62 BULLETIN 1224, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
From Table 21 it is clear that as the period of occupancy increases 
the rents decrease relatively to the value of the land. This general 
downward tendency of rents in the higher occupancy classes is brought 
out in practically all the county groups where the number of rented 
farms is large enough to establish reliable averages. The only out- 
standing exception is found in the case of the negro tenants in Group 
42 (the Black Prairie of Alabama) , 18 The greatest decrease in relative 
rents occurs between the first two occupancy classes. The decreases 
between all the other classes are generally considerably less. For 
all the groups combined (white tenants only) the decrease in the 
ratio of rent to value between the first two classes was 0.7 per cent; 
between the next two classes 0.2 per cent; and between the last two 
classes 0.2 per cent. The decrease was three times greater in the 
case of the first two occupancy classes than between any other two. 
This means that the new tenant pays considerably higher rent than 
the tenants who have occupied the same farm for a longer period 
than one year; but, after the tenant has been on the same farm for 
over two years, a longer period of occupancy does not result in low- 
ering the rent as much as it was lowered after the first year. The 
relatively great decline in the rent after the first year of occupancy 
is further emphasized by the fact that the class interval is consid- 
erably greater for the higher occupancy groups. 
Several explanations of the lower rent paid by the longer occu- 
pancy groups suggest themselves: It may be due to (1) existence of 
long contracts between landlords and old tenants ; (2) personal inter- 
est and attachment on the part of a landlord for an old tenant; (3) 
the fact that a landlord runs a certain risk in leasing to a new tenant; 
and (4) arrangements made with old tenants whereby the tenants 
keep the farm in good condition and repair for a certain reduction in 
the rent. 
It is clear that the existence of long contracts between landlords 
and tenants would cause cash rents to lag behind farm rents in a 
period of rising or falling prices. If such contracts existed on any 
extensive scale this would explain why the relative rents of the 
shorter-occupancy classes are higher than those of the longer-occu- 
pancy classes. But this is not the case. A few long contracts doubt- 
less do exist but, in general, new contracts are made each year. 
It may seem that the lower rents paid by the old tenants are to be 
explained by the unwillingness of a landlord to raise the rent of an 
old tenant for personal or sentimental reasons. This happens in 
some instances, but as a general explanation of the lower rents paid 
by the old tenants, it is untenable. Table 21 shows that among the 
Japanese and negro tenants those in the longer-occupancy classes 
pay lower rents than those in the shorter-occupancy classes. Cer- 
tainly this can not be explained by personal interest in the tenant 
on the part of the landlord. The shorter-occupancy classes among 
the white tenants pay higher rent for the same reasons that they do 
18 This is just the reverse of conditions that prevail in all the other areas where the number of cases is 
large enough to establish reliable averages. The planters in this region explain this in the following way; 
Johnson grass is particularly bad in this region. For the most part it attacks the better lands. It grows 
rapidly and sends its roots deep into the ground, making the land difficult to cultivate and lowering the 
yields. It impairs the earning power of the land for two or three years, but does not greatly affect its value. 
The ratio of rent to value on this land is low until this grass is brought under control. The landlords give 
these lands to the new tenants and this accounts for the lower relative rents paid by the new negro tenants 
in this area. 
