12 BULLETIN 850, TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Table VII. — Prospective ownership by tenants. 
Tenants 
who think 
*Sa v half d 
IXJOAUl}. hAfnrP snTTia A-rr,PP+ pay nail 
value of a 
farm in 15 
years. 
Years 
Tenants 
Nonown- 
rented 
who own 
ers who 
before 
some 
expect 
buying. 
land. 
to own. 
Per cent. 
Per cent. 
- 6.2 
40 
96 
9.9 
33 
85 
8.3 
23 
90 
6.9 
30 
92 
5.5 
27 
96 
Kansas: Barton County 
Nebraska: Clay County 
South Dakota: Spink County. 
North Dakota: Barnes County 
Minnesota: Renville County. . 
Per cent. 
It will be seen from the table that in only two of the localities 
visited, namely, Kansas and South Dakota, do a majority of the 
tenants think, in view of their past experience, that they can become 
owners in their present localities within 15 years. The owners 
renting additional land in all these localities, while usually admitting 
that a farm is not now so readily acquired by a tenant as when they 
bought, think that they could still become owners were they starting 
to rent. From 85 to 96 per cent of the nonowners expect to own 
farms, if not in their present localities, then some place where land 
costs less. 
BELIEF OF TENANTS AS TO TREND OF RENTS. 
Each tenant was asked to express his opinion as to whether rents 
in his locality were increasing or not. In the Kansas area, 70 per 
cent of the tenants thought that rents were increasing and 30 per 
cent that they were not; in the Nebraska area, 74 per cent thought 
rents were increasing and 26 per cent that they were not; in the South 
Dakota area, the tenants were equally divided in opinion with regard 
to the increase of rent; in the North Dakota area, 34 per cent of the 
tenants thought rents were increasing, while 66 per cent thought 
they were stationary; and in the Minnesota area, 85 per cent of the 
tenants thought that rents were increasing, while 15 per cent thought 
they were not. 
Tenants who thought rents were increasing claimed that where 
land was rented for cash a higher rate was asked per acre; that share 
rent, instead of being one-third as formerly, was getting to be two- 
fifths; that where the share paid remained unchanged there were 
fewer instances of tenants getting pasture" and hay land free; and 
that where cash was paid for pasture and hay land it was commanding 
a higher price per acre. 
