36 BULLETIN 874, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
average net worth of the youngest and oldest age-groups. The 
former group is largely recruited by young men who have obtained ~ 
their wealth by inheritance, marriage, or gift. This is indicated by 
the figures on inheritance, the average being much larger for the 
youngest age-group than for the older age-groups. On the other hand, 
the eldest age-group is constantly being depleted by retirement 
from farming. 
It should be noted that the amount of net worth not accounted 
for by the above explanations was not all acquired during the 12 
years of ownership, for many owners had acquired considerable net 
worth as tenants before becoming owners. 
Finally, there can be little question but that a considerable part 
of the present average net worth is due not only to increase of land 
values but also to accumulations made possible by the unusually 
favorable conditions of the war period affecting farm incomes. 7 
It is difficult to see how tenants with an average net worth of 
$9,552 can hope to acquire the ownership of farms which together 
with necessary operating capital represent an average investment 
per farm of $86,957 in August, 1919. The process of climbing to 
the top of the agricultural ladder may have been easier in 1913 when 
the total investment averaged $46,029, or even in 1918 when it 
was $60,663, than it is likely to be in the future. The process of 
acquiring ownership by borrowing a large part of the purchase 
price of a farm must be especially difficult when under the favorable 
conditions of 1918 owners of farms made an average net return 
which would yield only 3.5 per cent on the average value of the 
farm investment in August, 1919. Moreover, the relative financial 
undesirability of assuming ownership under present conditions is 
emphasized by the fact that tenants were able to earn 32 per cent 
on their invested capital besides earning the estimated value of their 
labor and superintendence. (See Table XVI.) 
In the Warren district conditions are in some respects more fayor- 
able to the passage from tenancy to ownership than in the Tama 
district. Not only has the average value of land been lower, but 
also it has been capitalized at a higher rate of interest, which is 
shown by the fact that the average net return of landlords, even in 
the unfavorable year of 1918, was 5.33 per cent, as compared with 
2.43 per cent in the Tama district. (Table XIV.) However, the 
annual labor income of farmers in this district from which savings 
may be derived was very much lower than in the Tama district, 
not only in the unfavorable season of 1918, but also in 1915. This 
general fact is reflected in the lower average net worth of tenants in 
the Warren district, which is less than half that of the Tama district. 
The difficulties of acquiring ownership of this high-priced land 
should not be confused with the question of the possibility of accumu- 
