326 FARM MANAGEMENT 



to the comparative costs of different crops and animals. 

 If the general system is for the landlord to get a certain 

 share of the crop he often insists on having the same share 

 of an intensive crop like potatoes as he gets of a hay crop. 

 The result is that the tenants try to reduce the area of 

 intensive crops when a fair system of rental might make 

 this the best crop for both parties. If every farm grew 

 j ust the right area of crops of each kind, the differences on 

 different crops might average up even. But with a rigid 

 system some tenants are persuaded to grow crops on 

 which the landlord makes a big profit and the tenant 

 makes nothing. Other tenants grow crops on which they 

 make more than their fair share of profit. Such cases are 

 exceedingly frequent. The writer knows of many farms 

 every year where considerable areas of such crops as pota- 

 toes, cucumbers, and cabbages are grown for half when 

 the tenant has no extensive crops to balance up the 

 system. In other cases, men get half of a good hay crop 

 for cutting when they do not raise any intensive crops. 

 In 1911, one of the very successful farmers in New York 

 rented seven acres of land from a neighbor for growing 

 potatoes. The usual system of rental is a half, so that 

 neither of them thought of any other basis. The tenant 

 turned over $350 worth of potatoes for the use of seven 

 acres of land when the land was not worth over $500. 

 The landlord made about 70 per cent on his investment. 

 The farmer made very little. 



In Tompkins county, New York, about three-fourths of 

 the rented farms have such a combination of crops and 

 stock as to result in a fair division of the profits. But 

 about one-fourth are unfair to one party or the other. 

 There were such cases as a tenant making a labor income 

 of $835 when the landlord made less than 3 per cent. At 



