OWNERSHIP OF TENANT FARMS IN THE UNITED STATES 
33 
FARM EXPERIENCE OF LANDLORDS 
Of a total of 20,642 men reporting their experience on farms in 
answers to questionnaires, the replies of 8 per cent indicated that they 
had had no farming experience. Another group, 11 per cent, had 
not farmed as tenants or owners, but had had some experience as 
helpers on farms, working with or without wages. In most cases 
this experience was probably obtained on farms operated by parents. 
The rest of the farm landlords, 81 per cent of all, had farmed for 
themselves (fig. 14) . 9 The replies indicate that 74 per cent of the 
TENURE EXPERIENCE OF OWNERS OF RENTED FARMS, 1920 
PER CENT OF ALL LANDLORDS 
40 50 60 
100 
Fig. 14. — The figure summarizes the previous tenure experience of about 20,000 male landlords. Nearly 
three-fourths had. been operating owners and two-fifths had been both tenants and owner-farmers 
men who own rented farms have farmed as owners and 7 per cent 
additional have farmed as tenants, but not as owners. Of the land- 
lords who had farmed for themselves, 57.5 per cent had farmed as 
tenants and 91.7 per cent as owners 8.3 per cent had farmed only 
as tenants, 42.5 per cent only as owners, and 49.2 per cent as tenants 
and at another time as owners. 
From the replies it can be seen that the owners of rented farms are 
in most cases persons with an experience that should be of consider- 
able value to themselves as landlords, as well as to their tenants, 
who are often young men without much experience (Table 20) . 
Table 20. — Farm experience of owners of rented farms, 1920 ° 
Areas of study 
Per- 
centage 
of 
women 
among 
all 
owners 
report- 
ing 
Total 
men 
owners 
report- 
ing 
Percentage of men owners by experience 
Counties 
None 
Helper 
not 
farmer 
Tenant 
not 
owner 
oper- 
ator 
Owner- 
oper- 
ator not 
tenant 
Tenant 
and 
owner 
oper- 
ator 
Location of land 
Total 
Group b 
North Atlantic States 
Chesapeake-Delaware penin- 
sula 
Number 
19 
12 
46 
39 
23 
19 
17 
9 
Number 
1^ 
15,16 
5-9 
10-14 
17-22 
23-26 
27-30 
31 
Per ct. 
17 
19 
19 
12 
12 
12 
10 
22 
Number 
2,371 
641 
6,817 
5,113 
1,792 
1,501 
1,962 
385 
Per ct. 
12 
16 
8 
7 
7 
6 
9 
15 
Per ct. 
13 
13 
11 
12 
8 
5 
11 
12 
Per ct. 
6 
5 
8 
5 
5 
10 
6 
Per ct. 
34 
43 
30 
37 
40 
42 
28 
40 
Per ct. 
35 
23 
East North Central States... 
West North Central States. . 
South Atlantic States 
East South Central States... 
West South Central States.. 
California 
43 
39 
38 
42 
42 
27 
° Tabulated from replies to questionnaires. 
6 See footnote 4, p 3. 
9 The figure originally appeared on page 536 of the 1923 Yearbook in the article "Land Owrership and 
Tenancy." 
