44 



BULLETIN 1068, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



lators on the basis of the average annual accumulation of wealth 

 from earnings. 40 



Data presented in Table 24 indicate the reliability of the above 

 classification of accumulators. It will be noted that the present net 

 worth of the different classes of accumulators increases without ex- 

 ception in passing from the poorest to the best in all three tenure- 

 classes, increasing from an average net worth of $187 for the poorest 

 cropper accumulators to $46,903 for the best owner accumulators. 

 Furthermore, the 1919 net family accumulation increases from the 

 poorest to the best without exception, in each of the tenure classes. 

 The best accumulators from earnings also accumulated most from 

 increases in land values, as would be expected. 



Table 24. — Average present net worth, its sources, and the average family 

 accumulation of xcealth (hiring 1919, for the different classes of accumu- 

 lators. 





Croppers. 



Tenants. 



Owners. 



Items of correlation. 



Mp- 



Poorest -: dmrn. 



Best. 



*™«J dKm. 



Best. 



Poorest. 



Me- 

 dium. 



Best. 





21 1 19 

 $187 1 $731 

 143 | 72 



21 '■ 106 

 -11 169 



22 



$1, 697 



107 



18 



231 



1 

 65 62 



64 



$6,685 



563 



862 



618 



39 



$16, 063 



1,984 



8,661 



-178 



31 



$21,498 



1,666 



10, 156 



862 



38- 



Present net worth of opera- 



$2, 001 



480 



369 



51 



$3, 305 

 137 

 355 

 199 



$46, 90* 



1,599- 



20, 869^ 



977 



Average amount received 

 from fortuitous sources 1 ... 



Average received from in- 

 creases in land values ' 



Average family accumula- 

 tion of wealth for 1919 2 . . . 



1 Averaged on all operators in class whether wealth was thus received or not. 



2 See item 10, Table 15. 



DELATION BETWEEN SIZE AND VALUE OF FARM OPERATED AND ACCUMULATION OF 



WEALTH FROM EARNINGS. 



It is quite definitely shown in Table 25 that the best accumulators- 

 in each tenure class are now on farms which have the largest value in 

 land and buildings, the largest value in equipment, the. greatest acre- 

 age, and largest number of work stock. Moreover, it will be seen 

 that the best accumulators had generally operated the largest farms 

 when they were in other tenure stages. On the other hand, the oppo- 

 site condition is shown by data on the operators who were the poorest 

 accumulators. 



This close relation between the best accumulators and the largest 

 and most valuable farms is not only the result of demonstrated effi- 



40 In making this division of operators it was recognized that accumulation of wealth 

 is influenced by the age of the operator ; also by the period of time in which the accumu- 

 lation was being made. Consequently operators were first grouped by periods of time 

 when they began for themselves and were then regrouped by age groups so as to eliminate 

 as nearly as possible these two influences before the operators were divided into the above 

 three classes of accumulators. After selecting the three classes of accumulators in the 

 final groups, based on age of the operators, the best accumulators in each tenure class 

 were brought together, as were the other two classes of accumulators. 



