BULLETIN 874. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



been ampler it would have been desirable to extend this study in 

 other parts of the country. However, it seemed necessary to limit 

 the area of investigation to a region sufficiently small to permit a 

 reasonably intensive study. Since the activity in land transfers 

 seemed to be central in the State of Iowa, the investigation was con- 

 fined to a territory comprising about 60 counties in that State. (See 



% 1-) 



Details concerning actual sales were obtained in 60 counties. It was 

 at first planned to obtain initial data from the county records, but it 

 was necessary to revise this plan because it was found that a large num- 

 ber of the sales made during the recent period of activiti}" were not re- 



E3 AREAS IM WHICH DATA ON SALES WERE OBTAINED 



B AREAS IN WHICH DATA ON FARM INCOMES WERE OBTAINED 



Fig. 1.— Map of Iowa showing region in which this investigation was conducted. 



corded. Consequently it was necessary to obtain data from real estate 

 men, bankers, lawyers, and retired farmers who had participated in 

 the drawing up of sales contracts. 



The investigators obtained certain general information concerning 

 the subjects of investigation by inquiry from well-informed persons 

 in each county visited. Data on net rents paid for farms for the year 

 1918 were obtained in 49 of the counties visited. 



The Iowa Experiment Station contributed to the investigation 

 data on farm earnings and the distribution of farm earnings, obtained 

 from regular farm management surveys of 965 farms in adjacent 

 townships of Blackhawk, Tama, and Grundy Counties for the year 

 1913, and of 832 farms, located in Warren County, for the year 1915. 



