28 BULLETIN 874, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



rent paid by tenants averaged 5.33 per cent on the value of the land 

 in 1918 (see Table XV); whereas in 1915 the average operator's 

 labor income of tenants was $725. Although the small labor income 

 of 1918 is partly due to a poor corn crop in this district, it does not 

 appear that landlords could materially increase the rent charged 

 without seriously reducing the labor income of the tenant. 



PER CENT OF LANDLORDS* NET RETURN ON PRESENT VALUE OF INVESTMENT, AND 



ECONOMIC RENT. 



In Table XVI is shown the percentage of the landlord's net rent to 

 the total value of the land and buildings owned by him. The table 

 shows also the economic rent of the land— that is, the amount that 

 could be paid as rent if all the other factors of production were allowed 

 just the amount necessary to obtain their services. This quantity 

 has been calculated by deducting from farm income (1) 5 per cent 

 on the operating capital of the farmer (excluding land value), and (2) 

 the value of the farmer's own labor and supervision. The remainder 

 includes only one other item besides the annual value of the land — 

 namely, uninsured risk. Disregarding this item, the remainder may 

 be considered as the maximum amount that may be attributed to 

 the land without depriving the other factors of production — labor, 

 equipment, and superintendence — of the competitive value of their 



services. 



Table XVI. — Landlord's per cent of net return on investment; economic rentfl 



TAMA DISTRICT. 





Number of farms. 



Per cent of landlord's net re- 

 return on farm capital. 



Economic rent per 

 acre.a 





1913 



1918 



1913 



1918 



Aug., 

 1919 



1913 



1918 





308 

 154 

 503 

 326 

 51 

 126 



86 

 28 

 97 

 76 

 7 

 14 









$7. 89 

 8.46 

 7.59 

 7.43 

 6.74 

 8.65 



$12. 01 





2.73 



2.48 

 2.15 

 2.82 

 3.19 



4.10 

 2.43 

 1.90 

 4.03 

 4.54 



2.76 

 1.65 

 1.30 

 2.82 

 3.00 



15.90 





14.42 





14.62 





10. 06 





15.93 



WARREN DISTRICT. 





1915 



191S 



1915 



1918 



Aug., 

 1919 



1915 



1918 





345 

 190 

 297 

 88 

 70 

 139 



84 

 43 

 50 

 9 

 16 

 31 









$4.00 

 5.83 

 5.37 

 3.92 

 5.87 

 5.86 



$4.92 





5.06 

 3.95 

 2.95 

 3.85 

 4.65 



6.82 

 5.33 

 3.13 

 4.24 

 0.52 



4.49 

 3.60 

 2.09 

 2.98 

 4.37 



7. 95 





6.89 



Cash 



2.53 





6. 95 





8.03 



a F.conomic rent— the amount that could he paid as rent if all the other faotors of production were allowed 

 just the amount necessary to obtain their services. 



1 The term "economic rent "is usually employed to mean the annual economic value of the land over a 

 period of years, taking both fat and lean years into consideration and excluding the annual value of improve- 

 ments. For lack of a better term, the expression is here applied to the earnings imputable to the land in a 

 single year, and no attempt is made to separate the values of land and improvements. 



