304 



FARM MANAGEMENT 



not at all necessary that one own all the property that he 

 operates. If one has only a small amount of money, it is 

 usually very undesirable to try to farm on the small area 

 that this money will buy. 



There are many degrees of farming, adapted to varying 

 capital. One may be hired-man, share renter, cash 

 renter, or may own part and rent part of the land operated, 

 may have the owned land mortgaged, or may own all the 

 land free from debt. Each of these varying degrees of 

 responsibility requires more capital than the preceding. 

 Many farmers pass through each of the stages as they 

 secure more money. 



193. Changes from hired-man to tenant and owner. 

 There is no permanent class of tenants or hired-men in 

 America. Most of the hired-men on farms are the sons of 

 farmers. They are usually young men who are getting 

 a little money ahead in order that they may become 

 tenants. 



The classification by ages of the males engaged in agricul- 

 ture in 1900 is given in Table 64. Seventeen per cent of 

 the persons who owned their farms were less than 35 years 

 old, but 43 per cent of the tenants and 89 per cent of the 



TABLE 64. MALES ENGAGED IN AGRICULTURE IN 1900 BY 



AGE GROUPS l 



1 Twelfth Census, Vol. V, p. Ixxx. 



