OWNERSHIP OF TENANT FARMS IN NORTH CENTRAL STATES 25 
RESIDENCE OF OWNERS OF TRACTS RENTED TO PART OWNERS AND OF TRACTS 
OPERATED BY MANAGERS 
In connection with the study of the census data of 1920, attention 
was given to the ownership of rented portions of some of the part- 
owner farms and to the ownership of some of the manager-operated 
farms. The number of part-owner farms studied w r ith this point in 
: mind was 7,986, the number of manager-operated farms 2,290. Of 
I the tracts rented to part owners 67.9 per cent were owned by persons 
resident in the same county and 84.7 per cent by persons resident in 
: the same county or in one of the adjoining counties. Of the farms 
operated by managers 76 per cent were owned by persons resident in 
! the same county and 90.8 per cent by persons resident in the same 
i or in adjoining counties. 
In preceding pages it was stated that of the full tenant farms, the 
ownership of which w T as studied, 73.7 per cent w r ere owned by landlords 
resident in the county and 89.2 per cent by landlords resident in the 
county or in one of the adjoining counties. From this it w T ould seem 
that there is more absenteeism in the North Central States on the 
part of landlords who rent land to farmers than there is by landlords 
who have land operated by managers. Of the tracts rented to ten- 
ants a greater proportion of those rented to part owners are owned 
by absentee landlords than is true of tracts rented to farmers who own 
none of the land which they farm. 
SCATTERED OWNERSHIP 
Among the questions asked . of owners of rented farms was one 
which read: "In how many counties is your land?" followed by 
another wmich asked: "In how many States?" The answers given 
would naturally apply to all land owned irrespective of whether it 
was operated by the owner himself, by laborers, managers, or tenants 
i for the owner, or whether it was not farmed or used at all. It is 
therefore not inconsistent to find that some of the landlords who 
reported but one tenant were yet the owners of land in more than 
one county or State. About 1 per cent of the landlords who had one 
tenant owned land in more than one State, and about 3 per cent 
owned land in more than one county. Of landlords who had two or 
more tenants, a larger percentage owned land in more than one 
county or State. Of those landlords who reported five or more 
tenants, 27 per cent owmed land in more than one State, and 64 per 
cent owned land in more than one county, (Table 20.) 
