STUDY OF SMALL FARMS NEAR WASHINGTON. 19 
vantage of the tenant to raise as much as possible, since he must pay 
his rent before he can pay himself. 
In a comparison of owners we find that those who rented addi- 
tional land operated more land with a given amount of capital than 
those who did not. In a region where land values are high because 
of city speculative values, it may pay better to rent than to buy addi- 
tional land in order to increase the farm business. It will be noticed 
that the landlords made only 2.9 per cent on their investment — 
another indication of the advantage of renting additional land. The 
farmer with sufficient capital to buy naturally prefers to own his 
place, but if the place is small he should not hesitate to rent addi- 
tional land, if possible, in order to increase his profits. 
The tenants required a relatively small amount of capital. The 
farm income of the tenants is less than that of the owners, but if the 
interest on the capital invested is deducted the net income or labor 
income is about the same for both groups. The prospective farmer 
with the necessary experience but with little capital can do better by 
renting than by buying until he can afford to get a farm of sufficient 
size for profitable operation. 
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