INTERPRETATION OF COST ACCOUNTS 339 



ILLUSTRATION 59 



TABLE IV AVERAGE CAPITAL, RECEIPTS, EXPENSES, AND 



PROFITS OF TENANTS ON 247 FARMS OPERATED BY 



TENANTS IN INDIANA, ILLINOIS, AND IOWA 



the tenants, the evidence is unmistakable that the man 

 with small capital should rent rather than buy a farm. 



"For the amount invested, the tenant's income is very 

 much greater than that of the farm owner. The sum avail- 

 able for the family living, however, is smaller in the case 

 of the tenant, for the farm owner, with an average capital 

 of $30,606 (see Table II), has $1530 interest to use, as 

 well as the $408 labor income. Thus, if the farm owner 

 is free of debt, as one-half of them are, he has $1938 avail- 

 able for a living, as compared with the tenant's $992. 



"In addition to this sum available for a living, each has 

 what the farm furnishes in the shape of produce. After 

 the tenant pays his living and personal expenses out of 

 this amount his savings can not be large. If we allow the 

 owners 3.5 per cent on their investment instead of 5 per 

 cent they would then receive approximately the same labor 

 income as the tenants ($870). This percentage is the same 

 as that received by the landlords from the rented farms, 



