18 
BULLETIN 659, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
try, just as soon as the tenant accumulates enough capital to make 
a fair living as an owner, he passes into the owner class, often sac- 
rificing two-thirds of his income in doing so. Table VII shows the 
corresponding facts for a survey made in Chester County, Pa. In 
the fourth capital group ($3,000 to $5,000), the majority have be- 
come owners, in spite of the fact that the average income of owners 
in this group is only $521, while that of tenants with similar invest- 
ments is $1,571. Only six operators with as much as $5,000 capital 
choose to remain tenants, and not one with more than $9,000. Why, 
then, do they choose ownership with smaller incomes? The answer 
to this question lies at the very foundation of rural citizenship in 
this country. 
Table VII. — Sizes of owner and tenant farms and amount of income on 502 
farms in Chester County, Pa. 
Owners. 
Tenants. 
Amount of capital. 
Number 
of farms. 
Average 
area. 
Average 
income. 
Number 
of farms. 
Average 
area. 
Average 
income. 
$1,000 and less 
Acres. 
19 
46 
34 
19 
4 
2 
Acres. 
42.2 
94.7 
123.9 
147.3 
162.8 
136.0 
$424 
$1,001 to 82,000 
3 
11 
33 
60 
67 
55 
66 
47 
36 
19.5 
21.7 
37.1 
57.7 
71.1 
94.2 
109.6 
123.4 
163.0 
$122 
223 
521 
819 
994 
1,169 
640 
$2,001 to 83,000 
815 
S3!001 to $5.000 
1,574 
$5,001 to 87.000 
2.578 
$7,001 to $9.000 
3.276 
$9,001 tp $11 000 
$11,001 to $14.000 
1,641 
2,035 
2,583 
$14,001 to $17,000 

Over $17,000.... 
In the first place, a moderate working capital of, say, $10,000 
would suffice for the operation of a very large farm. It is only the 
exceptional man who is capable of operating such a farm. On a 
moderate-sized farm the average farm family can do most of the 
work. As the size of the farm increases there must be increasing 
dependence on hired labor, which is growing more and more unreli- 
able and difficult to obtain. Most men prefer a smaller farm busi- 
ness in which labor difficulties are much less troublesome. Men who 
have large holdings in farm land nearly always lease them out in 
relatively small tracts rather than undertake to operate a single large 
business unit. 
While the difficulty of securing satisfactory labor for the operation 
of large farms is one of the reasons why men of moderate capital 
choose to operate as owners of medium-sized farms rather than as 
tenants on large farms, it is by no means the most important reason. 
The owner who operates his own farm is absolutely his own boss. 
He enjoys economic independence. Xo one can tell him what he 
shall plant. He is in no danger, provided he keeps out of debt, that 
anyone shall, tell him to move on to make place for somebody else. 
