648 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



resolves itself practically into a working partnership, and the success 

 and permanence of the business depend upon arriving at a basis of 

 division which shall induce both parties to put forth their best efforts 

 and to work in harmony. Selection 210 indicates one method by 

 which such team work has actually been achieved. 



It is evident that the statistics of tenancy in the United States 

 admit of various interpretations. In selection 211 Dr. Stewart 

 illuminates an old discussion by reducing the figures to an acreage 

 basis. Section C presents both complacent and alarmist views of 

 farm tenancy, and Section D offers both radical and conservative 

 plans of land reform. 



A. . Effects of Tenure on Farm Operation 



205. THE RJELATION OF TENURE TO THE QUALITY 

 OF FARMING 1 



BY O. R. JOHNSON 8 



A farm management survey of four townships in Johnson County, 



| Missouri, indicated that owners and part owners kept more livestock 



* on the land, than did tenants. The latter kept one animal unit for 



every 5 J acres of crops, whereas the former kept one for each 4^ acres. 



The effect of this difference upon the ultimate fertility of the land is 



evident. The matter may be viewed from another angle by studying 



kthe distribution of crops on the various classes of farms. Owners 

 devote more land to pasture and meadow than do tenants. The 

 tenant grows a half more corn than the landowner, nearly twice as 

 much wheat, and about the same percentage of oats and hay. Wheat 

 is the most important money crop of the region and is more popular 

 with both part owners and tenants than it is with, farm-owners. 



Table IX shows the effect upon crop yields of the system of rental 

 practiced in the region under consideration. Where a tenant can 



I rent land for but one year at a time he must, of necessity, devote most 

 of his attention to grain farming and he will consequently grow those 

 crops which can be most readily turned into cash. This can lead to 

 but one result the result shown in Table IX. The tenant farms are 

 much lower in yields. A difference of about 15 per cent in the yield 

 of corn is noticed in tenant farms compared to farms operated by 

 their owners with a somewhat smaller difference for wheat and a 

 * Adapted from Bulletin 121, Missouri Experiment Station, pp. 69-74. 

 W. E. Foard, joint author. 



