14 BULLETIN 659, tJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
cover the farm business for the calendar a ear 1914. Two factors 
affecting results were not normal, namely, the price received for 
cotton and the yield of oats. 
To overcome the discrepancy in the price of cotton, the average 
price received for the 5 years previous to 1911 was obtained from 
each farmer. The average of these data shows that under normal 
market conditions the price received was 11.2 cents per pound. 
Therefore, in all calculations where receipts from cotton are con- 
sidered, the average 5-year price per pound has been substituted. 
This price is far below that now prevailing. Present prices are due 
to a great war, and can hardly be expected to continue when condi- 
tions have become normal again. 
On account of drought conditions during the early summer of 
1911. the oats crop was practically a failure. More than two-thirds 
of the oats planted for grain were cut for hay and very low yields 
were obtained for this feed. Since it is impracticable to determine 
increased labor and other costs due to increase in yield as well as 
increased returns from this enterprise, no definite conclusions are 
drawn concerning oats. However, since oats occupied only 6.9 per 
cent of the total acreage in crops, it is thought that this discrepancy 
will not vitiate the general results of the -uivey. 
Comparison with census data and consistent statements from farm- 
ers indicate that practically all other important factors of the farm 
business were normal during the year 1911. 
TENURE. 
The tenure problem is an acute one in Ellis County, as it is in 
Texas generally. A complete analysis of the problem would require 
a large amount of information concerning each tenure system. Since 
records were obtained from only 111 farms, when these are grouped 
according to tenure there are not enough farms in each sy-tem to 
make fair averages. 
Seven more or less distinct tenure systems 1 were encountered in 
the survey, the number of farms in each group being as follows: 37 
owner-operators. 11 owners-additional. 16 owners with cropper labor, 
5 owners-additional with cropper labor. 21 share renters, 18 share- 
cash renters and 3 independent croppers. These make a total of 
111 farms on which tenure and cost tabulations were made. The 
owner-operator farms and the owner-with-cropper-labor farms 
might each be further subdivided, since operators were found in 
earli of these groups who rented out a part of the land owned. 
However, in the data here jriven the latter classification is not con- 
definitions of the tenure systems see p. 2. 
