18 



BULLETIN 659, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



try. just as soon as the tenant accumulates enough capital to make 

 a fair living as an owner, he passes into the owner class, often sac- 

 rificing two-thirds of his income in doing so. Table VII shows the 

 corresponding facts for a survey made in Chester County, Pa. In 

 the fourth capital group ($3,000 to $5,000), the majority have be- 

 come owners, in spite of the fact that the average income of owners 

 in this group is only $521, while that of tenants with similar invest- 

 ments is $1,574. Only six operators with as much as $5,000 capital 

 choose to remain tenants, and not one with more than $9,000. Why, 

 then, do they choose ownership with smaller incomes? The answer 

 to this question lies at the very foundation of rural citizenship in 

 this country. 



Table VII. — Sizes of oioner and tenant farms and amount of income on 502 

 farms in Chester County, Pa. 



Amount of capital. 



S1,000 and less.... 

 $1,001 to $2,000... 

 $2,001 to $3.000... 

 $3,001 to $5.000... 

 $5,001 to $7.000... 

 $7,001 to $9.000... 

 $9,001 to $11.000.. 

 $11,001 to $14,000. 

 $14,001 to $17,000. 

 Over $17,000 



Owners. 



Number 

 of farms. 



Average 

 area. 



Acres. 



19.5 

 21.7 

 37.1 

 57.7 

 71.1 

 94.2 

 109.6 

 123.4 

 163.0 



Average 

 income. 



$122 



223 



521 



819 



994 



1,169 



1,641 



2,035 



2,583 



Tenants. 



Number 

 of farms. 



Average 

 area. 



Acres. 

 42.2 

 94.7 

 123.9 

 147.3 

 162.8 

 136.0 



Average 

 income. 



$424 



640 



815 



1 , 574 



2,578 

 3,276 



In the first place, a moderate working capital of, saj 7 , $10,000 

 would suffice for the operation of a very large farm. It is only the 

 exceptional man who is capable of operating such a farm. On a 

 m'oderate-sized farm the average farm family can do most of -the 

 work. As the size of the farm increases there must be increasing 

 dependence on hired labor, which is growing more and more unreli- 

 able and difficult to obtain. Most men prefer a smaller farm busi- 

 ness in which labor difficulties are much less troublesome. Men who 

 have large holdings in farm land nearly always lease them out in 

 relativel} 7 small tracts rather than undertake to operate a single large 

 business unit. 



"While the difficulty of securing satisfactory labor for the operation 

 of large farms is one of the reasons why men of moderate capital 

 choose to operate as owners of medium-sized farms rather than as 

 tenants on large farms, it is by no means the most important reason. 

 The owner who operates his own farm is absolutely his own boss. 

 He enjoys economic independence. No one can tell him what he 

 shall plant. He is in no danger, provided he keeps out of debt, that 

 anyone shall tell him to move on to make place for somebody else. 



