CONTRACTS USED IN RENTING FARMS ON SHARES. 33 
Expenses: Tenant. Owner. farm. 
IIreMnlabor cane DOA ee ae a $200 $200 
Haney DOL hs eume es Lh Ae ee 25 25 
Cash expense of operation and repair__________ 300 300 
Depreciation of equipment, 14 per cent of $500__ 35 35 
Depreciation of buildings, 6 per cent of $2,000__ 60 60 
Interest on working capital, 6 per cent of $2,500_ v3) 75 
Taxes on real estate and equipment____________ 80 80 
GING [rea eee tense ee A SGU RULES NTO WNT ak ek 775 175 $1, 550 
Dy cAI STM aE (EQ Steet RA ch ae ee 1, 650 
Reward for tenant’s management and labor__________________ 825 
Revwakdetor usevOr, Leal CStates wea A cen ee 825 
Imterest’on realvestate (per cent) 222-22. e 3.3 
The tenant receives $825, half of the net profit, as a reward of his labor 
and management, also an allowance for half of the value of the family labor, 
and board of hired labor furnished, and the interest on his half of the working 
eapital. His working capital is maintained at the same value at which he 
turned it into the partnership or is. replaced. 
The landowner receives, in addition to his $825, an allowance of the interest 
on his half of the working capital, as well as having all taxes paid on his real 
estate and an allowance for depreciation. 
Interest on working capital in the above example is charged at 6 per cent. 
The rate would be about 10 per cent if it included depreciation charges. 
SUGGESTIONS TOWARD A RATIONAL LEASE CONTRACT. 
The conditions under which the various existing types of share 
farming have developed have led landowners to include in lease 
contracts such a bewildering variety of rights and privileges of 
unspecified money value that at first sight it would seem impossible 
to say whether the contract is just or not. The approximate value 
of all these items, however, is generally known. Shrewd judgment 
and local experience enable the landowner and tenant to estimate 
closely what the thrashing, twine, feed, seed, and fertilizer bills will 
be. Nevertheless, lease contracts in which various items of expense 
and privilege are empirically adjusted and assigned to tenant or 
landlord are never, except by mere accident, strictly fair, but are 
always slightly in favor of landlord or tenant. Any injustice of 
this sort may become a source of friction between landlord and tenant 
and may lead to more frequent moving on the part of the tenant. 
In some cases the tenant is a son or other relative of the landlord, 
in which event other considerations than those of strict business 
principles may be reflected in the stipulations of the lease. Or the 
-owner May be a speculator merely holding the land for sale at an 
advanced price, being willing to accept a low rent pending sale and 
expecting to take his profit from the rise in the price of land rather 
