CHAPTER XXI 



FARM OWNERSHIP AND TENANCY IN THE UNITED STATES 

 SINCE 1880 



IN 1880 there were 4,008,907 farms in the United States. 

 Three-fourths (74.44 per cent) of these farms were occupied by 

 owners, while one-fourth (25.56 per cent) were operated by ten- 

 ants. The tenant farmer was not confined to the older parts 

 of the United States. The renting of farms was practiced in 

 the regions of most recent settlements as well as in the older 

 states of the East. Tenants were found on the very margin of 

 cultivation in central Kansas. In Illinois there were more 

 tenants than in any other state in the Union. The percentage 

 of all farms operated by tenants was only 8.2 in Massachusetts, 

 and 16.5 in New York and in Pennsylvania, while 31.4 per cent 

 of the farms of Illinois were operated by tenants. 



In 1910 there were 6,361,502 farms in the United States, 63 

 per cent of which were operated by the owners directly or 

 through hired managers, while 37 per cent were operated by 

 tenants. The greater part of this increase took place prior to 

 1900. The percentage of tenants in 1900 was 35.3. Thus the 

 percentage of tenancy increased only 1.7 between 1900 and 

 1910, while the percentage rose from 28.4 in 1890 to 35.3 in 

 1900, an increase of 6.9. Our chief attention should be given, 

 therefore, to the explanation of changes in tenancy prior to 

 1900. The tenure statistics for the four census dates for which 

 such statistics are available are not exactly comparable. For 

 1900 and 1910 farms operated by owners are divided into three 

 classes. In 1910 those owning all the land they operated repre- 

 sented 52.7 per cent of all farmers, those renting additional 

 land 9.3 per cent, those operating through hired managers .9 

 per cent. The percentage of the improved land operated by 

 tenants was 32.7 in 1910. The percentage in 1900 was 30.2. 



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