48 BULLETIN 1068, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
There is little difference in the amounts spent for groceries by the 
different classes of accumulators, but there is a large difference in 
the value of food raised on the farm, the poorest cropper accumu- 
lators receiving an average of $135 worth of food from the farm as 
compared with $493 worth received by the best owner accumulators. 
Edibles raised on the farm apparently do not reduce family grocery 
bills appreciably, but they do raise the family dietary standards. 
The extent of this increase in dietary standards from edibles 
raised on the farm is not adequately shown by a comparison of values, 
for the most important difference is due to the quality of the food 
rather than to its value in dollars, and it is not at all unlikely that 
the lower dietary standards of the poorest accumulators cause much 
of the larger amount of sickness found among them and indirectly 
influences accumulations. (See data on health in Table 27.) The 
somewhat high per cent of sickness reported among all classes of 
owners is no doubt due to the advanced age of several operators in 
this tenure class. 
Advocates of diversification have claimed, with good reason, that 
increased diversification would remedy the credit situation, making 
it less imperative for the operator to resort to short-time credit for 
running expenses. The data on this point show that the proportion 
who used short-time credit in 1919 was greater with the poorest 
accumulators than with the best accumulators by 4 per cent for 
croppers, 22 per cent for share tenants, and 29 per cent for owners. 
Although these differences are not entirely attributable to differences 
in degree of diversification, the marked association of the greatest 
diversification with the least short-time credit used indicates that 
diversification lessens the need for short-time credit for consumption 
purposes among the two poorer groups of accumulators in all tenure 
classes. 
RELATION BETWEEN THE SHIFTING OF OPERATORS FROM FARM TO FARM AND THE 
ACCUMULATION OF WEALTH. 
Tenants in the black land have little to attach them to a given farm 
from one year to another. Almost all farm enterprises are completed 
annually, the relatively unimportant enterprise of raising stock 
being the only one that lasts from one year to another. Even this 
enterprise as conducted in the black land can be transferred from 
one farm to another with little difficulty. Because of these condi- 
tions tenants move very often for little or no reason. 
Similarly, landlords can change tenants with practically no incon- 
venience or financial loss. Tenants are often asked to move without 
knowing in what particular they have failed, or have displeased 
