OWNERSHIP OF TENANT FARMS IN NORTH CENTRAL STATES 33 
HOW OWNERSHIP WAS ACQUIRED 
Usable answers to questions relating to the ways in which land 
owned in 1920 was acquired were tabulated for 14,174 owners of 
rented land. The questions asked follow: Of the land to which you 
held title January I, 1920, how many acres had been acquired by you 
in each of the following ways: (a) By homes teading? ; (b) by 
marriage? ; (c) by inheritance or gift? ; (d) by purchase, 
trade, or foreclosure? ; (e) otherwise? In the discus- 
sion which follows, inheritance and gift are treated under the heading 
" inheritance," and purchase, trade, and foreclosure under the head- 
ing " purchase." 
It is not possible to tell to what extent acreages which widows 
indicated they had acquired by marriage were really acquired as a 
result of joint savings while the husband was alive. The replies do 
not reveal the value of the acreage held, the extent to which it was 
mortgaged, or the extent to which it had been bought with wealth 
originally acquired by inheritance, gift, marriage, or homesteading 
but converted into money or other property through trade or sale. 10 
Of the owners replying, 64 per cent indicated that they had pur- 
chased all their land, 11 per cent had inherited it all, 15 per cent 
had inherited part and purchased the rest, and 2 per cent had acquired 
a part by purchase and the rest by marriage. In the acquisition of 
the acreage owned, purchase had been a factor with 85 per cent of 
the owners, inheritance with 27 per cent, marriage with 6 per cent, 
and homesteading with 5 per cent. 
Of the acreage owned 81.2 per cent was purchased and 14 per cent 
was inherited while the rest was acquired by marriage and home- 
steading in about equal amounts. 
Of the owners replying concerning manner of acquisition 11,905 
were men and 2,269 were women. The men had acquired eight times 
as much by purchase as by inheritance. The women had purchased 
less than they inherited. Thus of the acreage owned by men 85.7 
per cent had been purchased, 10.5 per cent inherited, and 1.4 per cent 
acquired by marriage. Of the acreage owned by women 42.5 per cent 
had been purchased, 44 per cent inherited, and 10.7 per cent acquired 
by marriage (fig. 14). Only 52 per cent of the women had pur- 
chased any of their land whereas 91 per cent of the men had pur- 
chased a part or all of their land. (Table 29.) 
Although according to the inheritance laws and customs of this 
country brothers and sisters participate equally, women are more 
likely to take their share in any settlement in the form of money, 
bonds, or mortgages, whereas men are likely to take over the land, 
giving, where necessary, a mortgage to the female heirs so as to 
adjust matters. Moreover, after settlement, men are more likely 
to retain inherited farm property than are women other than wives 
of farmers. 
10 Apparently a few of those who replied are not familiar with the word "homesteading" and took it to 
mean the farm on which they were raised in the sense of the expression "the old homestead," whereas it 
was desired that land tabulated as homesteaded should be that acquired directly from the Government in 
accordance with methods permitted by the homestead laws. To the extent to which misunderstanding 
in this matter occurred it is probable that the acreage listed as homesteaded is too large and the acreage listed 
as inherited is too small. However, misunderstanding of the questions asked probably does not materially 
affect the tabulations. 
