FARM OWNERSHIP AND TENANCY IN TEXAS. 
29 
land was kept an average of over three years. Therefore, land in- 
vestment has been exceptionally safe to these people. 
Table 16. — Changes in the value of land bought in the black land by the opera- 
tors interviewed, expressed in equivalents of interest compounded annually on 
the original investment. 
Land bought and sold. 
Land bought and still owned. 
Changes in land values 
equivalent to an annual 
compound interest of— 
At a gain. 
At a loss. 
At a gain. 
At a loss. 
Num- 
ber of 
cases. 
Ag- 
gre- 
gate 
years 
held. 
Aver- 
age 
com- 
pound 
inter- 
est. 
Num- 
ber 
of 
cases. 
Ag- 
gre- 
gate 
years 
held. 
Aver- 
age 
com- 
pound 
inter- 
est. 
Num- 
ber 
of 
cases. 
Ag- 
gre- 
gate 
years 
held. 
Aver- 
age 
com- 
pound 
inter- 
est. 
Num- 
ber 
of 
cases. 
Ag- 
gre- 
gate 
years 
held. 
Aver- 
age 
com- 
pound 
inter- 
est. 
per cent 
11 
5 
19 
19 
8 
6 
7 
7 
28 
25 
118 
132 
32 
19 
21 
12 
4 
23 
72 
48 
11 
4 
8 
5 
6 
266 
1,148 
643 
77 
28 
54 
11 
Above and to 4 per cent . . 
Above 4 and to 8 per cent . . 
3.5 
6.4 
10.5 
14.9 
17.8 
23.3 
1 
3 
5 
7 
2.0 
6.0 
2.6 
6.5 
9.9 
14.2 
17.0 
22.5 
36.6 
3 
32 
0.7 
Above 8 and to 12 per cent. . 
Above 12 and to 16 per cent. 
1 
1 
1 
1 
3 
1 
15.0 
17.0 
22.0 
Above 16 and to 20 per cent . 
Above 20 and to 25 per cent . 
39.6 
Total number of cases 
82 
7 
175 
3 
The average weighted per cent of annual net increase in land 
values 33 calculated annually, for land bought and then sold, was 9 
per cent, and for the land that was bought and held, 7.9 per cent. 
In other words, the increase in land values was the equivalent of an 
annually compounded interest on the original investments of 9 and 
7.9 per cent. The net return from these 267 purchases of land 
from increases in its value alone, therefore, has been enough to make 
the land an attractive and safe investment, to say nothing of the 
return in rents. 
General realization of these facts has, without doubt, been a most 
potent influence in the rapid increase in land value during the last 
20 years. Whether or not it has resulted in speculative inflation 
of land values is impossible to say from available data. However, 
unless present price levels in general are maintained, there is the 
possibility of much loss and social unrest in the present situation. 
The farmer's net surplus wealth accumulated during the year de- 
pends on the amounts of his capital that he owns, the labor that he 
himself can furnish, and the amounts of these he must hire. The 
actual disposable incomes of operators, in which interest and wages 
are deducted only when actually paid, are shown in item 9, Table 
15. These figures include all value received by the farmer from the 
labor of himself or family on and off the farm, and values of family 
living furnished by the farm. 
33 The rates of increase were weighted by the aggregate years the land was owned as 
given for each group in Table 16. 
90872—22 5 
