38 BULLETIN 1068, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
time or before they became owners. The average wealth' thus re- 
ceived was $3,578, and the operators receiving- it attained the owner 
stage an average of 3.6 years sooner than did the owners who received 
no fortuitous wealth. In other Avords, each $1,000 received fortui- 
tously shortened by about 1 year the average time required to attain 
ownership. 
It is interesting to note that owners receiving fortuitous help 
shunned the cropper stage and made use of the farm-hand stage 
more than did those who received no fortuitous assistance. The 
number of operators who had been farm hands, in the group receiv- 
ing fortuitous help, was 3.6 times as many as the number who had 
been croppers. On the other hand, of the group receiving no for- 
tuitous assistance, only 1.8 times as many had been farm hands as 
had been croppers. Operators receiving fortuitous assistance and 
who had been farm hands spent an average time of 5.4 years in the 
stage as compared with an average of 4.6 years spent by those receiv- 
ing no fortuitous assistance, while of the operators who had been 
croppers, those receiving fortuitous assistance were croppers for an 
average period of 1.8 years, and those receiving no fortuitous assist- 
ance were croppers for an average of 2.6 years. 
Calculations on the effects of receipts of fortuitous wealth on the 
time required to reach share tenancy 37 showed that for each $703 
received fortuitously before, or at the time of attaining tenancy, the 
average time of attaining the stage was shortened by one year. 
About 89 per cent of all land owned was purchased by the owners, 
and the remainder was received in about equal amounts through 
marriage and inheritance. The proportion of all land owned that 
was received in these three ways are approximately the same for ten- 
ants and owners. The tendency for inheritance to break down the 
size of holdings is suggested by the fact that the average inherited 
farm was 65.5 acres in size, while the average size of the purchased 
farm was 141.6 acres — more than twice that of the inherited farm. 
In order to determine whether or not there is any relation be- 
tween the tenure of father and that of the son. data on the tenure 
status of the fathers of operators were taken. It was found that 
of the fathers who were farmers, 38.6 per cent of those of croppers, 
68.2 per cent of the fathers of tenants and 75 per cent of those of 
owners were OAvners. From general observation, while interview- 
ing operators, it is believed that the greater financial encourage- 
ment and assistance giA^en by fathers who were owners was a more 
important influence in this regard than was the training and in- 
herited traits of the operators whose fathers were owners. Never- 
theless, it Avill be noted from Table 21 that there is a relation 
37 Onlj' amounts of $200 or more are considered fortuitous assistance to attaining 
tenancy. 
