STUDY OF SMALL FARMS NEAR, WASHINGTON. 19 



vantage of the tenant to raise as much as possible, since he must pay 

 his rent before he can pay himself. 



In a comparison of owners we find that those who rented addi- 

 tional land operated more land with a given amount of capital than 

 those who did not. In a region where land values are high because 

 of city speculative values, it may pay better to rent than to buy addi- 

 tional land in order to increase the farm business. It will be noticed 

 that the landlords made only 2.9 per cent on their investment — 

 another indication of the advantage of renting additional land. The 

 farmer with sufficient capital to buy naturally prefers to own his 

 place, but if the place is small he should not hesitate to rent addi- 

 tional land, if possible, in order to increase his profits. 



The tenants required a relatively small amount of capital. The 

 farm income of the tenants is less than that of the owners, but if the 

 interest on the capital invested is deducted the net income or labor 

 income is about the same for both groups. The prospective farmer 

 with the necessary experience but with little capital can do better by 

 renting than by buying until he can afford to get a farm of sufficient 

 size for profitable operation. 



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