BULLETIN 1048, L T . S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
obtained for the banks reporting was also applicable to the loans and 
discounts of the banks which did not report. In view of the fact 
that city banks, as explained above, were represented in the reports 
rather more largely than country banks, it would seem that the esti- 
mates arrived at on this basis should be conservative rather than the 
reverse. 
The prominence of agriculture in the West North Central States is 
apparent from the figures in the column showing the estimated total 
personal and collateral loans outstanding to farmers. The seven 
States in this division have about 40 per cent of the total of such 
loans in the United States, and Iowa alone has over 10 per cent. 
Turning to the percentage which personal and collateral loans to 
farmers constitute of total loans and discounts of banks in the various 
States, the highest figures again are found for the West North Cen- 
tral States. The three States showing highest percentages of such 
loans to farmers are South Dakota, North Dakota, and Kansas, 
where the figures are 67.98 per cent, 62.58 per cent, and 60.07 per 
cent, respectively. 
It has been estimated that the banks of the United States on 
December 31, 1920, held approximately $1,447,500,000 of farm mort- 
gage loans. 1 Combining this figure with the estimated amount of 
personal and collateral loans as shown in the table, namely, $3,869,- 
891,415, it appears that last December the banks of the United States 
had total loans to farmers approximating $5,317,400,000. This 
amount represented 18.3 per cent of the total loans and discounts of 
all banks. A similar combination of the percentages for the esti- 
mated totals of the two classes of loans indicates that the total bank 
accommodation to farmers constituted 78 per cent of the total loans 
and discounts of all banks in South Dakota; 77 per cent in North 
Dakota; 69 per cent in Kansas; and 68 per cent in Iowa. 
SEASONAL FLUCTUATION IN PERSONAL AND COLLATERAL LOANS TO 
FARMERS. 
It is generally known that in agricultural sections banks experience 
a gradually increasing demand for credit, which commences with the 
planting of crops and reaches a peak immediately prior to the time 
when crops are ready for market. Figure 1 indicates for the United 
States and for each of its geographic divisions the fluctuations which 
occurred during 1920 in the amount of farmers' personal and col- 
lateral loans outstanding with reporting banks. For the United 
States as a whole, there was a gradual increase for each month from 
January to October, when loans began to decline. It is apparent, 
however, that this decline was very slight, and that the contraction 
1 Department Bulletin No. 1047, entitled, " Farm Mortgage Loans by Banks, Insurance Companies and 
Other Agencies." 
