FARM LAND VALUES IN IOWA. 33 



It is apparent that by either of the methods of measurement a 

 larger percentage of owner operators were unsuccessful than was the 

 case with either of the other classes of tenure. Moreover, the percent- 

 ages of unsuccessful farmers by either method of measurement is 

 higher in the Warren district, with a single exception, than in the 

 Tama district, owing to the poor crop year of 1918 in the former 

 district. The single exception is the per cent of tenants making a 

 minus farm labor income on the basis of the land values of August, 

 1919. 



The percentages of those failing to make any labor income in 1918 

 are not large for the Tama district, but it is a striking fact that under 

 the favorable conditions of 1918 in that district the farm incomes 

 based on the land values of 1919 result in minus labor incomes for 32 

 per cent of the owners additional, 39 per cent of the tenants, and 49 

 per cent of the owners. The percentages failing to earn the esti- 

 mated average value of the labor and superintendence of the farmer, 

 even on the basis of 1918 land values, range from 42 per cent for 

 tenants to 57 per cent for owners. When calculated on the basis of 

 1919 land values, those failing to earn the value of the farmer's labor 

 and superintendence' constitute nearly two-thirds of the tenants and 

 over three-fourths of the owners. 



As already pointed out, it must be borne in mind that the actual 

 conditions are not so serious in the case of the tenant as in that of 

 the owner, because the former usually pays an average rent of less 

 than 5 per cent on the value of the real estate, and consequently his 

 operator's labor income is higher than the farm labor incomes cal- 

 culated by the deduction of 5 per cent for all capital employed in 

 farming. On the basis of operators' labor incomes, as distinguished 

 from farm labor incomes, only 3 per cent of ,the tenants in the Tama 

 district made minus labor incomes in 1918, although 11 per cent 

 failed to earn the estimated value of operators' labor and superin- 

 tendence. On the other hand, in the Warren district, where the per 

 cent of rent to land values in 1918 averaged somewhat higher than 5 

 per cent, 9 per cent of the tenants failed to make plus operators' 

 labor incomes in 1918, while 59 per cent failed to earn the value of 

 the farmer's labor and superintendence. 



THE FARMER'S POWER OF ACCUMULATION AS INDICATED BY DATA 



ON NET WORTH. 



In obtaining data concerning the income of Iowa farmers in 1918 

 information also was obtained with regard to the net worth of the 

 farmers at the end of the fiscal year 1918; that is, on March 1, 1919. 

 These facts are shown in Table XX. 



The table shows the average net worth of farmers who own their 

 farms in the Tama district to- be the very substantial amount of 



