LAND TENURE AND LAND POLICY 



653 



The group of tenants with five times the capital of the smallest 

 capital group remained on the same farm nearly three times as long 

 and made more than eight times the labor income. While "money 

 makes money," one reason for its doing so is long tenure on the same 

 farm. Ben Franklin's saying, "Two moves are as bad as a fire," is 

 as true now as it was in his day. 



The roaming farmer regards a large amount of capital as a positive 

 hindrance to him, for at moving time he must either sell at a sacrifice 

 or move at heavy expense. 



Such a wanderer cannot hope to make a large labor income, for he 

 lacks the work animals, tools, and productive livestock for successful 

 farming. He cannot afford to seed clover or alfalfa or follow a crop- 

 ping system which will maintain high yields, for he does not intend 

 to stay long enough to reap the benefit of such work. He is a grain 

 farmer who works hard during the summer but sells all his grain at 

 harvest time and does very little until the following spring, except 

 trade horses and do a few chores about the barn. 



One reason for the shifting of tenants who have small capital is 

 the fact that the majority of them are young men who wish larger 

 farms as they accumulate sufficient capital and experience to operate 

 a larger business. The stock-share method of renting enables the 

 young tenant without adequate capital and mature experience to 

 operate a large business from the beginning. 



TABLE X 

 THE USE OF THE STOCK-SHARE METHOD or RENTING SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED 



Generally, landlords are middle aged men who live on the farm 

 or in an adjoining town. If they take an active part in the supervision 

 of the farm, they provide better farm buildings and more adequate 

 capital for operating the farm. 



