16 BULLETIN 1404, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
Of the tenants, 61.6 per cent had accumulated less than $50 per 
year on the average since they began their earning life. The total 
earnings of this group, who constituted approximately one-fourth of 
all the men interviewed, was only 3.5 per cent of the total wealth 
accumulated from earnings by all of the men interviewed. In short, 
26 per cent of all of the accumulators had saved only 3.5 per cent of 
all the earned and saved wealth. The average age of this group of 
• men was 43.4, as compared with the average of 46.8 for all men 
interviewed. 
Contrasted with this extreme of the poorer earners is that of the 
few better accumulators of wealth. There were 4 men out of the 261 
who had been able to save from their earnings $1,000 or more for 
each year since their earning life began. These 4 men constituted 
only 1.5 per cent of all operators, yet they had accumulated 14.6 per 
cent of all the wealth saved by all men interviewed. 
The great difference between the ability of the tenant class and 
that of the owner class to accumulate wealth may be shown by com- 
paring the proportion of all tenants who have been able to accumulate 
$200 or more with that of all owners who have done the same. It 
should be recalled that the accumulation does not include wealth 
acquired directly through increase of land value. Only 0.9 per cent 
of all tenants had accumulated $200 or more per year, whereas 33.6 
per cent of all owners had accomplished this. The great difference 
is partly due to differences in men; that is, generally speaking, a 
larger proportion of the tenant group consists of persons who were 
either of inferior economic ability or of inferior personal advantages, 
such as education. The difference, however, also reflects the advan- 
tages in earnings and in accumulation due to larger wealth received 
gratuitously. 
Of the total wealth accumulated from earnings by both tenants 
and owners, 37 per cent was saved by men who had accumulated 
$200 or less per year. This group constituted 80.5 per cent of all 
the operators interviewed. Hence, they saved roughly only one- 
half of their proportional amount. The average age of this group 
of men was 46.4 as compared with the above age given for all opera- 
tors interviewed. Of the total group of men who had accumulated 
$200 or more per year 1 was a tenant and 50 were owners. This 
group constituted 19.5 per cent of all farmers interviewed and had 
accumulated from their earnings 63 per cent of the total wealth 
accumulated by all men interviewed or more than three times their 
proportional share. The average age of this group was 48.4 years, 
somewhat above that of the less than $200 group. 
This method of contrasting earning power underestimates the real 
earning power of the better accumulators, because part of their real 
earning power comes from investment ability, but even allowing for 
this, the great variation in accumulative ability of different men is 
noticeable. The importance of the recognition of this fact in any 
policy of economic betterment is self-evident. The problem of 
improving the economic and social life of the lower extreme is a 
very different problem from that of improving the economic status 
of the higher extreme. 
