36 BULLETIN 1068, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Of the operators who owned wealth on entering the share-tenant 

 stage, those who are now croppers used the least wealth and bor- 

 rowed the largest proportion and those who are now share tenants 

 used the most wealth (an average of $940). 



The average amount of wealth used by all tenure classes on begin- 

 ning as share tenants was $787, and this was but slightly less than 

 the average amount of wealth used by 43 operators who began the 

 stage since 1909. It would seem, therefore, that this represents about 

 the amount of wealth needed to begin the share-tenant stage before 

 the rise of prices owing to the World War, the amount needed under 

 war prices probably being at least 50 per cent more. 



Owners borrowed a smaller proportion of the wealth they 

 used than did either of the other two classes. From this fact it 

 might be concluded that the less the operator borrows the more likely 

 is he to succeed, a conclusion that in all probability is erroneous. 

 These data, however, may suggest that the present credit facilities 

 are at fault, and that the owners were possibly more judicious bor- 

 rowers because of these faults. 



Both the share croppers and share tenants who had tried the owner 

 stage had borrowed almost two-thirds of the capital they used upon 

 becoming owners, but the latter used almost twice as much capital 

 as did the former. Share tenants and owners both used over $6,000 

 on becoming owners, but owners borrowed $513 less on an average 

 than did share tenants. 



The data given in Table 19 seem to indicate that under prevailing 

 credit facilities purchasers of land are safe if their net worth is 

 about half of the value of the farm bought. Loans for longer 

 periods of time and at lower rates of interest than is now commonly 

 paid, with arrangements permitting payments to be made on the 

 amortization plan, would no doubt make it safe to increase to more 

 than 50 per cent the proportion of borrowed capital in land pur- 

 chases, thereby encouraging ownership. 



TIME REQUIRED FOR OPERATORS TO ATTAIN THE SHARE TENANT AND OWNER 

 STAGES DURING DIFFERENT DECADES. 



One of the causes for the rapid growth of tenancy sometimes 

 suggested by writers on the subject is the increasing price of land 

 and equipment, especially the increasing price of land. As a result, 

 it is claimed that young men starting out must work longer than 

 they formerly did in order to accumulate enough to make their first 

 payment on land. 



The information collected on this subject from the 368 operators 

 of the farms surveyed is summarized in Table 20. No operators 

 were included in the table if they had received as much as $200 from 



