. The number of farms with open accounts 

 the amount owed per farm, and the number of accounts per farm are shown in 

 Table 33. 



Table 33. — Frequency Distribution of Farms Showing Amount Oived and 



Number of Open Accounts per Farm on 111 Massachusetts Farms 



March 1, 1941. 



