FARM OWNERSHIP AND TENANCY IN TEXAS. 



55 



of the people. The Bohemians and people of other foreign extrac- 

 tion get much entertainment and amusement from public dances. 



THE USE OF THE AUTOMOBILE, TELEPHONE, AND R. F. D. BY THE DIFFERENT 



TENURE CLASSES. 



The automobile, the telephone, and the rural free delivery have 

 done a great deal to make life on the farm more enjoyable, and at the 

 same time have been a source of farm profit as well. Table 31 shows 

 the extent to which these agencies are used by the different tenure 

 classes. 



Table 31. — Number and per cent of operators in each tenure class that have 

 automobiles, telephones, and rural free delivery. 



Tenure status. 



Automobile. 



Number 

 report- 

 ing. 



Per cent 

 having 

 automo- 

 biles. 



Telephone. 



Number 

 report- 

 ing. 



Per cent 

 having 



tele- 

 phones. 



Rural free delivery. 



Number 

 report- 

 ing. 



Per cent 



using 

 R.F.D. 



Share croppers 



Share tenants 



Owners additional 

 Owner operators. . 



61 

 194 

 26 



82 



16.4 

 45.9 



74.4 



65 

 192 

 26 

 83 



20.0 

 47.4 

 69.2 

 59.0 



65 

 192 

 26 

 81 



86.0 

 85.0 

 96.0 

 90.5 



Automobiles are used less by croppers than by any other tenure 

 class, about 1 in 6 having cars! Almost 1 out of every 2 share tenants 

 owned an automobile ; 4 out of each 5 owners additional, and 3 out of 

 each 4 owner operators owned cars. Sixty owners estimated that on 

 an average 34.3 per cent of the total use made of their automobiles 

 was for farm business ; 120 tenants estimated that on an average 37.2 

 per cent of the total use of their automobiles was for farm business. 

 Forty of the 99 tenants who owned cars paid more on them for run- 

 ning expenses alone in 1919 than their entire family savings for the 

 year amounted to. 



The cost of the telephone is relatively small as compared with the 

 cost of keeping an automobile, and there are probably few farmers 

 who had telephones that did not make use of their telephones enough 

 in their farm business to pay for the cost. About 1 out of every 5 

 croppers, almost half of the share tenants, 7 out of each 10 owners 

 additional, and out of each 10 owner operators had telephones. 



Postal free delivery service was utilized by 8G per cent of all share 

 croppers, -■> per cent of all share tenants, and 90 and 91 per cent, 

 respectively, of owners additional and owner operators. Owners' 

 homes are probably more frequently found on the main highways 

 than are tenants' homes, and since these are the roads on which 

 R. F. D. routes most often pas-, owners probably are more con- 

 veniently located with respect to this Bervice than are tenants. 



