LAND TENURE AND LAND POLICY 



665 



C. The Problem of Farm Tenancy in the United States 



211. THE TREND OF LAND TENURE IN THE UNITED STATES 



SINCE 1880' 



BY CHARLES L. STEWART 



' When the results of the tenth census were published, considerable 

 surprise was evinced at the extent to which the farms of the nation 

 were operated by tenants. Since that time, however, tenancy has 

 become more and more prevalent in the country. The accompanying 

 table summarizes the census data on the tenure of farms for the main 

 geographic divisions. 



TABLE I 



PERCENTAGE OF FARMS OPERATED UNDER VARIOUS FORMS OF TENURE, UNITED STATES, i88o-igio* 



* Census, 1910, V, 122, 123. 



t A "part owner" owns some of the land he operates, and rents additional land. 



A comparison of the percentages of the various geographic divi- 

 sions reveals a wider spread or range each successive decade. The 

 percentage of tenant farms has moved higher most markedly where 

 it was highest previously, and has shown least positiveness in increas- 

 ing where it was already low. Taken as a whole, the increase in 

 prevalence of tenant farming has been persistent, although not very 

 rapid. 



The farms operated by part owners and managers were doubtless 

 classified with those of owners proper in 1880 and 1890. So far as 

 the managed farms are concerned, the error involved hi counting 



1 Adapted from "Tenant Farming in the United States, with Special Reference 

 to Illinois," University of Illinois Studies in the Social Sciences, Vol. V, No. 3, 

 pp. i* -i 8. (Copyright by the University of Illinois.) 



