OWNERSHIP OF TENANT FARMS IN THE UNITED STATES 21 
with and interested in the problems of managing, conserving, and 
improving their property than owners less conveniently located. 
Because of this acquaintance and interest near-by landlords are more 
likely to be on good terms with their tenants, which is a matter of' 
importance to both parties. 
Residence of landlord in relation to rented farm land owned was 
first studied in connection with the census of 1900. The cash- 
rented and the share-rented farms for which the residence of owners 
was reported were each divided into three groups according as the 
owner was resident (1) in the same county as the farm, (2) in the 
same State but not the same county, (3) outside of the State in which 
the farm was located. 
For the counties for which ownership of rented farms in 1920 was 
studied no distinction was made between cash-rented and share- 
rented farms. Farms were grouped according as they were owned 
by residents of the county, residents of the adjoining counties in 
and out of the State, residents of nonad joining counties in and out 
of the State, and residents of nonad joining States. The second 
grouping is significant, because frequently owners reside rather 
near their rented farm or farms, though in an adjoining county. 
Landlords who answered the questionnaire told whether or not they 
resided on farms and reported the number of their tenants who 
lived within 3 miles of the landlord's residence. 
One may use statistics which have to do with the location of rented 
farms in relation to residence of the owners with fewer misgivings 
on the score of accuracy and representativeness than is the case with 
statistics which have to do with the extent to which the ownership 
of rented farms is concentrated in the hands of those who own the 
largest, holdings. 6 The relative amount of absenteeism may be 
studied regardless of whether or not one has, for each farm, a knowl- 
edge of the total holdings of rented farms which are in the hands of 
the owners. 
In both the 1920 and the 1900 studies of residence of owners of 
rented farms, the post office address of the landlord was considered 
in relation to the county containing the rented farms. It was 
assumed that the post office from which the landlord obtained his 
mail was in the county in which he resided. This may not be the 
case and it may even be that a landlord who lives in the same county 
as his land gets his mail from a post office just over the county line 
or even just over the State line. For the above reason and because 
the automobile has greatly lessened the time that it takes to cover 
distance, the absentee landlord may be regarded as one who lives 
more remotely than in an adjoining county. 
Of the rented farms studied in 1920, 80.4 per cent were owned by 
persons resident in the county and 94.9 per cent by persons resident 
in the same State. When these figures are compared with figures 
for 1900 it should be remembered that the 1900 figures are for the 
entire country, whereas the 1920 figures are for the 184 counties 
studied. In 1900, 78.8 per cent of the rented farms of the country 
6 The statistics on residence may be somewhat biased by the rented farms which could not be indexed 
because residence of the owners was not reported. Relatively more of the farms concerning which the 
residence of the owners was not known were owned by landlords resident at remote places than was the 
case with rented farms owned by landlords of reported residence. In 1900 the proportion of rented farms 
of landlords resident out of the State leased on a cash basis, 46.5 per cent, was about the same as the pro- 
portion so leased which was owned by landlords of unreported residence, 43.2 percent. At that time 
only 35.1 per cent of the farms of landlords resident in the same county were rented for cash. 
