OWNERSHIP OF TENANT FARMS IN THE UNITED STATES 5 
The importance of the problems associated with farm tenancy in 
the North Central States led to the selection of 85 counties in those 
States out of the 184 counties selected in all. Department Bulletin 
1433, "The Ownership of Tenant Farms in the North Central 
States/' shows with greater detail the conditions surrounding the 
ownership of rented land in those States than the present bulletin 
could regarding all of the areas studied. 
CONCENTRATION OF OWNERSHIP 
AVERAGE SIZE OF HOLDINGS OF RENTED FARMS, 1900 AND 1920 
Tenant farms in the United States averaged 96.3 acres in size and 
$2,345 in value of land and buildings in 1900, as compared with the 
1920 average of 107.9 acres in size and $9,690 in value. In comparing 
1900 and 1920 figures on concentration of ownership one would there- 
fore expect to find an increase in terms of acres and value, even if 
there were little or no change in terms of farms. Of the nine sections 
into which the country is divided by the census, in the South Atlantic 
the East South Central, and the Pacific sections the average size of 
tenant farms decreased in the 20 years; in other sections the average 
size of tenant farms increased. In all sections the average value of 
land and buildings per tenant farm increased, more than doubling in 
every section except the middle Atlantic States. The average size 
and value of land and buildings of rented farms in 1900 and in 1920 
are given in Table 2 for the different sections of the country and for 
selected States. 
Table 2. — Average size and value of tenant farms by sections of the country and 
selected States, 1900 and 1920 
Average of all tenant farms ' 
Ratio of 
value 
per acre of 
farm land 
and 
buildings 
in 1920 
to same in 
1900 2 (100 
per cent) 
State or section 
Size of farm 
Value of land and 
buildings per 
farm 
1900 
1920 
1900 
1920 
New England 
Acres 
107.1 
104.5 
106.3 
150.6 
75.0 
51.1 
90.3 
349.6 
331.9 
Acres 
112.5 
109.2 
128.0 
219.5 
58.2 
44.7 
99.0 
359.5 
272.7 
$2, 896 
4,888 
5,177 
4,105 
857 
666 
928 
3,758 
7,743 
$5, 978 
8,594 
19, 607 
25, 272 
3,427 
2,508 
4,973 
15, 450 
24, 406 
2. 1 
Middle Atlantic . __ 
1.7 
East North Central 
3.0 
West North Central... ... . _•_ . 
4.1 
South Atlantic ...... ... . . 
4.6 
East South Central ... . . 
4.0 
West South Central ._ . 
5.6 
Mountain .... ... . 
3.7 
Pacific 
4.1 
United States 
96.3 
107.9 
2,345 
9,690 
3.5 
SELECTED STATES 
Pennsylvania... .. . . 
98.7 
92.7 
122.2 
95.0 
145.8 
347.0 
165.0 
128.4 
140.1 
102.7 
67.4 
74.7 
55.6 
52.4 
41.8 
165.4 
106.3 
396.0 
98.6 
105.2 
148.2 
112.4 
166.8 
429.4 
252.3 
118.3 
126.3 
83.3 
52.7 
56.6 
50.4 
47.2 
34.9 
128.3 
135.4 
265.9 
5,155 
4,089 
7,182 
3,500 
6,210 
5,746 
2, 990 
3,858 
4,289 
1,204 
598 
575 
1,191 
412 
494 
1,088 
1,161 
10, 127 
8,202 
13, 243 
31, 068 
9,504 
38, 898 
20, 713 
16, 835 
7,746 
9,488 
4,506 
3,523 
2,821 
3,724 
1,484 
2,402 
6,022 
6,636 
29, 070 
1.6 
Ohio 
2.7 
Illinois .... 
3.5 
Michigan . . ... 
2.3 
Iowa . . ... 
5. 2 
North Dakota . ... . . 
3.2 
Kansas . ... .. . 
4.0 
Delaware .... . 
2. 1 
Maryland .... 
2.4 
Virginia. ....... 
4.0 
North Carolina ...... 
6.3 
Georgia . ..... 
6.4 
Kentucky . 
3 4 
Alabama ...... . . ... 
4.3 
Mississippi . 
5. 2 
Oklahoma . . 
5.7 
Texas 
5.9 
California ..... _._ . . 
4.3 
1 Census data. 
Computed from U. S. Census data. 
