142 RURAL SOCIOLOGY 



tive ethical activities of country districts usually reside with the 

 church. The larger cultural and social outlook associate them- 

 selves with church and school and are products of their life. 

 Immorality, vulgarity, low ethical ideals, insufficiency of infor- 

 mational and esthetic agencies and outlets result from irrespon- 

 sibility and transiency. 



SOME ADVANTAGES OF TENANCY 1 



W. O. HEDRICK 



THE public has become interested only recently in the size of 

 businesses generally, but since 1890 our census bureau has col- 

 lected statistics relative to the size of farms. Speaking generally, 

 the public cares not at all whether factories and stores and rail- 

 roads are rented or are owned by their operators, but it has 

 given much attention to the ownership and rental tenures of land 

 since 1880. 



The curious fact is revealed by the last census enumeration 

 (1910) that it is the very large farm which has been notable 

 during the past ten years. The farms of from 500 to 999 acres 

 have had second place in growth of numbers, have exceeded all 

 others in absorbing total farm area, have exceeded all others in 

 enlarging improved acreage per farm, have shown the biggest in- 

 crease in value of total farm property of any class, were second 

 greatest in increased building valuation, have had greatest in- 

 crease in machinery valuation and third greatest in livestock in- 

 crease. The relatively small number of these farms, however, 

 robs this record of much significance in characterizing American 

 farm sizes. 



With regard to landlordism and tenantry, the same motive 

 which is relied upon by society to secure effective farm handling, 

 that is, "self interest," is the very one which stimulates tenants 

 to rent farms. The farm business requires a combination of 

 several factors notably land, labor, and equipment for its best 

 success. The extremely high price of all these elements renders it 

 sometimes necessary that two enterprisers should combine their 



i Adapted from Publications American Sociological Society, Vol. 11: 

 94-96, Dec., 1916. 



