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Titles included in this collection are listed in the volumes published by the Cornell University Press in the series The Literature of the Agricultural Sciences, 1991-1996, Wallace C. Olsen, series editor. UNIVERSITY )F ILLINOIS STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES Vol. V September, 1916 No. 3 LAND TENURE IN THE UNITED STATES WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ILLINOIS BY CHARLES LESLIE STEWART, PH.D. Instructor in BcoDomica, University of Iliinoig, ' • PNICE 78 CENTS PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA [Entered as second class matter, July 27, I9IS, M the post office at Urbana, Illinois, under the Act of August 24, 1912.1 111 X3 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES The "University of Illinois Studies in the Social Sciences" are designed to afford a means of publishing monographs prepared by members of the faculty or graduate students in the departments of history, economics, political science, and sociology in the University of Illinois. Numbers are published quarterly, and constitute an annual volume of about 600 pages. The subscription price is three dollars per year. Vol. I, 1912. Not. I and 2. Financial history of Ohio. By E. L. Bogart $1.80. No. 3. Sources of municipal revenues in Illinois. By L. D. Upson. Out of print. No. 4. Friedrich Gentz: an opponent of the French Revolution and Napoleon. By P. F. Reiff. Out of print. VoL II, 1913. N«. I. Taxation of corporations in Illinois, other than railroads, since 1872. By J. R. Moore. 55 cts. Nos. a and 3. The West in the diplomatic negotiations of the American Revolution. By P. C. Phillips. $1.25. No. 4. The development of banking in Illinois, 1817-1863. By G. W. Dowrie. Out of print. Vol. Ill, 1914. Not. I and 2. The history of the general property tax in Illinois. By R. M. Haig. $1.25. No. 3. The Scandinavian element in the United States. By K. C. Babcock. Out of print. No. 4. Church and state in Massachusetts, 1691-1740. By Susan M. Reed. $i.0S. VoL rv. 191S. No. I. The Illinois Whigs before 1846. By C. M. Thompson. 95 cts. No. 2. The defeat of Varus and the German frontier policy of Augustus By W. A. Oldfather and H. V. Canter. 75 cts. Nos^ 3 and 4. The history of the Illinois Central railroad to 1870. By H. G. Brownson. $1.25. VoL V, 1916. No. I. The enforcement of international law through municipal law in the United States. By Philip Quincy Wright $1.25. No. 2. The life of Jesse W. Fell. By Frances M. Morehouse. 60 cts No. 3. Land tenure in the United States with special reference to Illinois! By Charles L. Stewart. 75 cents. No. 4- Mining taxation in the United States. By L. E. Young. {In press) UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES Vol. V September, 1916 No, 3 Board of Editors Ernest L. Bogart John A. Fairlie Laurence M. Larson pubushed by the university of illinois Under the Auspices of the Graduate School Urbana, Illinois HJ) Copyright, igi6 By the University of Illinois Land Tenure in the United States With Special Reference to Illinois CHARLES LESLIE STEWART PREFACE This thesis is based largely upon United States census sta- tistics, the reliability of which is seldom questioned. Illinois is a suitable state in which to make a type study of land tenure. Its value for such a study arises from : (1) its size and importance in the production of grain; (2) the variety of conditions in its agricultural economy; (3) its location in the great farming region of the Mississippi valley; (4) the ease of access its farmers have to large local markets as well as to other domestic and to foreign markets; and (5) the fact that, agricul- turally, Illinois is neither an old nor a new state. Fortunately, the tenure statistics began to be collected at the time when nearly all of the present farm area had just been put under cultivation. It was planned to carry on more field investigations than circumstances have permitted. There is need for cost account- ing studies in the relative profitableness of various forms of tenure. The need for a thorough investigation of the relation of tenure to co-operative enterprise, roads, schools, churches, and social life is equally pressing. The writer has received help from many colleagues in the faculty of the University of Illinois, especially from members of the economic seminar, and particularly from Professor David Kinley, director of the seminar and dean of the graduate school. TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface Chapter I. A Sketch of Land Tenure in the United States 9 The trend of tenure, 1850 to 1880— The trend of tenure, 1880- to 1910— Mortgage encumbrance on owned land— Causes and char- acteristic features of prevailing forms of tenure— Relation of tenure to farm practice — Tenure and the expansibility of the farm area. Chapter II. Tendencies in the Agricultural Economy of Illinois.. 30 Physiographic influences— Population and agriculture— The value of farm property — Some changes in farm practice. Chapter III. Changes in Land Tenure in Illinois 43 Tenure statistics for the state as a whole — Statistics of farm tenure by counties — Statistics of land tenure by counties— The sectional aspects of land tenure in Illinois — Historical tendencies and tenure in Illinois. Chapter IV. A Description of Farm Operators in Illinois 82 The basis of renting— The acreage operated — The equipment of the various operators — Some items of income and expendi- ture — Emphasis in farm practice — Mortgage incumbrance on owned land — Race, color, and nativity of farmers — Residence and landed wealth of owners — The age of operators in relation to tenure and encumbrance — Summary. Chapter V. The Relation of Tenure to Rural Economic and So- cial Conditions in Illinois 1 13 The decline in rural population — Co-operative enterprise and rural institutions — Equipment in farm buildings — Concentration on cereal production — Tenancy as a symptom and as a cause — Rising land prices as a handicap to popular ownership and good farm- ing — ^The outlook. Appendix 125 Bibliography 127 Index _ 134 List of Plates I. The Growth of the Total Population and of the Population En- gaged in Agriculture, Illinois, 1820-1910. 36 II. The Number of Farms and of Acres in Farms, Total and Im- proved, Illinois, 1850-1910 38' III. The Percentage of Operators Belonging to Ten- Year Age- Groups, Illinois, 1890-1910 109 I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XL XII. XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. List of Shaded County Outline Maps of Illinois The Percentage of Farms Operated by Tenants, 1880. 50 The Percentage of Farms Operated by Tenants, 1890. 51 The Percentage of Farms Operated by Tenants, 1900 53 The Percentage of Farms Operated by Tenants, 1910. 54 The Percentage of Farm Acreage Operated by Tenants, 1910.. 57 The Percentage of Farm Acreage Operated under Lease by Part Owners, 1910 58 The Percentage of Farm Acreage Operated under Lease by Tenants and Part Owners, 1910 60 The Percentage of Farm Acreage Operated by Owners Proper, 1910 The Percentage of Land Area in Farms, 1910.... The Average Number of Acres per Farm, 1910.. 61 63 69 The Average Value of Land and Buildings per Acre, 1880.. 76 The Average Value of Land and Buildings per Acre, igic. ^^ The Percentage of Increase in the Value of Land and Build- ings per Acre, 1900-1910 79 The Percentage of Tenant Farms Rented for Cash, 1910. 84 The Percentage of Owners (and Part Owners) Operating under Mortgage Encumbrance _ 9&. The Percentage of the Value of Mortgaged Farms Repre- sented by the Mortgage Debt, 1910 loi The Direction and Percentage of Change in the Number of Inhabitants Dwelling Outside of Incorporated Places, 1900- 1910 115 XVIII. The Average Value of Buildings per Acre 1191 OHAPTEE I A Sketch op Land Tenure in the United States From the earliest date of colonization the land in the territory of the United States has been held tinder a system of tenure distinguished for its simplicity. The feudal tenure of Europe never obtained much footing in the United States and was influential chiefly in that Americans reacted against it.^ In place of a complicated system of legal fictions and customary relations and charges, the land system of the United States may be said to consist simply of two forms : ownership ; and tenancy, whether on a cash, share, or combined basis. The ownership is that which is known technically as allodial, that is, ownership in fee simple, free from any requirement of rent or service and from any other restriction except that reserved by the state in its right to tax, to exercise police power, and to force sales by virtue of the power of eminent domain. Between the years 1782 and 1790, six of the seven con- federated states which had claims to lands west of the Appa- lachian mountains had their cessions accepted by congress.^ This laid upon Congress the responsibility of disposing of the Western lands. Congress in 1785 and 1787 passed resolutions which established the foundations of the national land policy. The principles laid down were that the land should be alienated by the government to settlers; that non-resident land owners should not be taxed higher than resident land owners; that the New England rectangular system should be employed; that the lands should be surveyed prior to settlement, and sold in small minimum parcels at low prices; that registry should be cheap, and conveyance simple ; that the property of persons dying intestate should be equally distributed among the children. These provisions, together with the abundance of the lands, have ^See article by Taylor, H. C, in Cyclopedia of American Agriculture, IV, 174-175- ^New York, 1782; Virginia, 1784; Massachusetts, 1785; Connecticut, 1786, and North Carolina, 1790. The offer of Georgia was made and rejected in 1788 and a satisfactory agreement was not reached until 1802. See Treat, P. J., The National Land System, 1785-1820, 15. 9 10 LAND TENURE IN ILLINOIS [404 exercised a most democratic influence upon the agricultural, social and political life of the nation.* The public domain of the United States grew by conquest and purchase at a most phenomenal rate. To the quarter of a million acres ceded by the states prior to 1803 there was added to the public domain in that year over three quarters of a million acres. Acquisitions in Florida and in the Southwest increased the public domain by a half billion acres, and the Alaskan pur- chase brought the total land acreage owned by the United States government to nearly two billion.* These lands were disposed of at a rate sometimes appalling.' During the period, 1831 to 1840, the annual acreage sold ex- ceeded six million on the average. During the next forty years the land sold averaged two-thirds that amount annually. From 1881 to 1888 over twelve million acres left the hands of the gov- ernment in an average year. From 1888 to 1900, the annual amount of land taken up un- derwent a rapid decline, however, and since 1900 very little of the public domain has been sold or given away. Under such conditions there is little wonder that during the earlier days the major part of the population devoted itself to agriculture. The census enumerations show that in 1820, 83.0, and in 1840, 77.5 percent of the "occupied" population was engaged in agriculture.' Not only did agriculture employ the energy of the larger part of the American people up to the middle of the last century, but the greater part of the free farm families was undoubtedly in full ownership of their farms and homes. The land was taken up, in most eases, in tracts of a size suitable for almost every one to own a farm, and the owners were usually in such an economic condition that they needed the full return from their land instead of the small fraction which they could receive as rental incomes. Furthermore, urban life had not developed to a point where land owners were induced on any great scale to leave their farms so as to reside in the cities. Under such conditions, even though farm rents were low, tenancy had only a small place in American agriculture. The path to land ownership needed at most to have no more than three stages, that of farm laborer, followed by a period of 'Ibid., ch. II. *Sato, Shosuke : History of the Land Question in the United States, 6. "Taylor, H. C. Syllabus of Lectures on Agricultural Economics, 78. ^Census, 1900, Occupations, xxx. 405] LAND TENURE IN THE UNITED STATES 11 operating leased land, and ending in the ownership of one or more farms. The passage from a propertyless to a propertied condition was one almost certain in its possibility of accom- plishment by any able-bodied, industrious individual. In many cases, the laborer entered land directly without having to pass through the tenant status. Where tenancy was resorted to as a step to land ownership, it was a status from which the indi- vidual could usually rise in a few years. THE TREND OF TENURE, 1850 TO 1880 Whether tenancy was becoming more or less prevalent dur- ing the generation before 1880 is a question. The estimates and opinions on tenancy before 1880 are hard to free from the prejudice prevailing when they were expressed. Possibly the most definite opinions offered on the trend of tenure in the United States before 1880 are those of Dr. L. G. Powers who supplied some statistics on land tenure for the per- iod, 1850 to 1870.'' Dr. Powers also gave some statistical esti- mates for the year, 1880, which bear some relation to the tenure statistics of the census of that date. The estimates he gave are as follows: STATISTICAL ESTIMATES OF LAND TENURE IN THE UNITED STATES, l8SO-l88o, AFTER L. G. POWERS.* Year 1850 i860 1870 1880 Total farm families 2,458,000 3,3S8,7So 4,082,700 4.93S,ooo Farm owning families. — 1,325,000 1,850,000 2,220,000 3,068,000 Families of tenants, la- borers and slaves. 1,133,000* 1,508,750 1,862,000 1,867,000 Families of slaves 461,500' 595,ooo Families of tenants and laborers 672,500* 9i3,7SO 1,862,000 1,867,000 Families of tenants i,32S,oooi'> Families of laborers — 542,000 From these estimates it appears that the increase in the number of farm owning families was over twice as great as the increase in the number of families of tenants and laborers, (including slaves in 1850). The percentage of farm families ''The American Statistical Association Publications, Vol. V, 329-344- ^American Statistical Association Publications, V, 344 9An error of 1000 was made in these figures. loThis is 300,000 in excess of the number of tenant farms as reported by the Tenth census. 12 LAND TENURE IN ILLINOIS [406 owning their farms increased, according to the view of Dr. Powers, from 53.9 in 1850, to 62.2 in 1880. The estimate that only 53.9 per cent of the farm families owned their farms in 1850 is probably an under-statement of the extent to which ownership prevailed at that time. It is probable that a larger proportion of the farmers owned their places in 1850 than in 1880. Several facts support this view. In 1850 the cotton lands were operated largely by the owners, of whom those who were too poor to own slaves were too poor to Uve without cultivating their own land, and those who had slaves seldom leased the land to others to operate. Outside of the cotton belt, land was being taken up in the North and West at a rapid rate, particularly during the sixties. Those who took up new land during this thirty-year period were to some extent former tenants, and by changing to owners must have tended to reduce the percentage of tenancy. Since the area of recently occupied land was being rapidly extended in the West, the influence of that section must have been more strongly against tenancy in the seventies than in the fifties. There seems, cer- tainly, to be no evidence that the trend of conditions between 1850 and 1880 was enough different from the trend since 1880 to cause a movement toward ownership before 1880 and toward tenancy after that date. Those who assume that the prevalence of large farms is conducive to tenant operation may argue that the decline in the size of farms during this period is an evidence of growth in popular ownership of the land. The large farms of this period, however, were chiefly in the newer country where land ownership was easy to acquire. In the older parts of the country, in spite of the increasing use of machinery, the farms were becoming smaller in all except the Southern states. The tendency to subdivide the older farms probably stayed somewhat the trend toward tenant farming, though it would be hazardous to say that it overcame that tendency. Between 1850 and 1880, it is probable that the tendency in the South was towards tenancy, in the West towards ownerdiip, and in the North and East, towards tenancy. In the country as a whole the trend towards tenancy was getting under way. THE TREND OP TENURE, 1880 TO 1910 Beginning with the tenth census, 1880, we have reliable statistics on tenancy for every county in the United States. Data 407] LAND TENtTBE IN THE UNITED STATES 13 have been taken with the fann^^ as the basis for each decennial ■enumeration since that date. At the eleventh census special data were gathered on farm and home ownership. In the twelfth and thirteenth census reports tenure statistics w6re also pre- sented on the basis of acreage of land in farms. When the results of the tenth census were published con- siderable surprise was evinced at the extent to which the farms of the United States were operated by tenants. Since that time, however, tenancy has become more and more prevalent in the country. All of the elements of the farm population showed an in- crease in number in 1910 as compared with 1880.^^ The per- centage of increase in the number of farms was 60; in the number of all persons engaged in agriculture, 40 ; in the number of owners, part owners,^' and managers, 35 ; of farm employees — persons other than owners, part owners, tenants and managers, — 20;" and of tenants, 130. The table on the next page summarizes the census data on the tenure of farms for the main geographic divisions. Taking the country as a whole the percentage of farms operated by tenants increased from 25.6 in 1880 to 37.0 in 1910. The decade during which the major part of the increase took place was the one from 1890 to 1900. Every division of the country outside of New England showed an increase in the percentage of farms operated by tenants. In the North Central group the percentage rose from a little over 20 in 1880 to ii"A 'farm' for census purposes is all the land which is directly farmed by one person managing and conducting agricultural operations, either by his own labor alone or with the assistance of members of his household or hired employees." "When a landowner has one or more renters, croppers, or managers, the land operated by each is considered a 'farm'." i^Census, ipio, V, 122, adapted. i^A part owner owns some of the land he operates, ind rents additional land. '^^The relative decrease in prominence of the farm employees, is probably due to the increased efficiency of all farm workers. The total acreage per male in agriculture increased from 65.5 in 1880 to 71.0 in 1910, an increase of 8.4 per cent. (Census, 1900, V. xviii, and 1910, V, 28.) The improved acreage per individual in agriculture was 38.7 in 1910 as compared with 34.8 in 1880, an increase of lO.o per cent. The cause of this increase is to be found mainly in agricultural machinery, the use and labor-saving efficiency of which has undergone a considerable increase during the period since 1880. 14 LAND TENURE IN lUilNOIS [408 somewhat less than 30 in 1910 ; in the South Central states, from about 36 in 1880 to a little over 50 in 1910; and on the South Atlantic group from 36 to nearly 46 in 1910. The old New England districts and the new Western re- gions were characterized by small percentages of tenancy, the former chiefly because of the agricultural depression which drove tenant farmers to other sections, and the latter largely on account of the chance for farmers to become landowners there. A comparison of the percentages assigned to the various geographic divisions reveals a wider spread or range each suc- ceeding decade. The percentage of tenant farms has moved higher most markedly where it was highest previously, and has shown least positiveness in increasing where it was already low. Taken as a whole, the increase in prevalence of tenant farming has been persistent, although not very rapid. PERCENTAGE OF FARMS OPERATED UNDER VARIOUS FORMS OF TENURE. UNITED STATES, iSSo-iplO.^" Tenants 1910 ... 1900 .. 1890 .. 1880 .. Part owners w ID . ^ 3 V > "a •0 bo .5 en u (J u a i1 V H B 1— 1 H k4 ■3 > m Ij 1—1 Share and share-cash 1910 93.2 69-1 $5222 $3945 $615 $ 131 $ S3» 1900 924 65-0 2647 1853 386 89 3i» Cash and unspeciified igio 101.7 61.3 $5613 $4139 $ 710 $ 146 $ 620 1900 102.9 56.7 3003 2100 423 92 388. It appears that the cash tenants have been operating larger and more valuable farms than the share tenants. The compara- tive difference in values, however, is not a great one per farm and a still smaller one per acre. On the possibility of improvement in economic status of farm tenants we have little statistical evidence. There can be no doubt, however, that there are tenants who are not in a financial position to own any farm land, though they would regard the buying of land as a desirable and natural step to take. On the other hand there are tenants who, though financially able to own farm land, do not prefer to invest their capital in land. Ordinarily the members of the first class can choose between operating land as renters, hiring themselves out as farm laborers, and seeking a livelihood in some pursuit other than agriculture. Allowing for the loss and trouble connected with changing from' their present status, it may be assumed that such tenants remain in that class because of the f avorableness of the terms they are able to make with the landlords. Some of these tenants succeed in saving money. Others live such a shiftless, hand-to-mouth existence that they show little evidence of ever being able to make much improvement in their condition. Perhaps the most striking examples of this class of tenants are to be found among- the poorer negro tenants of the South. Since the owners of the more valuable farm land prefer to rent to the more capable- s^Census, 1910, V, 100. 419] LAND TENUEE IN THE UNITED STATES 25 tenants,'" those who stand lowest in the scale of non-owning tenants will ordinarily tend to gravitate toward the less valuable lands. Those tenants who regard tenant operation as a better means than land ownership for aceumulating money have in their number some who are of high economic standing. They are often of such a character as to attract the attention of owners desiring the higher class of tenants. Once well established they are likely to prefer and to be able to secure longer leases and fairly perman- ent tenure. Tenants of this class are found mainly in the dis- tricts where the price of land is high in comparison with the value of its products. On the whole, it seems that the transition of which tenancy is the middle stage has, for most farmers, been toward higher rather than toward lower economic conditions.'^ It is the pre- vailing belief, however, based upon statistics of tenant farms, "that the stepping-stones of tenancy are getting somewhat farther apart and the passage over them to ownership beyond becoming correspondingly more difficult of accomplishment.'"* RELATION OF TENUEE TO PAEM PRACTICE. The tenancy practiced by part owners is renting in as true ^'Taylor, H. C. Introduction to the Study of Agricultural Economics, 59-65. s'A certain amount of evidence on this problem is afforded by the statistics on ages of farm operators and home occupiers. The percentage of farmers who were renters exceeded So in the two age groups under 35 in 1890, 1900, and 1910. The older age-groups showed a constantly declin- ing percentage of farmers who were renting, and a corresponding in- crease in the percentage of farmers who were owning. The indication is, therefore, that advance in age has been associated with advance in status of tenure. The percentage of ownership in the younger age-groups, however, was less in igio than in 1900 and less in 1900 than in 1890. It seems that the greater burden of the decline in ownership was being borne by the younger farmers. The extent to which the age of a farmer affects the amount of mort- gage encumbrance he carries on his farm is not so marked as the effect of age upon the tenure status. Owners 55 years old and over have very little mortgage encumbrance,— more at the last census than previously. The age-group with the highest percentage of owners encumbered in 1890 was that between 25 and 34- while in 1900 and 1910 the age group, 35 to 44, had the highest percentage, with an increasing concentration on it in 1910. See Census, 1900, Part II, ccxi; 1900, Bulletin on Age of Farmers, 9, 22. asHibbard, B. H., in Annals of the American Academy, XL, 29-39. 26 LAND TENUEE IN ILLTNOIS [420 a sense as that carried on by tenants proper. The part owners, however, are usually more fixed to the community and are bound by deed to a part of the land they operate. In the case of "estates" regard for the "old place" and for the other heirs may induce the heir in charge of the operations to treat the land he rents as well as that which he owns. The expectation of eventual ownership of the rented land is greater in the case of part owners than in the case of most tenants, and this exerts an influence in the direction of better treatment of the rented land. Farming by part owners, in such cases, differs little from that conducted by those owning all the land they operate. At the twelfth census farms were classified according to their principal sources of income, and by various forms of ten- ure.*' From this investigation it appears that in 1900 managerial operation was relatively most prominent in the case of farms whose principal source of income was fruits, dairy produce, rice, sugar, fiowers, plants, and nursery products. Tenants were rela- tively most prominent in the production of vegetables, tobacco and cotton. In the case of hay and grain farms part owners and share tenants operated more than their share. Livestock farm- ing was carried on by "owners-and-tenants",*° by part owners and by owners, to a disproportionately large extent. It appears that hay and grain farming was given greatest relative emphasis by the share tenants and part owners; that livestock raising was more largely practiced by the owners-and- tenants, owners proper, and part owners ; and that dairying was carried on chiefiy by the owners. The tenants, therefore, have been concentrating on the production of staple products, man- agers have preferred the lines requiring great emphasis on super- vision of labor force, while owners have been associated with a more highly diversified and capitalized form of farming industry. From the poiat of view of farm practice, tenure is an expression of the adaptation of the operator to the requirements of the type of farming. On the other hand, there has doubtless been some adjustment of farm practice by the operators to suit the re- quirements of their form of tenure. s»The percentage of farms listed under each principal source of in- come was as follows: hay and grain, 23.0; vegetables, 2.7; fruits, 1.4; livestock, 27.3; dairy produce, 6.2; tobacco, 1.9; cotton, 18.7; rice, 0.1; sugar, 0.1 ; flowers and .plants, 0.1 ; nursery products, less than o.i ; and miscellaneous, 18.5. See Census, 1900, V, liii-lv. ^"Owners-and-tenants" refers to cases where tenants and operating bwners combine their efforts in the operation of farms. 421] LAND TENURE IN THE UNITED STATES 27 Land makes demands upon farmers either for capital to own it or for capital and skiU to operate it. High prices for the land do not in themselves induce tenant-farming,*^ unless the purposes to which such land may be put are such that tenants can qualify as operators. If large-scale production is at a premium on the high-priced land, then the standardiiiation of farming method and the costliness of farm ownership may encourage tenant cultivation. In any case, financial and tech- nical qualifications of the tenants to carry on the type of farming to which the land is adapted are prerequisite to the prevalence of tenancy. The importance to the tenant of technical knowledge and of capital goods is especially to be noted when there is a change in the type of farming prevailing in a region. The introduction of cereal growing into certain parts of the South has caused a temporary withdrawal of tenants from operation there.*^ Cereal growing, where it is an established feature of the agriculture of a region, is ordinarily practiced to a high degree by tenants. As the methods of grain farming become widely known in the Southern districts introducing it and as investments in the special types of equipment become better understood, we may expect the same association of tenancy and cereal growing there as in other parts of the country. Lack of adequate capital to invest in the ownership of land tends to increase the supply of tenants when the methods of farming the land are standardized and well known. Persons with adequate knowledge of farming method seek to manage, rent or own in part — ^possibly under mortgage — farms for the complete and unencumbered ownership of which they lack suflScient capital. The importance of the influence of both these factors, the lack of capital for land purchase in increasing tenancy and the lack of operating capital and efficiency in decreasing tenancy, must continue to grow as heavier demands are made for capital and operating efficiency. The annual gain to the landlord from unearned increment must constitute a diminishing percentage of «The price of land and the size of farms are given considerable emphasis in the writings of most of those treating the subject of tenancy. See particularly Taylor, H. C, Introduction to the Study of Agricultural Economics, 244-250; and Hibbard, B. H., Annals of the American Academy, XL, 2P-39, and Quarterly Journal of Economics, XXV, 712-719; XXVI, 107-109, 364-369; XXVII, 483. *^Community Service Week in North Carolina, 44- 28 LAOT) TENUBE IN ILLINOIS [422 the value of the land and of the total annual increase in the landlord's wealth.*^ Great emphasis must, therefore, be placed upon operating efficiency in increasing farm incomes. The landlords may be expected to apply more thorough-going tests to ascertain the farming ability of tenants. This will not only tend to hold tenancy in abeyance, but will accompany a regime of better farming by those operating under all forms of tenures. TENURE AND THE EXPANSIBILITY OF THE FARM AREA Land tenure may, in a general way, be regarded as affording an expression of the relation of the population to the supply of cultivatable land. The accompanying table affords some data on this relation. From 1850 to 1880 the acreage of improved land in American farms increased 151.9 per cent, while population increased 116.3 per cent. The improved acreage per capita was 4.9 in 1850 and 5.7 in 1880. From 1880 to 1910 the population increased 83.4, while the improved farm acreage increased 68.0 PER CAPITA ACREAGE OF LAND IN FARMS, AND PERCENTAGE OF INCREASE OVER PRECEDING CENSUS RETURNS IN POPULATION, NUMBER OF FARMS, ACREAGE OF FARM LAND AND VALUE OF FARM PROPERTY, UNITED STATES, 1850-1910.** Per capita acreage of land in farms Percentage of increase over preceding census B 1* Acreage of land in farms Value of Farm Property Census H II •s 1 •a 1 u 4:! Year 3 > 3 1910 1900 1890 1880 1870 . . i860 1850 9.6 II.O 9-9 10.7 10.6 13-0 12.7 S.2 5.7 4.9 5-2 4.9 21.0 20.7 25.5 30.1 22.6 35-6 10.9 25-7 13-9 S0.7 30.1 41.1 4.8 34-6 16.3 31.S 0.1 38.7 1S.4 1S.9 26.6 S0.7 1S.8 44-3 100.5 27.1 32.0 36.2 12.1 101.2 109.5 2S.I 30.2 37-0 12.0 103.1 68.7 S1.7 21.6 So.i 10. 1 634 60.1 33.2 45-4 28.2 12.9 100.2 PERCENTAGE OF INCREASE OVER THIRD PRECEDING CENSUS. 1880-I910 1850-1880 83.4 II6.3 58.7 I 63.9 176.7 I 82.6 68.0 151.9 236.5 207.0 *^See below, pp. 123, 124. "Census, 1910, V, 51, 57. 241.3 211.7 221.2 168.2 212.3 i8g.o 423] LAND TENURE EST THE UNITED STATES 29 percent and the improved acreage per capita declined from 5.7 to 5.2. But for an extraordinary expansion in the unimproved acreage between 1890 and 1900, the acreage of all land in farms per capita would probably have shown a tendency to decline after 1880 similar to that shown by the improved acreage. The ex- pansion of the farm area between 1890 and 1900 was probably due, in a measure, to the belief on the part of some persons that it was best to get desirable new land before it became too late.*' From 1900 to 1910 the expansion of the farm area was hardly possible without resort to somewhat inferior types of soil. As a consequence increased attention was paid to improving the acreage already in farms. The relative increase in the ratio of improved land to all farm land was greater between 1900 and 1910 than for any decade ending after 1880. That there was an increased demand for farm products in comparison with the area supplying them is indicated by the rise in price of farm products. This affected the profits of farming and helped augment the price of farm land. The relative increase in the value of land and buildings per acre was greater during the decade, 1900 to 1910, than during any other census decade of the sixty years. The effect upon land prices was probably greatest in the ease of land producing those staple products the area of whose production had previously been expanding more nearly in re- sponse to the demand for the products. The effect was not so important, therefore, in the case of cotton lands, but was very pronounced in the case of land producing the important cereals. The relation of land prices to tenure during the recent decades can be best examined, therefore, in the case of cereal- growing districts. That will be done here for the state of Illinois. *=The percentage of the land area in farms in ipio was 46.2, 1900, 44.1, and 1890, 32.7. More significance is to be attached to the smallness of the increase between 1900 and 1910, perhaps, than to the fact that over half of the land had not yet been included in farms. CHAPTEE II Tendencies m the Ageicxjltueal Economy of Illinois It is impossible to understand the agricultural economy of a state like Illinois without keepiag constantly in mind the physical features and soil conditions that give character to the state. The surface of Illinois, for the most part, slopes gently from the north to the south, except in the extreme Southern part of •the state where a spur of the Ozark hiUs rises rather abruptly from the plains to an altitude of approximately one thousand feet. The altitude along the rivers in the Southern part of the state is about three hundred feet above sea level, in the Central part between seven and eight hundred feet, and in the Northern part about one thousand feet. PHTSIOGEAPHIC INFLUENCES The state has a variety of soils, as indicated by the soil map.^ Unglaciated areas are to be found in three portions of the state — in the Southern part, where the Ozark hills appear to have obstructed the progress of the glaciers ; in the point of land between the Illinois and Mississippi rivers; and in the North- western corner of the state. AU the rest of the state has been glaciated at least once, and some sections were covered a num- ber of times. The profound influence of the glaciers upon Illinois agri- culture was exerted through their effect upon the topography and to a less extent, perhaps, upon the quality of the soil.^ The difference in yields per acre in the various glaciated districts is considerable, but the difference in land prices is much greater. The imglaciated regions, being more broken, are less suited to ^Hopkins, C. G, The Fertility in Illinois Soils, following 192. =The dominant soil type in all but Southern Illinois, is a dark brown to black silty loam underlaid by a yellow gray, or drab stiff silty loam subsoil. Associated with it, and particularly in the timbered areas along the streams, is a yellow to yellowish-brown silty loam surface under- laid by a yellow silty subsoil. In Southern Illinois the deposit of loess over the underlying glacial materials is thin. The soil in Southern Illinois is principally a gray silt loam underlaid by a stiff gray silty clay. See Census, 1910, V, 897-898. 30 425] AGRICULTXreAL TENBENCIES IN ILLINOIS 31 cultivation by modem farm machinery and to hauling heavy loads. The glaciated regions have better water supply, and suffer less change in the fertility of the soil because of erosion.^ The extent of the timber growth in the various parts of the state affords a good index of the general physiographic condi- tions. The mere presence of natural timbers usually implies that the land is either broken or swampy. This fact alone would tend to cause the timber land to be less easily cultivated, even when cleared. There is the further fact that timber operated against the accumulation of the organic elements so important for the growing of crops.* This is attested by the fact that while the productiveness of the timber land was somewhat improved after it was cleared, the distinction between the old timber land and the old prairie land stiU stands out with appreciable sharpness. Just what part of the difference in fer- tility in different sections is due to the fact of former timber influence and what portion is to be explained by geological formation, is, of course, indeterminate. The sharpest line of demarcation between soils in Illinois, when considered from the point of view of productiveness, is found, however, where the same line divides an old timbered from an old prairie district, and at the same time a district of a later from that of an earlier glaciation." This line may be roughly indicated as running from Bast St. Loxiis to Shelbyville, the seat of Shelby county, and ^Hosier, J. G., Effect of Glaciers on Illinois Agriculture, in Illinois Agriculturist, June, 1914, 533, 534- *Upon the withdrawal of the last glacial sheet the assumption is that the grasses were first among the vegetable growths to cover the land of the state. The area covered by trees, first limited to the unglaciated dis- trict, came to include more and more of the glaciated soil. The previous occupation of the land by the grasses made it more difficult for the seeds of trees to get into the soil, and the fires which burnt the grass period- ically tended to destroy the incipient timber growth. The organic ele- ments which worked into the soil as a consequence of the decay of the grasses are said to have made the soil still less hospitable to the growth of timber. The hardier, scrubbier types of woodland growth could make their way somewhat better through this soil than the more characteristic types of timber. As the hardier types gained possession of the land, they reduced the hostile elements and made it possible for the other types to follow them. The expansion of the timber over the grass lands must have been very slow for it lacked much of being complete when the set- tlement of the prairie stopped it. sHall and Ingall, Forest Conditions in Illinois, ipS- 32 LA2SrD TENUBE IN ILLINOIS [426 thence east to the northwest comer of Clark county. South of this line the country was once nearly all covered with timber, while to the north the original forest was, for the most part, confined to the belts following the principal waterways.' Timber was not only an index and feature of the physi- ography of the Illinois country, but was important in its influ- ence upon early settlement and pioneer farm economy. The decided preference of the early settlers for woodland is sup- ported by evidence in the recorded history of nearly every Illi- nois county.^ For the raising of hogs the mast of the woods and for the raising of cattle woodland shade and pasture were, during most of the year, superior to the natural or cultivated products which might, with satisfactory drainage, have been produced on the prairie. To be sure, a certain amount of hay and grain was necessary to tide the horses, hogs and cattle over the winter season, and some grain and hemp or flax was needed to feed and clothe the settlers themselves. The amount of arable oibid. 'This is explained by a number of facts. The early settler had to have some land which was higher than the general level. This was neces- sary, first, to escape the ponds which covered the flat lands during the rainy seasons, producing malaria and making travel in and out difficult; and second, to be safe from the fires which swept the prairies in the dry seasons. Where high spots were found, timber was usually on them. The better drained land was ordinarily more broken and timbered. The woods afforded the source of fuel and of materials for stockades, houses, barns and fences, the overland transportation of which, whether as logs or rails, was a difficult matter, particularly in the wet seasons. The woods were usually to be found associated with rivers, springs and salt licks. The rivers were often the avenues by means of which settlers pushed on and by which they communicated with the markets and post offices. The springs afforded the source of water for the settlers and for the animals they kept or hunted. The salt licks provided a necessary article for the household and for the domestic animals, and of all places in the woods were probably the most strategic for killing wild game. Furthermore, the surrounding woods provided shelter from the extremes of the weather for both man and beast. Among settlers for whom the woodland held such a monopoly of the indispensable conditions of pioneer life it is little wonder that a prejudice arose against the open prairie. Some of this prejudice may have been brought with them from their former homes farther East The kind of economic life to which lack of facilities for drainage and transportation subjected them would only tend to strengthen such prejudice. 427] AGRICTTLTUBAL TENDENCIES IN ILLINOIS 33 land sufficient to these purposes, however, was easily cleared, or fenced in from a natural clearing in the woods or from the edge of the prairie. It was the timher, nevertheless, that was , the indispensable basis of the pioneer agricultural economy, ', while the prairie, beyond that which lay contiguous to the tim- ber, afforded menaces by fire and by water, in the shape of | disease and death. There is little wonder, then, that the prairie ] was looked upon by the pioneers as a hopeless waste.' In order to sketch the development of Illinois we may employ several lines of census data. POPULATION AND AGKICULTTJRE From the population statistics of the Federal census and from the data of the quinquennial census conducted by the state itself a fair notion of the rate of this development may be drawn. The poptdation multiplied 459 times between 1810 and 1910.® The periods in which the absolute growth in population was most marked were those extending from 1850 to 1870, and from 1890 to 1910. In relative increase the decades prior to 1840 took the lead, although a remarkable increase occurred from 1850 to 1860. The period of least relative increase in popu- lation was the one between 1900 and 1910. Until 1870 the rate of increase in population in Illinois exceeded that of the nation as a whole during each decade. The same thing was true of the decade, 1890 to 1900. From 1870 to 1890 and from 1900 to 1910, however, the rate of increase of population feU below sit is sometimes said that the early settlers held the theory that the prairie was less fertile than the timber land, because the prairie grew vegetation that was much smaller. Owing to the conditions confronting the settlers, however, this theory could not have restrained them much until the improvements took place in transportation, in agricultural ■machinery and in drainage. When it became possible to till the land, to produce extensively and to market products other than those which could be driven on foot, cultivation of the prairies became at once possible and profitable. It is, of course, natural that some farmers should have insisted on clearing timber land, thinking that they would thus farm the richest land, when a vast area of richer prairie lay all ready to be tiled and broken up. But the view that the prairies were less fertile than the timber land probably did not restrain prairie cultivation to any great extent. 9See Census, 1910, I, 24 and V, 436 for authority for all statements in this paragraph. 34 LAND TENUBE IN ILLINOIS [428 that of the United States. The percentage of increase in the population of Illinois was less during the decade, 1900 to 1910, than during any other decade in the history of the state. Taken as a whole the growth of population was very rapid, especially until about 1870. It is possible to determine the extent of the agricultural population of the state in only a rough way. Statistics of occu- pations were taken in 1820 and at each census from 1840 to 1910. The table on the next page has been prepared from the limited data at hand. In lUinois in 1820, and from 1870 to 1910 the percentage of population engaged at gainful occupations was below that of the entire country, rising steadily, however, from 24.7 in 1820 to 40.7 in 1910. The percentage of the occupied population of Illinois engaged in agriculture was 90.9 in 1820, and decreased to 19.0 in 1910. The virtual absence of slaves in Illinois in 1850 and 1860 leaves a greater comparative value in the statistics of occupations for those dates in the case of Illinois than in the case of the country as a whole. The decline in the percentage of occupied persons who were in agriculture was less abrupt in Illinois between 1860 and 1870. This is to be explained mostly by the fact that the number of persons in Illinois agriculture underwent its greatest decennial increase during that period. Up to and including 1870 a larger part of the population had been engaged in agri- culture in Illinois than in the rest of the country. Between 1870 and 1880, however, the growth of other industries in the state was so marked, and since 1880, the number engaged in agri- culture has undergone so little change that from 1880 to 1910 the percentage of population devoted to agriculture in Illinois was less than the corresponding percentage for the United States, and was decreasing much more rapidly. The changes in the population of Illinois from 1890 to 1910 are analyzed in a table of the thirteenth census.^* The data show that, while the urban population has been growing both relatively and absolutely, and while the small town population has been growing absolutely, the population in strictly rural territory has been both relatively and absolutely declining." ^'Census, 1910, II, 438. ^^The percentage of the total population of Illinois in urban territory was 44.8 in 1890, 54.3 in igoo, and 61.7 in 1910; in places having 2500 or less, 12.7 in i8go, I2.6 in 1900 and 12.0 in ipio; and in other rural territory, 42.5 in 1890, 33.2 in 1900, and 26.4 in 1910. 429] AGRICULTURAL TENDENCIES IN ILUNOIS 35 THE NUMBER OF THE TOTAL POPULATION, OF THOSE ENGAGED IN GAINFUL OCCU- PATIONS AND OF THOSE IN AGRICULTURE, ILLINOIS ; AND THE PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL POPULATION OCCUPIED, AND OF OCCUPIED POPULATION IN AGRICUL- TURE, UNITED STATES AND ILLINOIS, I82O, I84O-I9IO.I2 Percentage of Occupied Cen- Population Number Persons Population population in sus in all in agn- occu pied ■ agriculture year occupations rnltnrplS United lUi- , United Illi- States" nois Statesi* nois 1910 5,638,591 2,296,778" 444,242 41.5 40.7 324 19-3 1900 4,821,550 1,840,04015 461,015 38.3 37-4 35-3 25.6 i8go 3,826,352 1,353,559" 430,134 36.1 35-4 37.2 31.8 1880 3,077,871 999.780" 436,312 34.7 32.5 44.1 43.6 1870 2,539,891 742,01515 376,325 324 29.2 474 50.7 i860 1,711,951 395,937" 301,893 26.4 234 404 51.0 1850 851.470 215,359" 141,099 23.2 25.3 44.8 65.5 1840 476,183 SS,i62 124,20418 13,635" 105,337 21.8 25.8 26.1 24.7 77.5 83.0 84.8 1820 12,395 90.0 i^Statistics for each date were obtained as follows : 1910: Census, 1910, I, 30-31, and IV, 91, 97. 1900, 1890, 1880 and 1870; Census, 1900, Occupations, Introduction, 1 (following xlix) ; also Census, 1900, Occupations, 124; 1890, II, Population, 304, 314; and 1880, Population, ^^^, 793- 1870: Census, 1870, Population and Social Statistics, 704, 713- i860 and 1850: Census, 1900, Occupations, Introduction, liii; also i860. Population, 104-105, 680, and 1850, Ixx-lxxix, 727. 1840 and 1820: Census, 1900, Occupations, Introduction, xxx; also 1840, 396 and 475, and 1820, Sheet 40. isExclusive of lumbermen, raftsmen, woodchoppers, apiarists, fisher- men, oystermen, foresters, owners and managers of log and timber camps, and those in other agricultural and animal husbandry pursuits, so far as separately reported. i*See a table by the author in Bogart and Thompson : Readings in the Economic History of the United States, 608. i^Males and females over ten years of age. i8Free males and females over fifteen years of age. I'Free males over fifteen years of age. "Males and females, free and slave, all ages. 36 LAND TENURE IN ILLINOIS [430 ^~ ^—i — — 5 > 1 10 1 ;o z »0 2 iO 3 )o 3 >0 4 )0 4 ;o 3 >a Ji SO. u 40 — ■ ^ -" ■ _^ _ -1£ ta. — — — — _ .. _ M> _i Ifl 70 "~ ~" "-■ — — — ^ — — At ac _ ^ —\ „ _ ^ ■tm __ ^m _ ~ It OO — — — — — — — — — — — ■ . ~ ___^ _ _^ _ „_ ___ _ "" ~ "" 431] AGRICULTURAL TENDENCIES IN ILLINOIS 37 The number of inhabitants of strictly rural territory per square i mile of the total land area was 29.1 in 1890 and 24.8 in 1910. There were 16.2 per cent more people in the strictly rural terri- tory in 1890 than in 1910.^* Of the thirty-two million acres of land in Illinois farms probably not over two million were taken up by 1820.^° During the next thirty years approximately ten million acres were added to the farm area. Most of the land taken into Illinois farms during the first half of the nineteenth century was in the wooded districts of the state.''^ Beginning with 1850 we have United States census data on the total and improved farm acreage and on the number of farms for each census date. The percentage of the land area in farms increased from 33.6 in 1850 to 91.4 in 1900, but decreased to 90.7 in 1910.=^ The percentage of farm land that was improved increased stead- ily from 41.9 in 1850 to 86.2 in 1910. Until 1880 the growth of the area of land in farms was rapid, the total increase during the period, 1850 to 1880, being 163.1 per cent. During the thirty years between 1880 and 1910 the area of land in farms increased only 2.7 per cent, and actually declined during two decades. The acreage of improved land increased 418.2 per cent between 1850 and 1880, and only 7.4 per cent from 1880 to 1910. The farms were decreasing in aver- age size from 1850 to 1880, but have been increasing somewhat since 1880.^^ The year, 1880, therefore, stands as the turning point in the direction in which the average acreage of farms was moving. i^See below, pp. 113-116. 20In American State Papers, Public Lands, Vol. Ill, S33, Jt appears that the five land agencies in Illinois, located at Shawneetown, Kaskaskia, Edwardsville, Palestine, and Vandalia, had reported to October i, 1821, as follows : Lands surveyed I3,799,040 acres Reservations— private claims 529,046 acres Amount sold i,4S8,992 acres Unsold 12,160,992 acres 2iSee below, p. 43. 22Census, 1910, V, 69; VI, 412, 413- 2sTo analyze these changes in greater detail, reference may be had to the Census, 1910, VI, 415; 1890, Agriculture, 118; and 1880, Agriculture, 26, 27. Such an analysis will show that from 1880 to 1910 the percentage of farms under 20 acres in size increased from 4.9 to 8.0; those between 38 LAND TENUEE IN ILLINOIS [432 r- i n 4^ All 1 1 n r M T n M MP [:■■ " K H >9r O ■ r nn iff^ \9 1 t hol If)) nA f) I £< 3 3 IS • in _ _ _ 18 n< »n , 19 — — — — — — — 1 — 1 — — H,e UJ tf". ! 10 IS £C 2; 3< 3! IR __ ie< 181 u- .^ _^ __ _^ 18i — — — — lf»l _ L- t uml ei ■ 1 mpi o\ ed ac re S 1 n rai ms m^ 11 Lo> s) g s II I9I0 „_ $I20l08 96.S $108.32 I0I.2 $2.27 65-7 $949 60.6 107.9 1900 _. 61.12 26.2 53.84 30.0 1-37 21.2 5-91 0.2 91.2 1890 ..„ 4845 3O.S 41-4^1 29.9 1.13 5.6 5-92 41.6 92.3 1880 _.. 37.12 8.7 31.87 12.0 1.07 0.0 4.18 9-7 106.9 18702' .. 34-iS 43.2 2845 454 1.07 30.5 4-63 334 1 17.3 i860 _.. 23.8s 126.5 19.56 144.8 0.82 54-7 347 72.6 lOO.O 1850 _.. 10.53 749 0.53 2.01 lOI.O -20 and 100 acres declined from 47.9 to 36.2; those between 100 and 500 acres increased from 45.6 to 54.9, and those over 500 acres declined from 1.6 to 0.8. In 1910 approximately one-third of the farms had between 100 and 175 acres. 2*Census, 1910, VI, 413. 25Land and improvements, except buildings : 1910, $95.02 ; 1900, $46.17 ; •percentage of increase, 104.3. Buildings alone: 1910, $13.30; 1900. $6.67; percentage of increase, 70.6. 2«The index numbers presented here follow the Falkner series from i860 to 1900. A number for 1850 is supplied from the calculations of G. H. Knibbs (quoted by Irving Fisher). A ratio of comparison between the Falkner series and that used in the investigation of the United States Department of Labor was derived for 1890 and 1900 and a number as of the Falkner series calculated for 1910. (See Fisher, Irving: Why the Dollar is Shrinking, 150-163 ; Aldrich Report on Wholesale Prices, Wages, and Transportation; Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Whole- sale Prices, 1890 to 1912). ^'Computed gold values, being 80 per cent of the currency values a-eported. 40 LAND TENURE IN ILLINOIS [434 The data indicate a persistent rise in the value per acre of all the properties. The upward movement may have been promoted during the decades, 1860 to 1870 and 1900 to 1910, by the fall in the purchasing power of money, estimated at 17.3 and 18.3 per cent respectively. The upward trend of farm value, however, was much more rapid than that of the general price level. During the period, 1870 to 1900, farm property values increased in spite of the fall of 22.3 per cent in the general price level. The largest decennial increments of value in the ease of each item of property took place between 1900 and 1910, and the percentages of increase during that decade, even after allowance is made for the rise in the general price level, were greater than those of any other decade since 1860. In both absolute and rela- tive increase in the case of each item the decennium, 1870 to 1880, stands lowest among the decades. During the period, 1870 to 1890, the increases in value were small compared with those characterizing similar periods preceding and following it. Dur- ing the thirty-year period, 1850 to 1880, the increase in the value of land and buildings exceeded that which took place between 1880 and 1910, while the increase in the value of implements and machinery and of live stock was greater during the latter period. During the entire sixty years there was an increase in the value of all farm property per acre amounting to 1040 per cent. The increase in the ease of each item of property was as follows: land and buildings, 1256 per cent; implements and machinery, 328 ; and live stock, 372. The rate of increase in the value of farm property seems to have been accelerated about 1880 and again about 1900. This was true in the case of land more markedly than in the- case of other kinds of farm property. No less significant, perhaps, is the change in the relative prominence of the different forms of farm property in Illinois. The prominence of implements and machinery and of live stock as measured by their share in the total value of all farm prop- erty was two and a half times greater in 1850 than in 1910."* The part taken by the value of the land, however, rose from, three-fourths in 1850 to nine-tenths in 1910. "'Census, igio, V, 93. 435] AGRICULTUKAL TENDENCIES IN ILiLINOIS 41 SOME CHANGES IN FARM PRACTICE A general notion of the character of the farming practice in Illinois may be derived from the United States census reports. It is not possible, however, to make thorough-going comparisons with conditions prior to 1880 because of the absence of data on crop acreages before the tenth census. Production statistics of one kind or another are provided as early as 1840. The data on land in farms began with 1850 and it wiU be simpler, there- fore, to limit the comparisons in most cases to the dates, 1850 and 1910. A few comparisons based on an equal area of farm land"' will suffice to show the main changes that have taken place with respect to some features of Illinois agriculture. The number of cattle remained almost exactly the same. The number of dairy cattle, however, increased about 25 per cent. The number of horses doubled, and the number of mides, asses and burros increased fourfold. The number of swine remained about constant, while the number of sheep declined in 1910 to less than half the number reported for 1850. The production of butter on farms increased between 1850 and 1880, and, though less in 1910 than in 1880, was 40 per cent greater in 1910 than in 1850. Cheese production on farms, while occupying a considerable place in 1850, had almost disap- peared in 1910. The same thing is true of maple sugar. The production of tobacco and of wool was greater in 1880 than in 1850, but the figures for 1910 were smaller than those employed for either of the other dates. The production of Irish potatoes increased nearly once again during the sixty year period. All of the cereals except barley had larger aggregate pro- ductions in Illinois in 1910 than in 1850.^" The increase in the production of oats and rye during the sixty years was relatively greater than the increase in the area of all farm land, but was less than the increase in the area of improved land. The increase in the production of buckwheat was a little less than twice as great as that of the improved acreage. The com and wheat pro- 29The basis employed here includes both improved and unimproved land Were only improved farm land considered, the figures for 1850 would be multiplied by 2.40, those for 1880 by 1.21, and those for 1910 by 1.16. 3»Census, 1910, VI, 446; ipoo, VI, 62-93. 42 IjAnd tenure in Illinois [436 duction underwent a most phenomenal growth, increasing nearly three times as rapidly as the area of improved land. It is evi- dent that cereals have been occupying an increasingly prominent place in Illinois agriculture. The relative prominence of the different crops can be measured for the dates from 1840 to 1870 only on the basis of production. Beginning with 1880, however, the census reports show the number of acres devoted to the various crops. The percentage of improved land devoted to hay and forage decreased between 1889 and 1909, and the percentage of improved land devoted to other crops decreased from 11.3 in 1899 to 9.2 in 1909.^^ The percentage of improved land occu- pied by cereal crops in Illinois in 1879 was exceeded by the per- centage in Nebraska, Minnesota, and Iowa; in 1889 by North Dakota and Minnesota; in 1899, by Nebraska and Minnesota; but in 1909 the percentage of improved land devoted to cereals in Illinois exceeded that of any other state. Though data based on acreage are lacking for the period preceding the tenth census the statistics of production already cited seem to confirm the impression that the concentration on cereal-farming in Illinois received its main impetus about 1880. Up to that time the cereal productions had grown at a slower pace than that with which the improved acreage had expanded. From 1880 on, however, both acreages and productions of cereal crops have grown faster than the corresponding increase in the area of improved farm land. A strong factor underlying the change in the direction and degree of agricultural tendencies in Illinois about 1880 is the increased cost of adding land to the farm area of the United States. The result was an increasing pressure and premium on the food-producing land of the country. The effect is seen in the acceleration given to the rise in farm property values and in the concentration on grain production on lands adapted to that branch of agriculture. siCensus, 1910, V, 554, 556. CHAPTER III Changes nsr Land Tentjke m Illinois The early agricultural economy described in the previous chapter may be regarded as one in which there existed a heavy dependence upon timber. As late as 1850 possibly 45 per cent of the land in farms was " woodland ".^ By 1870 the percentage of farm land classed as woodland had dropped to 20, by 1880 to less than 16, and by 1910, to 10.^ Although timber deter- mined the desirability of a district for occupancy by pioneers, it has come to be regarded as more or less in the way, except that a small amount is desirable for use as shade, ornament and source of wood for farm purposes. The days when the farming of the state was based upon woodland must have been characterized by a very small amount of tenant farming. Land was then plentiful not only in other parts of the continent, but even within the state itself. The land was taken up pretty generally by heads of families seeking to establish farm homes. Some renting was carried on in the ^In 1850 58.1 per cent of the farm land of Illinois was "unimproved". Certainly as much as three-fourths of this unimproved land v?as "wood- land". The percentage of unimproved land classified as woodland in 1870 was 7T.T, in 1880, 89.1 and in 1910, 70.7. The absolute figures were as follows : Acreages 1910 1880 1870 Woodland 3.147.879 4.935,575 S.o6i,S78 Other unimproved — 1,326,735 622,916 1,491,331 Total unimproved — 4,474,614 S,55849i 6,552,909 Census, 1910, V, JT, and 1880, Agriculture, 3, 11. ^The original timbered area of the state is said to have comprised about 30 per cent of the total land area, or about 10 or 11 million acres. At least 4J^ or 5 million acres of timber land were in farms in 1850. In 1910 about 3 million acres of the old timber land were still classed as farm land, and at least 45^ million more of the old timber acreage must have been chiefly in the part called "improved", while the part of the old timber area in farms probably rose from about half in 1850 to three- fourths in 1910. At the latter date a large proportion of it had been cleared and converted into "improved" land. 43 44 LAND TENURE IN ILLINOIS [438 case of tracts owned by non-residents, but under the circum- stances the rents charged were usually very small.* TENURE STATISTICS FOR THE STATE AS A WHOLE The census of 1880 showed the number of tenant farms in Illinois to be larger than in any other state of the Union, and considerable capital was made of the "eighty thousand tenants"* then operating Illinois farms. In 1910, Illinois had 104,379 tenant farms, although her rank among the states in this respect had sunk to eighth." Texas, with 219,575 tenant farms, held first rank. At that date Illinois was second in the number of white tenants, having 103,761 against 170,970 in the state of Texas.* Illinois stood eleventh in the percentage of aU farms operated by tenants both in 1880 and in 1910.' The percentage in Illinois in 1910 was 41.4, while in Mississippi, where the percentage was highest, it was 66.1. In the percentage of tenancy among white farmers, Illinois with 41.4 ranked sixth in 1910, Oklahoma with 55.8 holding first rank.* In the farm acreage hired in 1910, Illinois stood third with 51.0 per cent.* The percentage in Delaware was 52.8 and in Oklahoma exceeded 60. The table on the following page summarizes for the state as a whole the available statistics on farm tenure. It will be observed that the number of farms decreased between 1880 and 1910, while the farm acreage increased. The increase in the average size of farms was from 123.8 in 1880 to *See Buck, S. J.: Pioneer Letters of Gersham Flagg, 35, 40, 46; Sheftel, Yetta, The Settlement of the Military Tract, Chapters I and II (in manuscript) ; Gerhard, Fred., Illinois as It Is, 404. The rents were not low, because of the relative inferiority of the lands first taken up. As Walker points out, the lands first taken up, while now known to be chemically and otherwise inferior, were then economically superior. It was only when timber farm economy gave way to prairie farm economy that this economic superiority of the lands earliest occupied was lost. *North American Review: CXLII, 52-67, 153-158, 246-253, 387-401. »In 1890 the number of tenants in Illinois was the third largest among the states, and in 1900 it was fifth in order. «The same order held also in 1900, the only other date at which white and colored tenants were reported separately. 'In 1890 the rank of Illinois was tenth, and in 1900, thirteenth. sJn 1900 a similar comparison shows the rank of Illinois as eleventh. »In 1900 only Delaware had a larger percentage of her farm lands rated under lease than Illinois. See above, p. 17, note 20. 439] CHANGES IN TENURE 45 LAND TENXJRE IN ILLINOIS, I880-I9IO. Number of farms^" Total Operated by Owners and part owners- Owners proper Part owners Managers Tenants Percentage of farms Operated by Tenants Owners and part owners. Owners proper Part owners Managers Number of acres in farms'-^ Total.. _ Operated by Managers Tenants Owners and part owners.... . Owners proper^" Part owners Hired by part owners.... Owned by part owners.. Hired by tenants and part owners- Owned by owners proper and part owners. Percentage of farm acres Operated by Managers Tenants Owners and part owners.. Owners proper Part owners Hired by part owners..... Owned by part owners... Hired by tenants and part owners Owned by owners and part owners 1910 251,872 145,107 107,300 37,807 2,386 104,379 41-44 57.61 42.60 1501 0.9s 32,522,937 15,198,315 14,177,411 17,787,063 12,208,930 5,578,133" 2,414,4481* 2,989,385" 16,591,859 558,463 1.72 43-59 54-69 37-54 17-15 7.42 9-73 Si-oi 47-27 1900 264,151 158,503 124,128 34,375 1,950 103,698 39-26 60.00 46.99 1301 0-74 32,794,728 17,506,064 12,668,748 19,671,602 14,758,439 4,913,163 2,165,538 2,747,625 14,834,286 454,378 1-39 38.63 59.98 45.00 14,98 6.60 8.38 45.23 53.38 1890 240,681 158,848" 81,833" 34-00 66.00 30,498,277 1880 255,741 175,497" 80,24411 ' 31-38 68.62 31,673,645 loCensus, 1910, VI, 413. "Part owners and managers were not separately classified in the 46 LAND TENUBE IN ILLINOIS [440 129.1 in 1910.^" The number of tenant farms increased from 80,244 to 104,379, while the number of farms operated by owners, part owners and managers, decreased from 175,479 to 147,493.^° The percentage of all farms operated by tenants rose from 31.38 in 1880 to 41.44 in 1910. The percentage of the farm acreage operated by tenants proper was 43.59 in 1910, while that hired by part owners was 7.42. The percentage of farm land operated under lease in 1910 was, therefore, 51.01. The following table will show more definitely how the changes in farm and land tenure varied from decade to decade. It appears that operation by owners decreased while operation by tenants increased during each decennial period. Between 1880 and 1890 the change lay in a decline in the nxun- ber of owners rather than in an increase in the number of tenants. During the decade, 1890 to 1900, the reverse was the case. The number of farms operated by owners remained prac- tically the same, while the number operated by tenants under- went a very large increase. During the decade, 1900 to 1910, reports for these dates, and were included in most cases, perhaps, with owners rather than with tenants. i^Census, ipio, VI, 412, 414; 1900, V, 308. i^Author's calculation. ^^Unpublished data were received from the census bureau and modified to repair the omission of data from Carroll, Lee and Massac counties. The percentage of the land in the farms of part owners oper- ated by them under lease and under deed was assumed to be the same as the corresponding percentages in the other 99 counties of the state. I'See below, p. 87. i«The number of persons in agriculture in Illinois (See above, p. 35) exceeded the number of farms by 180,571 in 1880, 189,453 in 1890, 196,863 in igoo and 192,370 in 1910. For each 10,000 persons in Illinois agriculture there were 4139 of these persons without tenure in 1880, 4405 in 1890, 4271 in 1900 and 4334 in 1910. In a similar number there were 1839 ten- ants in 1880, 1902 in 1890, 2240 in igoo and 2350 in 1910. Likewise there were 4022 owners in 1880, 3693 in 1890, 3483 in 1900 and 3320 in 1910. In 1900 there were 746 part owners and 42 managers for each 10,000 persons engaged in agriculture in the state. In 1910 the figures were 851 and 54, respectively. It appears, therefore, that the owners were the only persons in Illinois agriculture to decrease in relative numbers. Of the remaining classes, the ranks of the tenants received the largest relative number of accessions. 441] CHANGES m TENURE 47 the number of tenant farms remained practically the same, while there was a sharp decline ia the number of farms operated by owners. Most of the increase of 31.8 per cent in the relative prom- inence of tenant operators took place during the decade, 1890 to 1900, while the decennium, 1900 to 1910, was characterized by the smallest increase of any decade since 1880. When, however, the change in tenancy is expressed in terms of acreages, it is seen that the increase in the hiring of land between 1900 and 1910 was not so small. The number of acres hired increased 1,757,573, 12.7 per cent of the hired acreage in 1900. There was a decline of 550,176 in the the total farm acreage, so that the number of acres operated by their owners decreased 2,307,749, or 13.2 per cent. The statistics usually employed — those based on the number of farms — indicate that the percentage of tenancy was 39.3 in PERCENTAGE OF CHANGE IN THE ABSOLUTE NUMBER AND IN THE NUMBER PER 100 OF FARM OPERATORS, AND OF FARM ACRES OPERATED BY VARIOUS KINDS OF OPERATORS, ILLINOIS, 1880-1I9IO." Basis and item Absolute number Farm operators Owners^* Tenants Farm acres Deedholders^^ .. Lessees^" Number per looo Farm operators Owners^' Tenants Farm acres Deedholders^s Lessees^" Direction and percentage of change 1880 - 1910 1900 — 1910 1890 — 1900 1880— 1890 — 16.0 +30.1 —14.7 +31-8 -8.S +0.6 — 13-2 +12.7 -3.6 +5-3 — ii.S +12.8 — 0.2 +26.7 — 9-S +2.0 —8.0 +IS.6 -3.8 +8.3 i^Based on data, above, p. 45- i^Includes owners proper, part owners and managers, isincludes land operated under deed by part owners and by owners proper. ^oincludes land operated under lease by part owners and by tenants. 48 LAND TENUEE IN ILLINOIS [442 1900, and 41.4 in 1910, a relative increase of 5.3 per cent. The statistics based on acreage indicate that the percentage of tenancy in 1900 was 45.2, and in 1910, 51.0. Basing the statistics on acreage raises the percentage of tenancy for 1900 by over one- fourth, that of 1910 by nearly one-fourth, and multiplies the rate of increase in tenancy between 1900 and 1910 by 2.4. The farms of tenants increased 11.2 per cent in size and 0.6 in number between 1900 and 1910, embracing 38.63 per cent of the farm acreage in 1900 and 43.59 per cent in 1910. The farms of part owners increased in number from 34,375 in 1900 to 37,807 in 1910, or 10 per cent. The hired acreage in the aver- age partly-owned farm in 1900 was 62.99 and in 1910, 63.86, an increase of 1.4 per cent during the decade. The part owners hired 6.6 per cent of the farm land of the state in 1900 and 7.4 per cent in 1910, a relative increase of one-eighth. The percentage of the farm acreage owned by part owners increased from 8.4 to 9.7 between 1900 and 1910, while the percentage owned by owners proper fell from 45.0 to 37.5. Although the farms of owners proper were below the average in size in 1900, having but 118.9 acres on the average, they lost 5.1 acres per farm between 1900 and 1910." The increase in tenancy during the last decade was due in large measure to the growth in the average size of the areas rented by tenants and part owners, accompanied by a falling oflf in the size of the areas operated by the owners. STATISTICS OP FARM TENURE BY COUNTIES A map showing by dots the number of farms operated by tenants in the United States in 1910^^ reveals the fact that the density of tenant farms in Illinois is greater than in any other area of equal size which does not include territory north of Ten- nessee or east of the line bisecting the states from North Dakota to Texas. Within the boundaries of Illinois the tenant farms seem to be pretty uniformly distributed, except for the territory between the Kaskaskia and Wabash rivers. A tendency towards clusters is found around East St. Louis and Chicago, while the density of tenants seems to be somewhat greater in the area between those two cities. Another map showing by shaded areas the percentage of farms operated by tenants in every county in the United States is published by the United States census.''* Naturally such a ^^See below, p. 87. ^^Census, 1910, V, second map following 98. 443] CHANGES IN TENURE 49 map shows much less uniformity than the map employing the dot system. This is due to differences in the size of farms in various sections. The states whose appearance is most different in the two maps are, perhaps, Oklahoma, Iowa, and lUinois. In each of these states differences in the percentage of tenant farms from one section to another are very striking. To trace the sectional differences in the percentage of tenant farms in Illinois a series of maps is presented herewith.''* In 1880 the percentage of Illinois farms operated by tenants was 31.38. Only one county, Logan, had a percentage greater than 50. In Edwards county the percentage was 14.5. Of the remaining 100 counties, 50 had percentages between 25.0 and 35.0. These were located largely in the Northern and "Western parts of the state. The 28 counties having percentages above 35.0 were clustered in the Central part of the state and in the old "American bottom" district.*' The counties having per- centages below 25 were confined to the Southern part of the state. In 1890 the percentage of tenant farms in the state was 34.00. Ford county took the lead with a percentage of 53.7. Edwards county had the lowest percentage, 16.0. There were 45 counties having more than 35.0 per cent of their farms oper- ated by tenants, against 28 counties in 1880. The counties with the highest percentages were in the Bast Central part of the state. Southern counties showed little change from the small percentages they had ten years before. In 1900 the percentage of farms operated by tenants was 39.26. There were 68 coiznties having more than 35.0 per cent of their farms operated by tenants, and of these 26 had per- centages exceeding 45.0. These counties were located in the East Central part of the state. The "Military tract "*« under- went the most phenomenal increase in tenancy of any section of the state during this decade of remarkable growth in tenancy. 23/6trf., following ic6. 2*See below, pp. 50-58, passim. 2=Around East St. Louis. 28The strip between the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. 50 LAND TENURE IN ILLINOIS [444 Percentage ^ f=ianirs Operotecf by Tenants Illinois I860 Census iseo Legend rT| S.O to 14.9 ] 15.0 to 24.9 25. to 34.9 35.0 to 44.9 45.0 to 54.9 55.0 to 64.9 65.0 to 74.9 445] CHANGES IN TENURE 51 Percentaqe Of ^ farms Operated by lenonts IIDnois i89o Census Oqr, /35-/37 52 LAND TENUEE IN ILIilNOIS [446 In 1910 the percentage of farms under tenant cultivation was 41.44. There were 41 counties with percentages exceeding 45.0. Twelve of the counties had percentages exceeding 55.0. By 1910 percentages of tenancy exceeding 45.0 had appeared in many of the counties between the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. Low percentages characterized the counties bordering the Mississippi river as far south as the old American bottoms, and followed the Illinois river over half the distance to its source. In Southern Illinois, however, the percentages in the counties bordering the Mississippi, Ohio and Wabash rivers was somewhat larger than the percentages prevailing in the interior counties. The lowest percentage was that of Edwards county, 20.1, while the highest was that of Ford, 66.7. Ford, Logan, and Grundy counties were the only counties in the United States north of the latitude of Cairo, Illinois, whose percentage of tenant farms was above 60.0. To ascertain the relative growth of tenant farming in Illi- nois from 1880 to 1910 we may employ as a basis the number of tenants among each one thousand operators. In five counties, led by DeKalb with a percentage of 122.7, the increase in the relative number of tenant farms was over 100 per cent. There were five counties^' in which there was a decline in the relative number of tenant farms during the period considered. The percentage of decline was largest in the case of Pope county. In Pope county, however, the percentage of decline was only 22.5. Through the Central part of the state the increase was between 25 and 50 per cent. In general, it may be said that the relative number of tenant farms was stationary in Southern Illinois, increased by one-fourth to one-half in Central Illinois, and doubled in Northern lUinois during the generation, 1880 to 1910. The following table shows the number of counties ia each grade when classified according to the percentage of farms oper- ated by tenants. 2' All of these counties are located in Southern Illinois. 447] CHANGES IN TENURE 53 Percentage o\ Farms Opera tea by Tenants Xllinois 1900 Ce/7St;s 1900 Vol IT. 73, 75 54 LAND TENURE IN ILLINOIS [448 Percentage of Farms Operated^ by Tenants Illinois Census \^I0 Voiia Legend 5.0. to 14.9 15.0 to 24.9 S5.0 to 34.9 ^^^ 55.0 to 44.9 ^^^ 45.0 to 54.9 ^ 55.0 to 64.9 ^^^ 65.0 io 74.9 449] CHANGES IN TENXmE 55 CLASSIFICATION OF COUNTIES ACCORDING TO THE PERCENTAGE OF FARMS OPER- ATED BY TENANTS, AND NET CHANGE IN THE NUMBER OF COUNTIES IN EACH PERCENTAGE GROUP, ILLINOIS, 1880-I9IO. Net change, 1910 compared Percentage Date with 1880 range 1 1910 1900 1890 1880 Direction Number 65.0—69.9 I ■ Inc. I 60.0 — 64.9 2 I Inc. 2 SS-o— 59-9 9 3 — Inc. 9 50.0—54.9 7 9 2 I Inc. 6 45.0—49.9 22 13 8 3 Inc. 19 40.0—44.9 17 25 13 5 Inc. 12 35.0—39.9 16 17 22 19 Dec. 3 30.0— 34-9 II 13 20 22 Dec. II 25.0—29.9 II 12 20' 28 Dec. 17 20.0—24.9 6 9 II 19 Dec. 13 15.0— 19.9 .... 6 4 Dec. 4 lo.o — 14.9 .... I Dec. I The table shows the positiveness with which the percentage of tenant farms has increased in Illinois counties. The counties having percentages below 40.0 have been growing fewer and fewer in number, while the number of counties in each grade above 40.0 has undergone a regular increase. The percentages characterizing the Illinois county with least tenancy at the four census dates, 1880 to 1910, were 14.5, 16.0, 21 2 and 20.1 respectively .^^ The highest percentages sunilarly reported were 50.4, 53.7, 62.9 and 66.9, respectively.^" The lowest percentage was 5.6 points higher in 1910 than in 1880, and the highest percentage had risen 16.5 points. AU indications go to show, therefore, that whUe the rate ot progress in the direction of farm tenancy has been slow in the case of some counties of lUinois, it has been very rapid in the case of some other counties. The movement away from uni- formity in Illinois has been much greater than is indicated by the census map showing the distribution of tenants by number. 28Edwards county, in each case. 29Logan county in 1880, and Ford county in 1890, 1900 and 1910. 56 LAND TENUEE IN ILLINOIS [450 The absence of county data on the acreage hired and owned by part owners in 1900 makes it impossible to present maps showing the percentage of farm land operated under the various forms of tenure at that date. By courtesy of the census bureau, however, the thirteenth census data on renting and owning by part owners in Illinois have been received by private communica- tion for 99 of the 102 counties in the state. This makes it pos- sible to present here the data on land tenure for 1910. Comparing the map showing the percentage of farm land operated by tenants in 1910 with the map showing the percent- age of farms operated by tenants, it appears that in Southern Illinois the tenants operated farms averaging smaller than those operated under other forms of tenure. In Central Illinois east of the Illinois river, and especially in the interior counties of Northern Illinois the tenant farms were larger than those of other tenures. In the Military tract tenant farms were about the same in size as other farms. As a whole, the state had 43.59 percent of its farm land operated by tenants whereas these constituted 41.44 per cent of the farm operators. The farms operated by managers were 0.96 per cent of alt farms in 1910, but averaged 234.04 acres. The percentage of land managed was 1.72. In Piatt county, managers cultivated 7.64 per cent of the land, while in "Wabash county they con- trolled but 0.18 per cent. Little can be said of the sectional variation except that the distribution of managed land is highly sporadic. However prevalent managing may be west of the Mississippi," its prominence in Illinois in 1910 cannot be re- garded as important. The percentage of farm land operated by part owners in 1910 was 17.15. The farms of part owners contained an average of 147.5 acres against the general average of 129.1 acres.*^' In two counties part owners cultivated over 35 per cent of the farm land, Edwards county leading with a percentage of 39,1. In DuPage county, in the Northern part of the state, only 3.0 per cent of the farm land was operated by part owners. In a so'^and" tenure may be conveniently used when we think in terms of acreage, and "farm" tenure when we think in terms of farms or of farmers. '^See above, pp. 14, 16, 17. **See below, p. 87. 451] CHANGES IN TENURE 57 Percentoge of Farnf Acreage ' H/'red by Tenants Illinois 1910. Census 1910 Vol.YL Legend 11/5/0 2-^9 ^^ 65 Ao 7^.9 58 LAND TENUEE IN ILLINOIS [452 Percentage of.' FarmjAcreoge Hired byPartOwners Illinois NIO KK)\ 8 to tm IZ tol5.9 Census 1910 Mol. 3zr. . legend mi I Oaf a lacking ' 453] CHANGES IN TENURE 59 general way it may be said that the control of part owners over Illinois farming is greatest in Southern Illinois, average in Cen- tral Illinois, and least in Northern Illinois. The percentage of the "partly owned" land that was hired in 1910 varied from 30.2 in the case of Hardin county to 55.2 in "Vermilion county. The counties in which over 50.0 per cent of the land in farms of part owners was hired were in the East Central part of the state. Those in which less than 40.0 per cent of the land in partly owned farms was rented were in the South- ern part of the state. The average for the state was 44.7 per cent. A map is presented showing the percentage of the total farm land in each of 99 counties that was leased by part owners in 1910. The smallest percentage was 1.6, found in DuPage and Kane counties, and the largest percentage was that of Edwards county, 14.8. The counties in which over 9.0 per cent of the farm land was hired by part owners were confined almost entirely to the Southeastern quarter of the state. Very low percentages occurred in the extreme Southern and Northern ends of the state. The average for the state was 7.43 per cent. Another map shows the percentage of all land in the 99 counties hired by tenants and by part owners in 1910. The county with the smallest percentage of its farm land operated under lease was Hardin, the percentage being 21.6. In Jo Daviess'^ and in Pope and Johnson counties^* the percentages were less than 30.0^° In Ford county 75.4 and in Logan county 72.4 per cent of the farm land was hired. Nineteen comities had over 60.0 per cent of their farm land hired. These counties, with the exception of Whiteside, lay in the Central and East Central part of the state. The land to which part owners held deeds constituted 9.73 per cent of the total farm acreage of the state. In DuPage county the percentage of the farm land owned by part owners was but 1.4, while in Jasper county it was 21.8. The percentages throughout Southern Illinois, except St. Clair county and the extreme Southern tip, were above the state average. In a rough way it may be said that the amount of land owned by part owners decreases the farther north one goes in the state. Owners proper operated 37.54 per cent of the land in Illinois ^Hn the Northwest corner of the state. 3*In the Southern tip of the state. ^^Massac county would probably come in the same class had we the data for it. 60 LAND TENURE HT ILLINOIS [454 Percentage of Increase inAverag\ Value of Land and Buildings, fir Acre TIHnoi5 Census Vol vr ^zc-li mo . Legend |]]nil]25-?9.9. 455] CHANGES nsr TENURE 61 Perce ntaqe of Farm Acreage Operated by Owners Prope Illinois 19/0 Census VoIYI '-^36-4^5" 62 LAND TENUEK IN ILLESTOIS [456 in 1910. The percentage in Ford county was the least, 18.4, while the percentage in Hardin county was the largest, 73.2. In 13 comities the owners proper operated less than 25.0 per cent of the farm land, these being East Central Illinois counties. In 13 counties, located mainly in East Central Illinois, the proportion of land operated by the owners was less than 33.3 per cent. In 5 of these counties the percentage was under 30.0 and in one county, Ford, the percentage was 23.7. Only three or four counties had percentages exceeding 70.0. These were Hardin, 77.8; Pope, 75.9; Johnson, 74.0; and possibly Massac. The average for the state was 47.28 per cent. It is evident that the leasing of land has a very prominent place in Illinois agriculture, and that there are marked sectional variations. THE SECTIONAL ASPECTS OP LAND TENURE IN ILLINOIS The sectional differences in land leasing in Illinois can be best understood by tracing the sectional variations in other features of agriculture in the state.'* In 1880 it appears that the counties with the highest per- centage of land area in farms, of farm land improved, of im- proved land in cereals, of improved land in corn, and the counties with the highest average number of acres per farm, and the highest average value of products per acre were located in the Central and Northern parts of the state. The figures reported for the Southern Illinois counties were smaller than those of the other counties in the case of each subject, or basis of comparison mentioned. In like manner the land was lowest in price in Southern Illinois, but the counties having the highest priced lands in 1880 were located in the Northwestern part of the state. ^°The typewritten copy of this thesis on file in the library of the University of Illinois contains county outline maps showing data by counties on each of the following items : (i) The percentage of land area in farms, i88o and igio. (2) The percentage of farm land improved, 1880 and 1910. (3) The percentage of improved farm acreage devoted to the production of all cereals, and of corn, 1880, 1890, 1900, and 1910. (4) The average number of acres per farm, 1880, 1890, 1900, and 1910. (5) The average value of products per acre, 1879, 1889, and 1899. (6) The average value of land and build- ings per acre, 1880, 1890, 1900, and 1910. (7) The percentage of increase in the average value of land and buildings per acre, 1880-1910, 1880-1900, and 1900-1910. 457] CHANGES IN TENURE 63 f^rcenta^e of L^and Area in Farms I Hi not 5 Census yoLii Legend ^^ 55 to 6*9 ^^ 65 to 7^.«?- ^^1 15 and over 64 LAND TENURE IN ILLINOIS [458 The data for 1890 and 1900 show the same sectional differ- ences, with a tendency for the sectional differences to widen except in the case of the percentages of land area in farms and of farm area improved. In 1910 the percentages of land area in farms and of farm land improved were much more nearly uniform throughout the state than at previous census dates. This is because of the fact that there has been an increasing demand for land in all parts of the state. That fact is attested by the higher value of land in 1910 as compared with previous dates. There was a concentration on the production of cereals in the Central coun- ties. This was doubtless in response to the higher prices paid for cereal products. The result of the changes in prices and of the redistribution of productions was to increase the differences between sections in the value of products per acre.*^ The sectional differences in the value of land and buildings per acre were greater than those in any of the other features, due in large part to the fact that the relative increase in the value of land and buildings per acre was greatest in the districts where highest prices had prevailed in 1900 and 1890. A similar development took place in the matter of average farm acreages. In the Southern part of the state farms changed little in size from 1880 to 1910, while in the counties of the Central part of the state a s^The unreliability of these statistics' and the fact that they represent the gross values of products make it necessary to be cautious in their use. Data were gathered in i88o and 1890 for products raised, the part fed to livestock on the farm being given an estimated value and included. In igoo the data excluded the products fed to livestock. This makes comparisons with previous census data of doubtful value. Even for the same census comparisons between counties in which livestock and dairying were practised and other counties must lose most of their significance. The census of 1910 gives up any attempt "to compute or even to esti- mate approximately the total value of farm products" and proceeds to enumerate the "numerous difficulties which stand in the way of obtaining a total which would be at once comprehensive, free from duplication and confined exclusively to the products of a definite period of time." Values of the different productions were reported separately in 1910, however, and an inspection of these returns bears out the statement in the text to which this footnote appends. The values are the so-called "farm values", rather than the values of the products delivered at the market. The data at each census are for the preceding year, so far as productions are concerned, but the acres of land in farms and the prices are those of the current census year. 459] CHANGES IN TENURE 65 considerable increase took place in the size of the average farm. The development during the last generation can be better understood, perhaps, by referring to the distribution of timber in 1880. On some maps designed to show the density of timber in various parts of the state is what may be caUed the "ten cords" line. This line divides the territory in which there were more than ten cords of wood per acre from that in which the cordage per acre was less than ten.^* The latter may be regarded roughly as the original prairie district of the state.*^ In nearly every comparison between recent and earlier census data the later reports show developments to be concen- trating in the old prairie district. The most striking case is that of land values. The highest values in 1880 were in the territory north and west of the Illinois river. By 1910 the district of highest land prices had become centered in the East Central part of the state and the counties in which the value of land and buildings per acres exceeded 125 dollars were, almost without exception, those whose areas constituted the original prairie. When the maps illustrating tenancy are compared with those showing the sectional aspects in the other features of agriculture, the resemblance is striking. The counties with high- est percentages of tenancy at each date were, for the most part, the prairie counties. In 1910, especially, the district in which over 45 per cent of the farms were operated by tenants, which is nearly the same as that in which over 50 per cent of the land was leased, was defined almost exactly by the line dividing the original prairie and timber regions. The sectional association of tenancy with the values of pro- ducts, with values of land and buildings, and with various acreages of farms is exhibited in the table on the next page. The counties were divided into six groups of seventeen coimties each, independently for each census. Group I included the seventeen counties that stood highest in the percentages of tenant farms at the census date in question, group II included those ranking from eighteenth to thirty-fourth, and so on for the other four groups. In aU cases the range of difference between the highest and lowest county group averages was greater at each succeeding census date. This increase in sectional differences seems to have affected not only the items given here, but also items of produc- ssCensus, i88o, Forest Trees of North America, plate 7- ssPooley, E. V., The Settlement of Illinois from 1830 to 1850, 308. 66 LAOT) TENURE IN JLLTNOIS [460 > » H a < S M H H D < Q < « fc 9 <-> b o O < IS W CJ s s m BS ^ < Ul h h D Ik O >< <• H » »: D W o •-^ /-*x y— ^ /-^ /-^ /-*\ /-% /— s /-N /— N ^~, ^~. \o\0\o iovo'Ono ■^vovd'o ■^i e > ^ &§; O O IX to HM CO M fS. lo ■* O ro o •f n 'n d\ d\ PT) o\ fO M 0) W 8^1 8 S3 j: __ .'^s .'— S y— N /-^ /^^ /^s y-^ /— s ,-— s /'-s /^s /-^ ■M xn IT} in \o in "^ "^ 'O ir> lO m to > O Q TO 00 ts. O O 00 a m tF "^ w 00 00 in d W uS CO in CO cq N IH *-l l-( W M HH M M /-^ y— >. ^-s /"-^ /^^ /— ^ •— s /— s /'-^ /^v y^ /-^ s* Tf ■'t Tf -^ Tj- CO -^ m CO Tf Tf NO •— ' Sw' -^ ^—^ %_• S— ' Sw' '-^ s.^ **-• N*^ ^— ^ 2 DO > ^.^% . lo VO .g ^^-s H-I fo op K CO « « IH o M M M 11 /— N /^ ^-N ^-N ro ro ro ^f^ /-^ /^*^ /"^ /— \ CO ■<* CO w Tf W CO N 1— ( t— 1 Svg^ ~^~s^^ O ^N >o o ts. \d ^ g'49'5^ lO -^ lO -^ -d N CO CO W § M HH IH M M — >-^ ^— V v-*» /■">. /""S /—N ^•** a W W w w « ^ ^ w W CO w i-i 1— 1 ■* 0\ N ^ Q O T}- Q 1— t «^ K o w rf M o\ CO to »0 N OwS t^ 00" 11 N ■* \d o\ Ob Ml M vo m CO -^ W CO CO •"I l-l 1^ H-l t-l /-N /-^ ^-S y^v »-« l-H (-) HH H M N CO /"^ /"-^ /-^ .^-s i-i M n m 1— 1 1 8 5?^ ¥a^~2 in \o »o w 1 6 i< ix CO (^ K. t-i d 00 vd w \o "^ 8\ (2* o8 M t-H W IH ° S S ^ hH i-l HI IH 1 tn u cd u . '5 ii c OJ ja ^ 6 3 «■ 0) D •a c n 3 C bo -a •O bo ^ n o : B rt "3 h t< cd I-. HI "f^ ! ^ > < « t. 1 . < 1 > I-" bo 4J A 461] CHANGES nsr tenure 67 tion,— nearly everything, in fact, except the percentage of land area in farms, the percentage of farm area improved, and the percentage of farm area in woodland. The application of capital and labor seems to have produced greater sectional differ- entiation. The tendency toward sectional concentration in the agricul- ture of lUiaois doubtless results from the fact that farming has been carried on for increasingly larger market areas, and that the capacities of soil and situation for the production of certain staples have been revealed more and more clearly with the advance of time. ' In the case of each of the three bases of comparison given in the table the sectional association with tenancy was closer at each succeeding census. In 1910 the parallelism was very close between tenancy and average values per acre of products and of land and buildings. The county groups III and IV (on the basis of tenancy) ranked fourth and third, respectively, in the average size of farms, but otherwise the sectional correspondence between tenancy and the size of farms was consistent. The same sectional correspondence obtained between tenancy and the percentage of land area in farms, and between tenancy and the percentage of improved land devoted to cereal and especially corn and oats production. The fundamental reason for the increasing association of all the factors has been the influence of an increasing market ! demand for cereals, the production of which in Illiaois was being carried on under a perfecting machine economy. This influ- ence has been most felt in districts in which machinery coidd be most effectively employed and in which the natural fund of fertility enabled fertilizing costs to be almost entirely eliminated. The rich, level prairie has, therefore, responded with greater percentages of land area under cultivation, of farm area im- proved, of improved area in cereals, and with greater acreage per farm. Tenancy has been a phase accompanying this movement, and has been related to the other factors. Farm tenancy has been more or less prevalent in Illinois districts according as they have been producing a high or low value of products per acre. It would scarcely be urged that the association of tenancy with high acre values of products proves that tenancy was responsible for the higher productive- ness of the land. "Productiveness" is a matter of gross values, 68 LAND TENXJEE IN ILLINOIS [462 however, and not simply one of yields per acre. For that reason tenancy may have increased the gross values of products per acre by causing a larger portion of the land area to be devoted to the production of products the gross values per acre of which are high. On the other hand, the productiveness of the soil has done much to determine the proportion of the land operated under lease. The gross value of products per acre in different sections must be a fair index of the relative rents paid for equal areas in those sections. The higher the rents received by the landowners, the greater is the chance that the owners may feel free from the necessity of operating their land. At this point, however, the size of farms and holdings** must be considered. Differences in per-acre rentals do not afford alone a basis for explaining diffierences in the prevalence of tenant farming. The ability of many landowners to live without operating their farm land is contingent upon the amount of rent they receive. The number of acres from which they receive rent is often a more important consideration, therefore, than the rent per acre. The larger the average size of holdings the greater we may sup- pose the opportunity to be for landowners to rent their land out and live upon its rental income. On the other hand, the prevalence of holdings too small to be operated except in connection with adjacent land may contribute to land renting.** It is probable that tenancy has, in turn, had an influence upon the size of farms. When an owner leases his land to ten- ants, he naturally tries to get the lay-out of land best adapted to tenant operation. Unless the economies of cultivation favor small farms, the owner will seek tenants who will operate in larger tracts. For the owner this cuts down the difficulty and expense of negotiation and supervision. Where the advantages of large-scale farming are effective, the better class of tenants are naturally attracted to opportunities for operating on a large scale. In districts where the advantages of large-scale farming have been less pronounced there has been a smaller possibility for owners to amass large holdings. As a consequence fewer *aHoldings may be understood to refer to all the farm property owned by a landlord ; sometimes including several farms. **See above, p. 22. 463] CHANGES IN TENUKE 69 Average Num be of Acres per Farm IHmois nr Census Vo/.YL Legend 35 fo 6T0/5 Legend CD I Data lacking 5.0 to 14.9 I 15.0 to 24.9 85.0 to 34.9 35.0 to 44.9 45.0 to 54.9 1 55.0 to 64.9 ^ 65.0 to 74.9 75.0 to 84.9 80 LAND TENURE IN ILLINOIS [474 products and of farm property. To a large extent tenancy has been increased and operation by owners diminished by the changes in these accompanying conditions. The rate of increase in tenancy has been augmented, no doubt, by the declining rate of increase in the farm area. The rate of increase in tenancy has been less than the increase in the value per acre of pro- ducts and of land, and greater than the increase in the average size of farms. Considering both sectional and historical aspects of tenancy growth in Illinois it seems to the writer that the extent, distri- bution and growth of land leasing is best explained in terms of the purchasing power of the rental income of the farms. The ability of an owner to retire from the operation of a farm is not to be measured solely in all cases by his income from that farm. He may have other income-bearing property, although, so far as farm property is concerned it is fair to say that the representative holding is one farm.'* Again he may have income from some supplementary occupation, although this condition does not seem to characterize any great number of retired farm- ers. Landlords whose ownership of land is incidental to their careers in non-agricultural lines are somewhat numerous in some parts of the state. After allowing for these exceptions, it is probable that the purchasing power of the rental income of a farm is the main factor in determining whether the owner rents his place to a tenant or farms it himself. The rental income of a farm is, of course, only the land- lord's share of the economic rent of the place. The tenant's portion of this annual surplus of returns from cultivation over costs is probably subject to less variation in absolute value than the landlord's portion. This means that the tenant's share in the surplus is probably smaller, relatively, when the surplus is large, and smaller, absolutely, when the surplus is small. The possibility a tenant has of saving is prob- ably greater where the Hnd of farming operations he engages in is such as to place a premium upon diversified knowledge, oper- ating capital and managerial ability."' Such a condition pre- vails more especially in Northern Illinois. In Central Illinois the farming method does not require such diversification of °*See below, p. 76. o'See Stewart, C. L., An Analysis of Rural Banking Conditions in Illinois, ig, 20. 475] CHANGES IN TENURE 81 technical knowledge, and competition for farms to rent is espe- cially severe." In Southern Illinois the surplus of operations and the acreage per farm are both small. In Southern Illinois tenancy has undergone very little change; in Central Illinois it has been highest and increasing somewhat ; while in Northern Illinois it has been increasing at a rapid rate. In Northern Illinois the prosperity of tenants appears to have been responsi- ble for their tendency to multiply in numbers, while in Southern Illinois the opportunity for tenants to rent seems to have been restricted. In the prairie district of the state tenancy has prob- ably been stimulated by the higher rental income per owner, which has not only freed owners from the necessity of oper- ation, but has caused the land to be capitalized at such a low rate that the tenants are not able profitably to own farms. To summarize, it appears that the forms of tenure have been phases accompanying, limited by and modifying the conditions and changes in the agricultural economy of the state. The pre- valence, sectional character and growth of farming by tenant operators is chiefly governed by the real value of the shares of the owners and tenants in the surplus of operation. Tenancy forms a sort of cumulative index of the effectiveness of the desire of the owners to escape the operation of their land, and of tiie ineffectiveness of the desire of tenants to become owners. *"For several years nearly all news items in Chicago papers relating to cases where from 25 to 50 bids were made for farms offered for rent came from towns in Central Illinois. CHAPTER IV A Description op Fabm Operators in Illinois The farm operators of Illinois are, with few exceptions, heads of families residing on the farms. In 1890 the number of farm operators was 240,681, of whom 158,848, or 66.0 per cent, operated as owners.^ At that date 252,953 farm families were reported, of whom 160,065, or 63.3 per cent, resided on farms owned by them.^ In 1900 the number of farm operators was 264,151, of whom 158,503, or 60.0 per cent, were owners, 103,698 tenants, and 2,413 "owners and tenants". The number of farm families was 262,388,* of whom 158,496, or 60.4 per cent, owned farms and 101,817 hired. The almost exact correspondence in these data affords sufficient evidence that in 1890 and 1900 the normal Illinois farm was a "family farm". There is no reason for believing that statistics taken later would show any change in this condition. THE BASIS OF RENTING The tenants of Illinois may be described more conveniently after dividing them into classes according to the basis on which they rent. The following table summarizes the census data on this point. The period, 1880 to 1890, during which the total number of tenants underwent only a slight increase, was the decade of greatest readjustment of terms between the tenants and land- lords. The number of share tenants declined 6,973, or 11.7 per cent, while the number of cash tenants increased 8,562, or 41.5 per cent. The percentage of aU tenants renting on shares fell from 74.3 in 1880 to 64.3 in 1890. The tendency continued, though much abated, until 1900, when 63.2 per cent of the tenant farms were rented on shares. In 1910 there were 23,665 farms rented on a basis combining the share and cash principles. All these are here counted as share tenant farms, though it is probable ^Census, igoo, V, Ixix. 2The number of families residing on hired farms exceeded the num- ber of farms operated by tenants by 11,055. It is possible that this was due to the reporting of some laborers hiring homes, or of some man- agers and owners occupying homes on land belonging to a tenant farm. ^Unknown, 2,075. 82 477] DESCRIPTION OP OPERATORS 83 THE NUMBER OF ALL TENANTS, SHARE AND SHARE-CASH TENANTS, AND OP CASH AND UNSPECIFIED TENANTS, THE PERCENTAGE OF ALL TENANTS IN EACH GROUP, AND THE PERCENTAGE OF INCREASE OR DECREASE IN THd NUMBER IN EACH GROUP OVER THE PRECEDING CENSUS, ILLINOIS, 18I80- 1910.* Cash and Share and Percentage Census Total unspecified share-cash date Ca^h Share Number | Inc. - Number 1 Inc. Number Inc. etc. etc. 1910 104,379 0.7 37,163 —2.6= 67,2166 2.6 35-6 64.4 1900 103,698 26.7 38,173 30.8 65,525 24-5 36.8 63.2 1890 81,833 2.0 29,182 41-5 52,651 —11.7° 35-7 64.3 1880 80,244 20,620 59,624 25.7 74-3 that a part of the farms rented in 1900 on the combined share and cash basis were then counted as cash tenant farms. To the extent that share-cash tenants were classified as cash tenants in 1900, less significance is to be attached to the decrease from 36.8 to 35.6 between 1900 and 1910 in the percentage of farms rented for cash.^ In 1880 there were only 6 counties in the state in which the percentage of tenants renting for cash exceeded 50. All of them were in the Northern division of the state. In 1890 there were 21 such counties, 13 in the Northern division and 8 in the Central division. In 1900 the number of counties in which cash renting predominated was 24, 19 being in the Northern and 5 in the Central part. In 1910 the number of such counties fell to 15, all of them being in Northern Illinois. In 1880 there were 48 counties in which the percentage of farms rented for cash was under 20, 27 were in Southern Illinois, 20 in Central and 1 in Northern lUinois. In 1890 the number of such counties was 33, in 1900, 35, and in 1910, 45. At the last date 36 of the counties ^Census, 1910, V, 124, and VI, 438- sMinus sign (— ) denotes decrease. •'23,665, or 35.5 per cent, were share-cash. 'Moreover, the districts of the state in which the greatest dechne took place from 1900 to 1910 in the percentage of farms rented for cash were the districts in which the percentage of other than cash tenants rentmg on the share-cash basis was the highest in 1910. Suggestion, at least, is thus given that the apparent decline in the relative prominence of cash tenancy is due to the classification of some tenants as share-cash tenants m 1910 who in 1900 would have been counted as cash tenants. 84 LAND TENUKE IN ILLINOIS [478 Percentage of Tenant Farms Rented for Cash Xllinois 1910 Census /9/0 Vo/ VI. Legend \60- 7'^fl 175-89.9 \^0~ oyer 479] DESCRIPTION OP OPERATORS 85 were in Southern Illinois, and the remainder in Central Illinois. Cash tenancy was relatively most prominent, therefore, in Northern Illinois, and least prominent in Southern Illinois. Since 1900 cash renting appears to have declined in relative prominence in each division of the state. Share-cash tenancy was most prominent, compared with all tenancy other than cash, in the counties of Central Illinois and the old prairie district.' The reasons for this sectional difference wiU appear as the farms and farm practice of the various kinds of operators are described. THE ACREAGE OPERATED The method used by the census in presenting data on the size of farms of various tenures has undergone a change. For 1880 and 1890 the data are given for owners, cash tenants, and share tenants by acreage-groups. In 1900 the acreage-groups are continued and the farms formerly considered as those of owners are itemized into four classes. In 1910 the acreage-group data were not classified by various tenures. In both 1900 and 1910 the total acreages are given, so that averages can be calculated for farms of the several forms of tenure. The first table shows for the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth census enumerations the percentage of farms belonging to the various size-groups that was operated under each of the several forms of tenure. The farms of owners constituted a smaller percentage of all farms at the later census dates, and the farms of tenants made up a correspondingly increasing percentage. The farms under 50 acres were operated by owners to a larger extent in 1890 than in 1880, and those between 50 and 100 underwent only a slight increase in percentage of tenancy. The farms having between 100 and 500 acres and those having between 500 and 1000 acres were rented to a much larger degree in 1900 than at previous dates. The same movement toward tenant operation prevailed in the case of the farms over 1000 acres in size, though at a less rapid rate than in the case of the farms having between 500 and 1000 acres. The percentage of farms operated by tenants in 1900 was highest in the farms between 100 and 175 acres in size, with those 10 to 20 acres next, and those 100 to 499 acres third. Own- ership was most prevalent in the farms exceeding 500 acres, «Census, ipio, VI, 438, 447. 86 LAND TENURE IN ILLINOIS [480 PERCENTAGE OF FARMS OF SPECIFIED SIZES OPERATED UNDER SPECIFIED FORMS OF TENURE, ILLINOIS, 1880-I9CX).* Farms Less ID 20 50 100 500 1000 of than to to to to to acres all 10 19 49 99 499 999 and sizes acres^i acres acres acres acresi2 acres over Own- ers" igoq" i8go 1880 AU 60.7 66.0 68.6 64-5 69.2 6S.1 S8-4 64.0 54.S 62.S 67.0 S8.8 61.6 64.3 65. 1 S9-S 66.3 74-8 75-3 81.9 87.7 81.9 84.6 89.8 tenants 1900 1890 39.3 34.0 35.6 30.8 41.5 36.0 37-5 330 38.4 35-7 40.5 33-7 24.6 18.1 18.1 iS-4 1880 Cash 314 34-9 • 45-5 41.2 34-9 24.6 12.3 10. 1 tenants 1900 1890 1880 Share 14-S. 12.1 8.1 24.0 18.6 16.S 16.2 15.4 I3-I 10. 1 8.9 8.4 13.2 12.4 8.4 1S.7 12.7 7-1 7-5 5-9 4-7 6.4 7.0 2.9 tenants 1900 24.8 11.6 2S-3 27.4 2S.2 24.8 17.1 1 1.7 1890 1880 21.9 233 12.2 18.4 20.6 32.4 24.1 32.9 23.3 26.S 21.0 17.5 12.2 7.6 8.4 7.2 followed by those under 3 acres. It is evident that the farms of medium size were most cul- tivated by tenants, while the farms extraordinarily large and small were most characterized by operation by owners. It is a favorable comment on the ability of tenants to carry on large scale farming that such a large number of the farms over 500 acres are tenant farms, and that renting of the large farms was ^Census, 1910, V, 124; 1900, V, 48; 1890, Agriculture, 118, 119; and 1880, Agriculture, 26-29. ^Tncluding owners proper, part owners, owners and tenants, and managers. i^Data is given for two subsidiary groups, less than 3 acres, and 3 to 9 acres in 1900 and 1880. "Data is given for three subsidiary groups, 100 to 174 acres, 175 to 259 acres, and 260 to 399 acres in 1900. i^Data is given separately for owners proper, part owners, owners and tenants, and managers in 1900. 481] DESCRIPTION OF OPERATORS 87 increasing relatively faster than renting of either medium or small farms. On the other hand, this implies that the owners of large farms, though still commonly operating their farms in 1900, were giving up personal operation relatively faster than owners of smaller farms. The large farms are most inaccessible to tenants with the objective of ownership, and, except as divis- ion through inheritance takes place, their owners ought to be weU able to prevent their disintegration. The percentage of all farms operated by cash tenants nearly doubled between 1880 and 1890, while that of share tenants re- mained the same. Among the farms having under 100 acres the percentage of farms operated by share tenants was decreasing and the percentage operated by cash tenants was increasing between 1880 and 1900, and in the case of the farms between 100 and 500 acres and those over 1000 acres, cash tenancy was increasing more rapidly than share tenancy. The trend in tenancy among the farms between 500 and 1000 acres was toward the share basis. As pointed out previously," exclusively cash tenancy was not so prevalent in 1910, as was so-called "cash" tenancy in 1900. A notion of the amount of land operated by operators of various classes can be obtained from the following table. THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF ACRES PER FARM OF VARIOUS KINDS OF OPERATORS, AND THE ABSOLUTE AND RELATIVE INCREASE IN THE SAME, ILLINOIS,. lgOO-1910.15 Increase in Percentage Tenure Census date acreage of designation 1910 1 1900 1900-1910 increase All operators Tenants Cash Share Managers Owners and part ovirners Owners proper Part owners .... Owned Leased Owners and tenants 1 29. 1 I3S-8 234.0 122.6 133.8 147- S 83.7 63.9 124.2 4-9 4-0 122.2 13.6 11.2 124.2 I2I.0 2330 I.I 0.5 1 24. 1 -i.S — 1.2 1 18.9 —S.I —4.3 142.9 4.6 2,2 79-9 Z-1 4-7 63.0 0.9 1.4 1 59- 1 ^*See above, p. 83. ^'Census, igoo, V, 8 ; and table, above, p. 45- 88 LAND TENURE IN ILLINOIS [482 The lack of acreage-group data in 1910 makes it impossible to pursue this phase of the study with accuracy after 1900. In 1900 the average size of all farms was 124.2 acres. Cash tenant farms and those of owners, including part owners, were almost exactly the same in average acreage as those of all tenures. Share tenants and owners proper operated smaller farms on the average. The largest farms were those of managers, which aver- aged nearly twice as large as the farms operated by owners proper. Part owners owned 84 acres and hired 64 on the aver- age. Owners and tenants co-operating operated farms of 159 acres. In 1910 data are lacking for cash and share tenants and for owners and tenants co-operating. The average acreage for all farms increased 4.0, and an increase in average acreage took place in both the owned and leased portions of the farms of part owners, in the farms of managers, and tenants. In the case of managed farms the increase was slight while in the case of tenants it was most pronounced, being 13.6 acres. The farms of owners proper lost 5 acres, on the average. Ownership has been declining and tenancy increasing in the districts of larger farms. This accounts in the main for the apparent increase in the size of tenant farms. There seems to be little tendency for the average tenant farm to increase in size in any large part of the state. THE EQUIPMENT OP THE VABIOUS OPERATORS The data on farm equipment are not complete, but such as are available are presented in the next few pages. The percentage of farm land improved in all Illinois farms was 86.2 in 1910 and 84.5 in 1900. The tenants operated farms consisting most largely of improved land,*' and the farms of man- agers had the smallest percentage of improved land.*' The next table shows the value of various items of farm property in the case of farms operated under different forms of tenure. i8The percentage of tenant farm land improved in ipio was 88.8 and in igoo, 87.8, as against corresponding percentages of 84.5 and 82.6 for the land owners. See Census, ipio, V, 130. I'The percentage was 76.7 in 1910 and 744 in 1900. See Census, 1910, V, 130. 483] DESCRIPTION OF OPERATORS 89 Land and buildings constituted 88.3 per cent of the value of all farm property in 1900 and 90.2 per cent in 1910. AU items of farm property underwent a rise in value between 1900 and 1910. In the case of buildings this was probably due in some measure to better improvement of the farms, but to a greater degree, perhaps, to the rise in the value of building materials, and to a general tendency to value buildings higher because a higher value was being placed on other items of farm property. Implements and machinery and livestock also had higher value per farm and per acre in 1910 than in 1900. In the case of implements and machinery the rise in value is probably due to the utilization of more expensive types. The value of live stock has AVERAGE VALUE IN DOLLARS OF ALL FARM PROPERTY AND OF THE SEVERAL CLASSES, CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO THE MAJOR TENURE GROUPS/^ ILLINOIS, igio AND ipoo.is All tenures Owners Managers Tenants ipio 1900 1910 1900 1910 1900 1910 1900 All farm property Per farm 15,505 7,588 13,667 7,203 30,269 17,005 17,719 7,999 Per acre 120.04 61.12 111.51 58:03 129.28 72.99 120-45 65-48 Land and buildings Per farm 13,986 6,684 12,170 6,2S8 27,246 14,833 16,205 7,182 Per acre 108.32 53.84 99.29 50.42 116.41 63-65 119-33 58.78 Land Per farm 12,269 5,732 10,363 5,220 23,682 13.004 14,655 6,377 Per acre 95-01 46.17 84-55 42.06 101.18 55-82 107.91 52-20 Buildings Per farm 1,716 952 1,806 1,038 3,563 1,829 1,550 804 Per acre 13-30 7.67 14-73 8.36 15-22 7-85 11.41 6.58 Imple- ments and machinery Per farm 293 170 285 170 533 246 298 177 Per acre 2.27 1-37 2.32 1.38 2.28 1.06 2.20 1-37 Livestock Per farm 1,226 734 1,213 773 2,488 1,928 1,214 650 Per acre 9-49 5-91 9.90 6.23 10.63 9-27 8.94 5-32 isData for the igoo, V, 149. i9Census, 1910, minor tenure groups are given for 1900. See Census, V, 130, 134; VI, 413; and 1900, V, 149, 252. 90 LAND TENUEE IN ILLINOIS [484 risen not so much because of increase in the number of animals as in the value per head. It will be observed that the value of the property in man- aged farms averaged highest in value at both census dates, and the value per acre of the farm property of managers was greater than that of either owners or tenants in 1900. In 1910, however, the highest average value per acre of farm property was attached to the farms operated by tenants. In the value of buildings, managed farms had the highest average per farm in 1900 and , per acre as well as per farm in 1910. The value of buildings on rented farms was lower than on other farms both per acre and per farm in 1900 and 1910. The value of implements and ma- chinery per acre was greatest on the farms of owners at both dates and in 1910 least on those of tenants. The farms on which live stock reached the largest average value per acre and per farm were the farms of managers. On the farms of tenants the value of live stock was less than on the farms of any other kind of farm operator. The statistics for 1900 show the value of property to be much different when farms are rented for cash than when rented on shares. The value of all farm property per acre in 1900 was greater in the case of cash tenants than in the case of farmers of any other tenure. In value of buildings per acre cash tenant farms were somewhat above the average, while the average value of buildings per acre in this case of share tenant farms was less than in the case of farms of any other form of tenure, being 40 per cent less than on cash rented farms. The value of imple- ments and machinery per acre was greater in the ease of cash tenant farms than in that of farms of any other tenure. The value of live stock per acre was above the average on the farms of cash tenants and least in the case of the share tenant farms. The various classes of operators differ somewhat in the extent to which they keep different kinds of animals on their farms. Over 90 per cent of Illinois farms in 1910 were reported to have domestic animals, poultry, cattle, dairy cows, and horses.^" Domestic animals, poultry, bees, dairy cows, horses, and swine were reported for a smaller percentage of managed farms and a larger percentage of owned farms than of tenant farms. Mules were reported by a larger percentage of managers than of oper- ators of other tenure. Only in the case of horses and mules ^"Census, ipio, V, 130, 142, 146. 485] DESCRIPTION OP OPERATORS 91 did the percentage of owners reporting them fail to exceed the corresponding percentage in the case of other operators. Domestic animals were distributed among the various classes of operators in very much the same proportion as the number of farms and acres of farm land." Between 1900 and 1910 the value of domestic animals on the farms of tenants increased at a much more rapid rate than on the farms of owners. Poultry and bees averaged higher in value on the farms of owners than on the farms of other classes of operators. The value of other than dairy cattle was largest on the farms of owners,^'' while the values of dairy cows were distributed among the operators of different tenures more nearly according to the distribution of farms and acreages. Judging from the values reported horses were distributed in almost exactly the same proportions as the improved acreage. Mules were evidently employed to an extraordinarily large extent by managers. Asses and burros, sheep and swine were kept by the operating owners to a disproportionately high degree. In swine, however, the ten- ants had values approaching their share. It appears that in the case of all animals but sheep the most valuable stock was on the managed farms.^^ Operating owners possessed the most valuable sheep, but in the case of all other animals the value of their stock per head was even less than that of tenants. SOME ITEMS OF INCOME AND EXPENDITURE Data were gathered at the twelfth census showing for the various classes of operators the value of the products of 1899 and the average expenditures for labor and fertilizers.^* The value of products per farm was highest in the case of managed farms and lowest in the case of farms of share tenants. On the basis of values per acre, however, cash tenants held first rank, and co-operating owners and tenants made the least showing. Managers fed to live stock a larger value of products per farm and per acre than other operators. Share tenants fed the least on either basis of comparison. Co-operating owners and tenants by furnishing their own labor were enabled to cut down the labor expenditures to $.50 2iCensus, 1910, V, 142, 15°. and VI, 4H- "Census, 1910, V, 150, IS3- 23Census, 1910, V, i53- ^♦Census. 1900, V, 149, 232. 92 LAND TENURE IN ILLINOIS [486 per acre, the least of any class of operators. Managers expended the most per acre, $1.46. The expenditure for fertilizers was so small that comparisons are of little value. It seems, however, that in 1899 the expenditure for fertilizers was least in the case of farms operated by share tenants. Statistics are presented in the Census to show the tenden- cies prevalent among operators of different tenures in raising products for the market in 1899.'"' Owners operated less than their proportion of the farms whose values of products not fed to live stock were under $100 and over $1,000. Owners and tenants, and part owners operated less than their share of the farms with values of unfed products under $250, and more than their share of the farms in the other value-groups. The managed farms were heavily concentrated in the groups having no unfed products and in aU. value-groups under $1000. Cash tenants showed a somewhat similar tendency. Share tenants, however, operated more than their proportion of the farms with unfed products valued at more than $1000, as well as of the farms with values of unfed products less than $250. These data must be interpreted with due allowance for a number of other factors. The size of farms has much to do with the valuableness of the products raised. Small farms and very large farms are operated by owners to a greater degree than are farms of medium size. The figures employed here, moreover, are not based on values of all products raised, but only of those pro- ducts not fed to livestock on the farms raising them. Farms raising products which are fed to livestock are certainly not, for that reason, less productive of value. Finally, it would be use- less and unfair to make deductions from such data as to the relative efficiency of the various classes of operators. EMPHASIS IN FAEM PRACTICE Statistical evidence on the relation of farm tenure to var- ious types of farming practice relates only to 1899. The census of 1900 classified farms according to the principal source of income as shown by the productions of the preceding year. Changes have doubtless occurred since 1899 both in the number of farms having the specified productions as their principal source of income and in the percentage of farms in each pro- duction group operated by the various classes of operators. The following table summarizes the data gathered in 1900 so far as related to lUinois. ^"Census, ifloo, V, 35. 487] DESCRIPTION OF OPERATORS 93 CLASSinCATION BY TENURE OF FARMS WITH SPECIFIED PRINCIPAL SOtJRCES OF INCOME, ILLINOIS, 1899.26 Princioal 1 "Wnrnhfir Percentage of farms operated by source of income of farms Own- ers Part owners Owners and ten- ants Man- agers Cash tenants Share ten- ants All farms 264,151 107,020 6,656 2,411 113,674 15,602 138 60 499 126 17,965 46.1 33-3 38.4 67.3 56.7 50.3 39-9 40.0 84.9 50.2 13.0 12.3 10.9 lO.I 14-5 7-9 22.5 16.7 5.8 7-9 13.6 0.9 0.7 0.5 0.7 1.2 0.5 0.8 1.2 0.7 0.7 0.6 1.7 0.8 0.9 0.7 1.7 3.8 2.4 0.6 14.5 18. 1 35.9 8.4 9-1 24-S 12.3 13.3 14.6 4-0 10.7 24.8 34-9 13-7 11.7 17.8 1 5-9 24.6 28.3 Hay and grain Vegetables Fruits Livestock Dairy produce. Tobacco . . Sugar Flowers and plants Nursery products- Miscellaneous 0.2 0.8 23.8 Hay and grain farming was carried on with greatest emphasis by the tenants, particularly the share tenants, while owners operated much less than their proportionate number of such farms. Owners operated less than their share of the farms producing vegetables as their main crop. Tenants operated nearly half of the vegetable farms, and over two-thirds of those rented were on the cash basis. Fruit farms were operated chiefly by owners and managers, the tenants being in charge of only about half their proportionate share. Farmers specializing in livestock were usually owners of their places. AU classes of oper- ators except tenants showed a leaning toward live stock farming. The latter were in charge of only two-thirds of their pro- portionate share of these farms. The renting of live stock farms inclined toward the share basis. The owners proper, managers and tenants operated dairy farms with somewhat greater empha- sis than their relative numbers would indicate. As in the case of vegetable farms cash tenancy was much more prevalent than share tenancy. The tobacco and sugar farms were largely oper- ated by part owners. Farms raising flowers, plants and nursery products were operated mainly by owners and managers. So far as such farms were rented it was almost exclusively on the cash basis. The farms whose principal source of income was miscel- laneous need not be regarded as farms on which productions were diversified. They are simply those whose principal source of 26Census, 1900, V, 9- 94 LAND TENURE IN ILLINOIS [488 income was some production other than those listed. The tenure of such farms has no peculiarities worth discussing. The part played by owners in the operation of farms special- izing in the different crops is much the same in Illinois as in the country as a whole.^' One exception is that of vegetable farms, 60.4 per cent of which are owned by the operators in the United States, as against a percentage of 38.4 in Illinois. Operation by owners is somewhat more prevalent among farms raising nursery products in Illinois than in the whole country. The place occupied by part owners is more prominent in the cultiva- tion of tobacco farms in Illinois than in the country as a whole, although in the case of farms raising nursery products the oppo- site holds true. The prominence of managers in the operation of sugar farms which is characteristic of the United States as a whole does not stand out as a feature of the few sugar farms of Illinois. The tenants of Illinois follow very much the same types of farming as those in the rest of the country, except that farms raising dairy produce are rented to a greater extent on the cash basis in Illinois. The twelfth census also supplied data for ten important crops showing the number of farms reporting, the number of acres raised and the number of bushels harvested in 1899.^* The results of a study of these data are summarized in the fol- lowing paragraphs. Corn was raised by almost every farmer in the state in 1899. Irish potatoes and hay and forage were cultivated by two farmers in three, and oats by three in five. The share tenants, owners and tenants, and part owners raised com to an extent greater than the average. Oats was more widely raised by the cash tenants and part owners ; wheat, buckwheat, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, hay and forage by part owners and by owners and tenants. Of the tenants those renting on shares contributed more prominently to the production of corn, wheat and sweet potatoes. The corn acreage per corn farm was greater than the corre- sponding acreage per farm of any other crop. Oats came second and wheat third. Sweet potatoes and Irish potatoes were raised in patches of very small size. The corn acreage was largest on the managed farms reporting corn. If the farms reporting com were of the same size as the average farm of each form "^See above, p. 26. "'Census, 1900, VI, 96-107, 220, 221, 342-34S, S30 and 531. 489] DESCRIPTION OP OPERATORS 95 of tenure, the percentage of the managed acreage in corn was less than the corresponding percentage of the acreage in farms of other tenures. It seems probable that the percentage of the land devated to corn production was greater in the farms of cash and share tenants than of other operators. Considering the percentage of aU the land ia the state devoted to the production of certain crops it appears that culti- vation by owners was especially prominent in the case of sweet potatoes, hay and forage, but was relatively little associated with the production of oats and com. Part owners and owners and tenants devoted their land to the raising of tobacco, buck- wheat and wheat relatively more than to other crops. Man- agers were especially concerned with raising rye, hay and forage. Cash tenants emphasized the raising of Irish potatoes and barley, and neglected the production of tobacco, wheat and sweet pota- toes. Share tenants placed their emphasis on wheat, corn and oats. The data on yields per acre for each kind of tenure are presented below. AVERAGE YIELD PER ACRE OF SELECTED CROPS ON ACREAGES CLASSIFIED . ACCORDING TO TENURE, ILLINOIS, iSgp.^^ Production ID U 3 C < V u c P-i •0 c cQ en b g CO t-i c c3| Barley Bus. 32.1 I0.S 38.8 39-S 14.0 10.8 94-9 67.9 1.2 645.5 330 10.0 38.3 39-5 13.8 10.8 96.3 66.6 1.2 660.6 31.7 9-9 37.6 38.0 13.9 10.3 95.2 74.3 1.2 618.8 26.8 10.4 3S.8 36.S 12.9 9.8 89.1 83.4 1.2 511.S 31.8 8.0 41.6 40.8 16.3 11.9 97-7 102.6 1.2 643-3 31.8 11.4 41-3 40.9 15.5 13-1 95.0 68.2 1.2 81 1.4 30.3 10.5 38.4 Oats 39-2 Rye Wheat 13-4 II. I Potatoes 91.1 Sweet Dotatoes . 65.4 Tons 1.2 Tobacco Lt s. 622.8 Precaution should be taken at the outset against explaining all differences in yields in terms of the relative producing efiBciency of the farmers operating under different tenures. In the first place, the farmers of different tenures are not uniformly distributed over the different grades of soil. In the second place, 2»Census, 1900, VI, 96-107, 220-221, 342-345, 53°. and S3i- 96 LAND TENURE IN ILLINOIS [490 climatic conditions, insects, and the like do not ordinarily affect all grades of soil and aU kinds of operators in the same way, and certainly not during any one year. Making allowance for these facts it is still worth while to study the foregoing table. Owners obtained highest yields only in the production of barley. Part owners, owners and tenants, and share tenants showed no unusually large yields in any crops. Cash tenants had the largest yields in buckwheat and tobacco. Cash tenants and managers obtained the highest yields in the production of corn, oats, rye and wheat. Managers stood highest in the yields of hay and forage, and sweet potatoes. It is an interesting fact that, although the share tenants were cultivating their full portion of the fertile land, they exceeded the average yield only in the production of wheat. Cash tenants, on the other hand, had a yield above the average in the case of every production except barley. The cash tenants are to be found largely in the Northern part of the state where farming practice is more diversified and where live stock plays a more important part in the farming. Perhaps part of the superiority in yields characteristic of the farms of cash tenants was due to larger use of animal matter as fertilizer and to a less degree of specialization in cereal production. The higher yields on the managed farms may likewise be due in considerable measure to superiority of farming method. MOKTGAGE ENCUMBRANCE ON OWNED LAND As indicated in Chapter I'" mortgage statistics relate only to land operated by the owners, the part owners in most cases having limited their reports to the land owned by them. The next table summarizes the data on encumbrance of farm property operated by owners in Illinois. Between 1890 and 1910 the number of all "owned" places declined 9 per cent, the number of mortgaged places decreased 5 per cent, while the number of farms free from mortgage declined 14 per cent. Mortgaging was relatively most prominent in 1900 and appears to have undergone little change since that date. In 1910, 38,662 of the 55,792 farms reported as mortgaged were wholly owned by the operators.'^ The number of farms of part owners thus reported mortgaged, 17,130, constituted 45.5 per cent of all farms of part owners. The percentage of owners proper *"See above, p. i8. ^^Census, ipio, VI, 414. 491] DESCRIPTION OF OPERATORS 97 operating under mortgage was 38.3. The fact that the part own- ers were under mortgage on their owned land in so many eases is not proof either that they have been rising from a lower or de- scending from a higher economic status. The fact that a part owner operates rented land in addition to a good-sized place of his own is merely evidence that he is influenced to exert extra- ordinary efforts to clear his land of encumbrance. THE NUMBER AND PERCENTAGE OF OWNED FARMS AND FARM HOMES MORTGAGED AND UNENCUMBERED, ILLINOIS, iSpO-ipiO.^^ Owned farms^s Owned farm homes Owned farm homes^* 1910 Per 19' 00 Per 1890 1 Per Number cent^' Number cent Number cent Total Free from mortgage Mortgaged Unknown I4S-I07 158,394 160,065 86,713 60.8 92,702 60.7 101,305 55,792 39-2 60.063 39-3 58,760 2,602 5,629 63-3 36.7 The accompanying map shows the difference between coun- ties in the percentage of owned farms under mortgage in 1900. In three counties the percentages exceeded 50.^^ Twelve coun- ties had percentages between 45 and 50.'' Most of the counties with high percentages of owners operating under mortgage are river counties in which the farm area has been growing. It seems probable, therefore, that mortgages were laid for the acquisition of newly developed land to a considerable extent in those counties. The East Central counties where land prices have been increasing most rapidly constitute another district of considerable mortgaging. The explanation probably lies in the fact that owners are trying to enlarge their holdings and have employed mortgages to assist them, and that owners and part s2Census, 1910, VI, 414. '^Includes all farms owned in whole or in part by the operator. 3*The 1,813 "'owned farm homes" for which no reports were secured were distributed between "free from mortgage" and "mortgaged" in 1890. ssPer cent of combined total of "free from mortgage" and "mort- gaged". s'Brown, 50.7 ; Jo Daviess, 5i-i I and Schuyler, 57.1. "Whiteside 49.7, Iroquois 47-8, Carroll 47-4, Henderson 47.2, Massac 47.1, Wayne 47.1, Ford 46.8, Champaign 46.2, Pulaski 45.3, McHenry 43-2, Boone 45.1, and White 45.1. 98 LAND TENURE IN ILLINOIS [492 Perce ntacfc of Owners Operating Under Niortqaqe r//j«ois mo Census I'iiO 'Vol. m Legend 10320^0 249 ]Z5toZ9.q 1 35 To 39.9 f-?0 to 4^.9 M5 7b 49. 9 \ 50 to 5-^.9 1 55 To 59.9 493] DESCRIPTION OF OPEEATORS 99 owners who have risen from tenancy have been all the more under the necessity of mortgaging in these districts. Data regarding the amount of mortgage debt were gathered in 1910 and 1890, but not in 1900. Only the farms consisting wholly of owned land were included in 1910. In 1890 part ownership had not yet been recognized by the census. Of the 38,662 mortgaged farms owned by owners proper in 1910, 1,724 gave no usable reports on debt and value. Taking the statistics at hand, however, the following table is presented. i THE NUMBER OF OWNED FARMS AND FARM HOMES MORTGAGED, THEIR VALUE, THE AMOUNT OF MORTGAGE DEBT AGAINST THEM, THE PERCENTAGE Otf VALUE COVERED BY MORTGAGE, AND THE AVERAGE VALUE, DEBT AND EQUITY PER FARM, ILLINOIS, I9IO AND l8gO.'* Owned farms or farm homes mortgaged i9io»8 I 189010 Increase Amount I Per cent 36,938 $454,857,222 $115,799,646 25-5 $12,314 $3,135 $9,179 , 78,760 $285,706,170 $98,940,935 34-6 $4,862 $1,684 • $3,178 Value— land and buildings.... Amount of mortgage debt Average value per farm Averaffe debt oer farm $7,452 $1,451 $6,001 153-3 86.2 Average equity per farm 188.8 The average mortgage debt per farm in Illinois in 1910, $3,135, was exceeded by that prevailing in three other states. These were Nevada, $4,738 ; Iowa, $4,048 ; and Nebraska, $3,154.« The average equity per farm in Illinois in 1910, $9,179, was ex- ceeded in three other states : Nebraska, $11,322 ; South Dakota, $10,782 ; and Iowa, $10,526. It will be observed that all of these states are located west of the Mississippi river. In ratio of debt to value in 1890 and in 1910 the percentage in Illinois was exceeded in 26 states. Most states in which the percentage of value covered by mortgage exceeded that in Illinois were located east of the Mississippi. It appears, therefore, that Illinois has shared with the Western states the tendency for land values to ssCensus, 1910, VI, 415- ssincludes only farms consisting wholly of owned land and reportmg value of farm and amount of debt. loincludes all owned farm homes, estimates being made of value of farms and amount of debt for all defective reports. *iCensus, 1910, V, 167. 100 LAND TENXJEE IN ILLINOIS [494 increase more rapidly than mortgage indebtedness, rapid as the increase in indebtedness has been. A map is also presented illustrating by counties the per- centage of value of owned farms covered by mortgage in 1910. For the most part it appears that the counties with the highest percentages were located in Northern Illinois. The lowest per- centage was that of Calhoun county, 3.1.^'' Low percentages characterize the counties in East Central Illinois and in the eastern half of Southern Illinois. In the case of the East Central lUiaois counties, the low percentages are probably explained by the rapid rise in land values characteristic of the ten or twelve years preceding 1910. In Southern Illinois, though land values have not run away from mortgage indebtedness so rapidly, there has not been the stimulus toward mortgaging such as that afforded by the rate of advance in land prices in other parts of the state. In Northern Illinois the practice of mortgaging the value of the land heavily seems to be most prevalent. That this is due to lack of prosperity seems hardly likely, for the existing evidence, meager though it is, points to a greater prosperity, especially among tenants, in that part of the state.*' Such being the case, the suggestion arises that probably the chances for land acqui- sition are stronger in Northern Illinois. Since the farming practice is such as naturally to conserve the soil and since land prices have not been so much affected by increment, the propor- tion of the acre value for which mortgages can be negotiated is larger.** On the whole it appears that the "calamity" element has not been a significant cause of mortgaging in Illinois, though no specific investigations of that feature have been made in the last twenty-five years.*' Since the data are limited to operating owners the mortgaging of leased land has been left out of con- sideration. This is commonly supposed to be a small factor, yet *2This is so much less than the percentages in adjacent counties as to lead one to suspect the accuracy of the reports. *3Stewart, C. L., Analysis of Rural Banking Conditions in Illinois, 19 and 20. **Ibid., 14 and 15. *=The only investigations from which any light can be obtained on this question in Illinois were those of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of Illinois covering the dates 1870, 1880, and 1887, reported by Secretary John S. Lord in the Fifth Biennial Report of the Bureau, 1888, and that of the United States census of i8go, reported in the volume on Farms and Homes: Proprietorship and Indebtedness. 495] DESCRIPTION OP OPERATORS 101 Percentaqe o1 Value of NlortgagedFarme Covered by Morfgoges Illinois 1910 Census 1910 Vol YL Legend to ^.9 l5to n^ ^O TO 4^.9 102 LAND TENURE IN ILLINOIS [496 an investigation of the question under a regime of rising land prices might reveal some important facts. RACE, COLOR AND NATIVITY OF FARMERS Statistics on race, color and nativity of farmers were gath- ered in 1890, 1900 and 1910. At the census of 1890 the basis of investigation was the occupier of the farm, in 1890 the occu- pier of the farm home, and in 1910 the operator of the farm. The following table summarizes the data for Illinois by major na- tivity groups. THE COLOR AND NATIVITY OF FARMERS CLASSIFIED BY TENURE, ILLINOIS, iSgo-ipio.** '> ■a a rt Q en u B U < u cd V •S 0. B V a i 1 CO a bo n] e IS Percentage of group classified as o U V cn OJ Total Native white Foreign-born white Negro and other non-white*^ ipio igoo i8go ipio igoo 1890 1910 1900 1890 1910 1900 1890 251,872 262,180 252,953 217,053 208,884 190,234 33,394 51,722 61,044 1,425 I.S74 1.67s lOO.O lOO.O 100.0 86.2 79-7 75.2 13-3 19.7 24.1 0.6 0.6 0.7 145,107 158,394 160,065 123,907 124,498 117,223 20,411 33-059 42,080 789 837 762 104,379 101,728 92,888 91,014 82,662 73,011 12,747 i8,34S 18,964 618 721 913 2.386 2,132 236 18 57.6 60.4 63.3 57.1 59.7 63.7 6I.I 64.1 69.2 55-4 53.2 45-7 41.4 39.6 36.7 41.9 40.3 363 38.2 35.9 30.8 434 46.8 54-3 0.9 I.O 0.7 1.3 *«Census, 1910, VI, 416; 1900, II, 715, 744; and 1890, Farms and Homes, 567, 591. *''The number of non-whites other than negroes was made up as follows : Chinese and Japanese, 1910, i, 1900, 5, and 1890, 2 ; Indians, 1910, 2, 1900, o, and 1890, 3. *^'^] DESCRIPTION OP OPERATORS 103 It appears that the percentage of Illinois farmers who were native-born whites increased from 75.2 in 1890 to 86.2 in 1910. The percentage of native-bom white farmers owning their farms was at each date less than the corresponding percentage among foreign-born white farmers. The farm managers were foreign-born in relatively few instances. The negro and other non-white farmers declined in number during each decade, and at each date constituted less than 0.7 per cent of aU farmers in the state. The percentage of negro and other non-white farmers owning their farms was at each date smaller than the corre- sponding percentage for either group of white farmers, but in- creased at a rapid rate during the twenty years. The growth of ownership among non-white farmers in Illinois contrasts with the decline in ownership among the white farmers of the state. The number of non-white farmers other than negroes was 5 in 1890 and 1900 and 3 in 1910. Separate data for the negroes were not reported in 1910. In 1890 and 1900 the percentage of their farms and homes owned by them was 43.2 and 53.7, respectively.*' In 1900 the percentage of negro farmers in each tenure group was as foUows: owners, 36.5; part owners, 11.5; owners and tenants, 0.8 ; managers, 0.3 ; cash tenants, 14.6 ; and share tenants, 36.3.*^ The discrepancy between the figures is possibly due to home ownership in some cases unaccompanied by farm ownership. Tenancy, especially share tenancy, was more common among the negro farmers than among the white farmers."* Data on the country of nativity of occupiers of farms and ♦^Census, ipoo, II, 714; and, 1890, Farms and Homes, 567- *9Census, 1900, V, 50, 52. The corresponding percentages for farms •operated by whites in 1900 were : owners, 46.1 ; part owners, 13.0 ; owners and tenants, 0.8; managers, 0.7; cash tenants, 14.5; and share tenants, 24.8. ""The negro farmers in Illinois in 1899 were specializing in vegetable, fruit, tobacco, sugar and miscellaneous lines of farming to a greater extent than were white farmers. The farms of negroes were much smaller than those of white farmers, the percentage of farms under 50 acres in size being 66.5 in the case of colored farmers as against 22.8 in the case of white farmers. (Census, 1900, V, 51. S3-) The negro farmers of Illinois are located chiefly in the Southern counties. The counties in which the percentage of farms run by negroes in 1900 was i.o or over are as follows: Pulaski, 31.3 ; Alexander, 13-6; Massac, 8.2; Pope, 32; Saline, 3.0; Jackson, 2.2; St. Clair, 1.8; Madison, 1.6; Clinton, i.S; Law- rence, 1.3; White, 1.2; Sangamon, i.i; Randolph, i.o; and Hardin, i.e. (Census, 1900, V, 73-75)- 104 LAND TENURE IN ILLINOIS [498 farm homes in Illinois are available for 1890 and 1900,°' and, in a form scarcely comparable with the data of preceding dates, in 1910." The number of occupiers of farm homes in Illinois in 1900 who were not born in foreign countries is given as 156,688 in this series, while in the last table the number of farmers who were native-born whites in 1900 was 208,864. The discrepancy casts discredit upon the statistics. It appears, nevertheless, that the Germanic was the strongest single element among the farmers in the state, and that those born in the British isles were next in relative numbers. The percentage of ownership in 1890 was above the average among the Austro-Hungarians, the French (both Canadian and European), the Germans, Irish, Scotch, Italians, and those com- ing from Russia and Poland. In 1900 the percentage of owner- ship was above the average among the Austro-Hungarians, the British, particularly the Irish, the Italians and the Polish. Own- ership free from encumbrance in 1890 was especially character- istic of the Austro-Hungarians, the French, the Germans, th& Scotch, and the Italians, and in 1900 was found especially among- the Austro-Hungarians, the Germans, the Italians and those from "other countries". The percentage of ownership was least among the Scandinavians. Those born in Russia and Poland were characterized by ownership in a high degree, but were largely under mortgage. RESIDENCE AND LANDED V^EALTH OF OWNERS The twelfth census was the only one at which data were gathered on the residence and landed wealth of the owners of rented farms. Nearly nineteen out of each twenty rented farms were owned by residents of the state.^' Of the remaining 5.5 per cent of the farms, three-fifths were owned by residents of the North Central states. The owners residing in the North Central states owned the largest number of rented farms each. The 27 owners residing in foreign countries held 28 rented farms. Of the 98,730 rented farms with residence of owners known,, "Census, 1900, II, 744; and 1890, Farms and Homes, 591. **Census, 1910, VI, 416. "^Census, 1900, V, 309. The number of rented farms with owners reported is less than the total number of tenant farms reported in other tabulations. The incom- pleteness of the data, however, need not be regarded as greatly injuring their usefulness. 499] DESCRIPTION OP OPERATORS 105 76.8 per cent were held by owners residing in the same county ; 17.9 per cent were held by owners residing in other Illinois coun- ties ; and 5.3 per cent by owners residing in other states."' The average acreage and the average value per farm were least in the case of the rented farms of owners residing in the same county, and most in the case of those of owners residing in other counties of the state. The average value per acre, however. The tendencies in ownership among the different population elements in Illinois is shown in the next table. PERCENTAGE OF FARMS AND HOMES OWNED AND RENTED BY OCCUPIERS BORN IN VARIOUS COUNTIES, ILLINOIS, iSpO AND IQOO."* Percentage of places Percentage of Owners Nativity of occupiers Owned 1 Rented Farm homes Farms Farm homes Farms Fr ee 1890 Encun^ ibered igoo 1890 1900 1890 1900 1900 1890 All occupiers Austria-Hungary Canada (English) Canada (French) France 60.9 659 56.4 57-7 59-7 66.4 68.5 66.0 81.3 84.6 46.6 44-8 56.8 61.4 554 63.3 66.6 59.8 71.8 74.7 68.2 60.6 78.8 79.8 79.1 81.3 52.4 614 60.1 39-1 34-1 43-6 42-3 40.3 33.6 31.5 34-0 18.7 1 5-4 53-4 SS-2 43-2 38.6 44.6 36.7 33-3 30.2 28.3 25-3 32.8 39-4 21.2 20.2 20.9 18.7 47.6 38.6 39-9 60.7 63.2 55-9 46.6 61.8 SS-2 S9-2 61.0 46.6 44.6 64.2 44.6 S6.2 62.3 62.9 63.3 66.3 S6.2 S2.3 68.8 66.1 62.6 62.7 69.0 68.8 50.S 47.9 63.7 6S-4 39-3 36.8 44.1 S3-4 "38;2 4^.8 40.8 39.0 534 5S4 35.8 SS4 43-8 37-7 37.1 36.7 33-7 43.8 47-7 31-2 33.9 Great Britain 384 37-3 Scotland Italy 31-0 31-2 Russia and Poland Poland 49.S Scandinavia Mixed foreign parentage .... United States (or unknown) Other countries.. S2.I 36.3 346 »*Census, 1900, II, 744; and 1890, Farms and Homes, 591- s'Census, 1900, V, 310, 3ii- 106 LAND TENURE IN ILLINOIS [500 was greatest in the case of the farms of those owners residing in the county in which the farms were located and least in the case of those dwelling in other counties of the state. The per- centage of tenant farms rented for cash increased with the dis- tance of the owners from their farms, although 65 per cent of the rented farms owned by residents of other states were leased on the share basis. The table on the next page throws light on the concentration of ownership of rented farms as shown by the census of 1900. It is to be regretted that similar data are not available for 1910. The first column shows data based on the number of owners of rented farms. Of these owners 85.0 per cent owned a single farm each, 95.3 per cent owned fewer than three farms, and 98.8 per cent owned fewer than five farms. Fewer than 200 acres each were owned by 74.6 per cent of the owners. One owner of rented farms in 1000 owned over 2500 acres. The value of the farms was under $5000 in the case of 48.2 per cent of the owners, and exceeded $25,000 in the case of 5.3 per cent. The second, third and fourth columns are based, not on owners, but on rented farms possessed by owners of various classes. Of the rented farms 68.0 per cent were owned by owners holding deeds to one farm each, and 7.8 per cent by owners pos- sessing over five farms each. The farms belonging to owners of one farm each were slightly below the average in size and still more so in value. Those belonging to owners of two and under five farms were somewhat above the average in size and value. Those possessed by owners of ten and tinder twenty farms were above the average in both size and value, especially in value. One per cent of the rented farms were held by owners of twenty farms and over, and these farms were above the average in size, but below the average in value. The farms possessed by owners owning under 200 acres were below the average in acreage and value, while the farms of aU owners holding more than 200 acres of rented land were above the average in those respects. It is more natural to expect this to be true regarding the acreage than the value. The rented farms belonging to owners of 2500 acres or more were farther below the average in value than those in any other group. Con- sidering value alone, however, there was considerable concentra- tion of ownership in the hands of farm owners owning 500 or more acres. The classification of rented farms according to the value 501] DESCRIPTION OP OPEEATORS 107 THE PERCENTAGE OF OWNERS OF RENTED FARMS WHO POSSESSED SPECIFIED AMOUNTS OF FARM PROPERTY; THE PERCENTAGE OF RENTED FARMS POS- SESSED BY EACH CLASS OF OWNERS OF RENTED FARMS J AND THE PER- CENTAGE OF ACREAGE AND OF THE VALUE OF ALL RENTED FARMS COM-' PRISED IN THE FARMS OF THE VARIOUS CLASSES OF OWNERS, ILLINOIS, igoo.08 Percentage of 3asis of classifying owners of rented farms Number of farms One , Two Three and under five Five and under ten Ten and under twenty..., Twenty and over , Acres Under loo loo and under 200.. 200 and under 500. SCO and under 1000. 1000 and under 2500.. 2500 and over Value Under $1000. $1000 and under $2000...... $2000 and under $5000. $5000 and tmder $10,000.... $10,000 and under $25,000.. $25,000 and over Owners of rented farms who possess 85-05 10.30 3-49 0-95 0.17 0.04 40.07 34-57 21.93 2.73 0.60 0.10 10.75 10.18 27.28 25.35 21.12 5-32 Rented farms held by owners who possess 67.00 16.23 8.99 5.03 1.69 1.06 33-05 30.40 25.84 6.58 2.98 1.15 8.83 8.63 23.52 19.59 26.58 12.85 Acreage of all rented farms of owners who possess 65.88 16.50 9.83 4-99 1.74 1.14 I2.g6 28.84 38.38 10.89 5-18 3-73 2.18 4.18 16.46 19.04 37.14 20.99 Value of all rented farms in farms of owners who possess 64.82 16.62 9.83 5.10 2.68 0.96 13.48 30.60 38.06 lo.Si 4.87 2.48 0.62 i.S6 11.60 17.06 41.40 27.76 of rented farms owned by their owners shows that those owned by owners holding a value of less than $10,000 were considerably below the average in size and value per acre. Rented farms owned by owners whose holdings in such farms had a value ex- "Census, 1900, V, 312-317. 108 LAND TENURE IN ILLINOIS [502 ceeding $10,000 were above the average both in size and in value. On the whole it appears that the owners of larger and more valuable areas of land have their land operated on a scale above the average. The concentration of holdings ia the hands of the wealthier land owners, while not great, was considerable. AGE OP OPEEATORS IN RELATION TO TENURE AND ENCUMBRANCE Statistics were gathered on the ages of operators in 1890, 1900 and 1910. The percentage of all farmers who were under 25 years of age was greater in 1910 than at the earlier dates.''^ This was due chiefly to the relative increase in the prominence of younger tenants. Farmers between 25 and 34 years of age declined in relative numerical importance among both owners'* and tenants from 1890 to 1910. Those between 35 and 54 years old increased in relative numbers among both owners and tenants between 1890 and 1910. Those 55 years old and over declined in relative prominence among both classes of operators. This decline was especially marked in the case of those 65 years old and over as shown by the data for 1900 and 1910. The graph illustrates the distribution of the owners and of the tenants among the age-periods for 1890, 1900 and 1910.°° The age period, 35 to 44, is one which included a slightly higher percentage of the tenants than of the farmers.*" The ages under 35 included a greater portion of the tenants than of the owners, while the ages over 44 included a much greater portion of the owners than of tenants. The percentage of owners comprised within the age-groups increased with each succeeding age-period. "^Census, igio, bulletin, Agriculture: United States, Age of Farmers, 25 ; 1900, V, 727 ; and 1890, Farms and Homes, 618. ^'Including part owners in this series of statistics. "^See also Taylor, H. C, The Place of Economics in Agricultural Education and Research, 108-110. '"The census of 1910, the only one giving such statistics, affords evi- dence that the age of the operator seems also to have something to do with the basis on which he rents land. While 35.8 percent of the operators in all age-groups rented on a cash basis, the percentage varied as follows : under 25 years, 26.2; 25 and under 35 years, 34.4; 35 and under 45 years, 38.0; 45 and under 55 years, 38.2; 55 and under 65 years, 37.8; and 65 years and over, 42.8. (Census, 1910, bulletin. Agriculture, United States, Age of Farmers, 25). This evidence points to an improvement in the economic and tech- nical status of tenants as their years advance. 503] DESCRIPTION OP OPERATORS 109 In the case of tenants the percentage comprised within the age- group, 25 to 34, was greatest, and declined steadily with the suc- ceedmg age-periods. It is evident, therefore, that youth is much _ -"~ ~~ "— — — — — r — ir r- D AG lAI I ! no ■If s -Wi p SI lU W1 IQ 1 ( p rAlJH yewA Mi S AM IH( A sn- v» r ~ — ^ X / \ ^ iL c^ N > 11 b ^ h ^ ir< -M Ij ^ N : \^ ^^ r' -^ / ^ / / "" i^ ir- ■^ Pf / ^ / ^ k // ^ ^ \ s. lai / ^ V ^ S — i^ ;/ ■^ *>v Tr Tt / ^ N ^^ > 1 an is f- ^ t fcM(»- ^ 4 f/ Nrfl - / sr? » }8I o 19< 1 A » o 110 LAND TENURE IN ILLINOIS [504 more characteristic of the tenants than of the owners, and that age seems to increase the chances for ownership. The percentage of farm operators under 25 years of age who owned their land was 27 in 1890, 23 in 1900 and 17 in 1910. The percentage of operators 55 years old and over who rented their places was 14 in 1890, 15 in 1900 and 17 in 1910. It seems that ownership among younger farmers has been declining and that tenancy has been increasing among older operators. Apparently, the period of tenancy through which many farmers must pass on their way to ownership has been growing longer. This is especially true since 1900. The age of owners free from mortgage encumbrance and of those having mortgages on their places is likewise shown by data for the last three census dates. Although the basis of the data is somewhat different on the various occasions, the difference is so slight as to be practically negligible in this sort of a com- parison. THE PERCENTAGE OF OWNERS IN EACH AGE-GROUP OWNING THEIR PLACES FREE AND ENCUMBERED, ILLINOIS, 189O-I9IO.6* Age-period Percentage of owners Free 1910 1900 1890 Encumbered 1910 1900 1890 Under 25 years , 25 and under 35 years.., 35 and under 45 years, 4S and under 55 years...., 55 years and over 55 and under 65 years...., 65 years and over Total 24.2 28.0 36.3 464 65.1 58.6 74-7 47-2 567 48.6 50.6 58.1 69.3 65.3 74-5 58.6 634 51-0 56.0 61.4 72.S 63.2 65.8 72.0 63.7 53-6 34-9 41.4 25.3 52.8 43-3 514 494 41.9 30.7 34.7 25.S 414 36.6 47.0 43-1 38.6 27-S 36.8 It appears that, in general, freedom from mortgage encum- biance increased with advancing age. Those under 25 years old were exceptions to the general trend, because, doubtless, in many eases they were heirs who had received their land clear of indebtedness. The age-period, 25 to 34, however, was one during which the percentage of mortgage encumbrance was very hea-\'y. At each census the succeeding age-period showed declining •iCensus, 1910, bulletin, Agriculture : United States, Age of Farmers, 25; 1900, V, 727; and 1890, Farms and Homes, 618. 505] DESCRIPTION OF OPERATORS 111 percentages of owners encumbered, indicating in most cases suc- cessful escape from indebtedness. The decline in freedom from encumbrance was more rapid between 1900 and 1910 than be- tween 1890 and 1900. The owners in the age-groups under 45 years were rela- tively less free from mortgage encumbrance at the later census dates than those in the age-groups 45 years and over. The decade, 1890 to 1900, was one of relatively little change, while that following 1900 was one of decided decline in the case of aU ages under 55 years. It appears, therefore, that the period required for removing mortgage incumbrance from farms has been lengthened in Illinois.'^ SUMMARY By way of summary the following are the outstanding facts relative to farm operators in Illinois. The farmers operate chiefly as h^ds of families. Share tenants has been more preval- ent than cash tenancy, though cash tenancy predominates in the Northern part of the state and has been more characteristic of tenants who were advanced in years and who were operating farms whose owners were resident at a considerable distance from their farms. The farms of medium size were chiefly cultivated by tenants, while the largest and smallest farms were most char- acterized by operation by owners. There was a tendency toward the cash basis in the case of farms under 500 acres, and toward the share basis in the case of those over 500 acres. During the ten years, 1900 to 1910, the farms of owners proper declined in size, and those of tenants underwent a decided increase due, probably, to the decline in ownership in the districts of larger farms. The tenants were in charge of more than their pro- portion of the improved acreage. The farms of no single form of tenure can be held to be superior in all ways. Managed farms had the highest value in buildings and Uve stock per acre, and farms of owners were characterized by the highest value of implements and machinery per acre. In values of domestic animals the farms of tenants were below the average, when either the total value or the value «2A certain amount of evidence on this point is afforded by the fact that there is growing discontent among bankers with the practice of renewing mortgages, and an agitation for lengthening the period of mortgages in Illinois. See Stewart, C. L., An Analysis of Rural Bank- ing Conditions in Illinois, 13. I4. 20, 21. 112 LAND TENtJEE IN ILLINOIS [506 per head is considered. The farms of tenants were largely de- voted to the production of the money crops. This was particu- larly true of share tenant farms. Yields were superior in the case of farms operated by managers and by cash tenants. Operating owners have shown little tendency to increase the mortgages on their farms since 1900, and the rate of increase of the equity has greatly exceeded that of the indebtedness. The farms were mostly in the hands of white farmers, with a decreasing percentage of foreign-born. This decrease may be due to the ability of the foreign-born to pass the ownership of their land to children born in this country. The owners of rented farms in 1900 were resident in the state in about nineteen cases in twenty, and in three cases out of four were resident in the same county in which the farms were located. Concentration in the ownership of rented farms is seen in the fact that in 1900, 1.16 per cent of the owners of rented farms were in possession of 7.78 per cent of the rented farms, compris- ing 7.87 per cent of the acreage and 8.74 per cent of the value of rented farms. It was shown by the age statistics that young opertors were more generally characterized by tenancy, especially on the share basis, and that young owners were most heavily encumbered. Advancing years tended to replace share with cash tenancy, tenancy with ownership, and encumbrance with freedom from mortgage debt. The latest census data, however, indicate that an influence is at work restraining this movement. CHAPTER V The Relation op Tenure to Rxjral Economic and Social, Conditions in Illinois The tenure of land in Illinois is closely related to a number of prevailing tendencies having a political and social significance. Not least important of these tendencies is the change in the num- ber of people living on the farms of the state. THE decline in EUEAL POPULATION The existing data make it difficult to get accurately at the decline in rural population in Illinois counties. Data are af- forded for the incorporated places in the entire state and for the total population of each county. "Unincorporated population," of course, is not to be identified with "farm" population. Some farm operators and laborers live in incorporated places. Some of those dwelling outside of incorporated places follow a line of occupation in cities, some others are engaged in exploiting mineral wealth, such as coal, oil, and gas, and a few conduct country shops and stores. Whether the absolute figures for the unincorporated population approach closely the actual farm population is hard to say. It is probable, however, that the change in the unincorporated population is not greatly different from the change in the actual farm population. The incorpora- tion of places has been more completely accomplished at the later dates, but an inspection of the statistics shows this source of declining unincorporated poptdation to be of slight importance. Moreover, the place held in the unincorporated population by miners and others occupied in non-agricultural pursuits has probably been an increasing one. All things considered, there- fore, the change in the number of people dwelling outside of incorporated places may be regarded as a fair index of the change in farm population. During the twenty years, 1890 to 1910, there was a decline in the unincorporated population of 87 counties and an increase in 15 counties. The decline in the state as a whole was 7.2 per cent. The following table shows this change somewhat more in detail. 113 114 LAND TENUBE IN IbLINOIS [508 THE NUMBER OF COUNTIES IN WHICH THE UNINCORPORATED POPULATION INCREASED AND DECREASED; BY GEOGRAPHIC DIVISIONS, ILLINOIS, iSgO-ipiO. The state Divisions Period Northern | Central | Southern Inc. Dec. Inc. Dec. Inc. Dec. Inc. Dec. 1890-1910 igoo-igio IS 35 87 88 67 7 7 II 17 17 13 I 5 36 32 7 7 19 34 34 1890-igoo 22 It is apparent that during each of the two decades the unin- corporated population was declining in most of the counties. In the state as a whole, the decline was 1.6 per cent between 1890 and 1900 and 5.7 per cent between 1900 and 1910. The unin- corporated population of the counties of Central Illinois showed the least tendency to increase during either decade of the period. The proportion of counties in which an increase took place between 1890 and 1900 was largest ia Southern Illinois, and between 1900 and 1910 was largest in Northern Illinois. In 9 of the 14 counties in which an increase took place in the unincor- porated population between 1900 and 1910 an increase had occurred during the preceding decade. Of these 9 counties 5 were within a radius of 50 miles of a large city, 3 were marked by the development of mineral resources, and 3 were river coun- ties in which the farm area was being expanded during the period following 1890. Of the 5 other counties in which the unincorporated population increased between 1900 and 1910, 3 were adjacent to large cities. The increase in unincorporated population appears, there- fore, to have been due in large measure to exceptional conditions, such as proximity to large urban centers, the inclusion of new larm land, and the exploitation of mineral wealth by people who were enumerated as resident outside of incorporated places. Urban centers exert their influence not only by giving a more intensive tone to the agriculture, but also by filling the sur- rounding country with residents who belong rather to the city than to farm population. It is important to observe, first, the relation of the popula- tion actually engaged in agriculture to the total unincorporated population. The population actually engaged in agriculture increased from 430,134 in 1890 to 444,242 in 1910. In 1900 it stood at 461,014. Though the decline in the number engaged in 509] TENURE AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 115 Decline in Rural Population Illinois 1900- IRW Legend + Increase O fo 3.3 5^ 3.3 to 6.6 6.6 to'=i.'i 10 to /3,3 J^.dto 16.6 /6.6 to /^.«? 56. 6 fo 3^.9 116 AAND TENUBE IN ILLINOIS [510 agriculttire may have helped to account for the decline in unin- corporated population after 1900 it could not account for the decline between 1890 and 1900. The number of people dwelling outside of incorporated places in excess of those actually engaged at farming was 1,206,- 081 in 1890, 1,149,540 in 1900, and 1,074,022 in 1910, a decrease of 132,059 in the twenty years. "While the number actually occupied at farming increased 3.3 per cent during the two decades, the rest of the unincorporated population declined 11.0 per cent. The percentage of the unincorporated population actually engaged in agriculture was 26.4 in 1890, 28.8 in 1900 and 29.4 in 1910. It is suggested, therefore, that a part of the rural decline is due to such causes as reduction in the size of families, removal or disappearance of persons not occupied at any line,^ and the reduction in the relative number occupied at other than agricultural pursuits while resident in the country. The number actually engaged in farming would be still larger in Illinois but for the fact that improvements in machinery make it possible for an individual to cultivate a large area. The acreage of aU farm land per individual actually engaged in farming in Illinois was 71.2 in 1890, 71.4 in 1900 and 73.5 in 1910; or, considering improved acreage only, 60.0 in 1890, 60.3 in 1900, and 63.4 in 1910. There can be no doubt that the land is being farmed with less human labor. The change in rural population thus appears to be more a symptom and consequence of general economic changes than a causal factor. It is probable, however, that the readjustments in rural population have at least offered occasion for, and often have been causes affecting the prevalence of particular forms of tenure. The movement of owners to the city has doubt- less led to a larger portion of the land owned by them being rented, both before and after the title changes to their heirs. The movement of farm families has doubtless been accompanied by the enlargement of areas. of operation, if not by the growth of holdings. The changes in tenure have contributed not so much to reduce the niunber of unincorporated inhabitants as to change the composition of the rural population. ^The percentages of the total population occupied in Illinois in 1890 was 35.4; in 1900, 37.4; and in 1910, 40.7. See above, p. 35. 511] TENURE AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 117 CO-OPERATIVE ENTERPRISE AND RURAL INSTITUTIONS The relation of tenure to co-operation in Illinois is a sub- ject on which there is as yet very little data. The most impor- tant forms of farm mutual or co-operative business organizations now existing in the state are the co-operative creameries, grain elevators, mutual insurance and telephone companies, and county agricultural improvement associations. The elevators are found, for the most part, in the districts where tenants are most num- erous. In the case of creameries and county associations, which are located chiefly in the Northern counties, the tenants in the surrouiding districts are not so numerous as in the Central part of the state, but theii* numbers have been increasing with great rapidity. Neither instance, however, establishes a depend- ence of co-operation on tenancy. The territorial association between the prevalence of tenancy and the number of co-opera- tors is a negative one in the case of mutual insurance companies, and this is probably true also in the case of mutual telephone companies. The territorial association or dissociation of tenant farm- ing with the existence of co-operative organizations can, how- ever, be little more than suggestive. In nearly aU parts of the state there are enough owners within proper radius to form the nucleus of any kind of co-operative organization thus far developed in the state. On the other hand, it cannot be said with- out claiming too much that co-operation has brought such pros- perity as to have enabled tenants, in any large degree, to become owners of land formerly rented in the vicinity. That tenants, changing from farm to farm at more or less short intervals, should generally be more active and successful than owners in building up co-operative organizations is hardly in the line of reason. It is a somewhat striking fact, however, that one of the most successful advocates of farmers' elevators in the state has been and still is a tenant farmer. The fact remains, nevertheless, that the shifting of tenants injures their ability to promote co-operative organizations and thereby deprives them of their share of the advantages which might otherwise accrue to them. This is probably less true where the co-operative organizations, such as farmers' elevators, have forced prices in the direction favoring the farmers, for aU farmers, regardless of their term of operation in a particular vicinity, get the advantage of the more favorable prices so 118 LAND TENUEE IN ILLINOIS [512 long as within range of markets dominated by the quotations of the co-operative organizations. If, in the future, co-operation assumes forms requiring greater permanency of membership in the societies, greater intimacy of acquaintance among the members, or greater invest- ment per member, the tenants will doubtless find themselves handicapped in their relation thereto. Other features and institutions of rural life probably suffer as much or more than co-operative societies from the replace- ment of owners by tenants. On the whole, the tenants cannot do as much toward stimulating business as the owners might. A part of the negligence of the rural schools can be traced to the absenteeism of landowners. The shifting of tenant families gives rise to problems for the county church, taking members of various sects and denominations into communities where their religious views are not represented in an organized communion, and cutting off the chance for the development of deep friend- ships and associations which give vitality to church life. Church and school finances must naturally suffer from the displacement of better-to-do landowners by tenants struggling to get an eco- nomic foothold. The relation of tenancy to the education and social life of the rural population and to the vitality of religious organizations deserves much more thoroughgoing investigation than has yet been given it.^ EQUIPMENT IN FAKM BUILDINGS A map is presented showing the average value of buildings per acre of improved land in Illinois in 1910. It is apparent that the sections where values were relatively highest were the sections where land was only slightly above the average in value. "Where land was highest the value of buildings per acre was near the state average. In Southern Illinois the value of land and of buildings per acre were less than in the rest of the state. In the vicinity of cities the value of buildings seems to be higher, due in part to the greater number of farms in a given area, in part to the greater need of buildings on farms producing for a local market, and in part, perhaps, to the radiation from the cities of ideals in the architecture of residences. In the dis- *See [Adams, C. S] A Rural Survey in Illinois, 191 1, and Rankin, F. H., Report on "General Conditions in Rural Communities," in the Report of the Commission on Rural Problems and the Relation of the Young Men's Christian Association to their Solution, 1912. 613] TENURE AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 119 Average Value of 'Buildings pe Acre Illinois 1^10 Legend I - .I .O/-W 1^5.50-6.99 ^^7.00-10.^9 KZ^ 10.50- 15.99 H.OO-n.^9 J 17. 50 -20.99- 121.00-2^.^9 ^Z^.50-Z7.^9 1^8.00-31.^9 \3I.50 -3-^.99 \^5. 00-38.^9 120 LAND TENURE IN ILUNOIS [5M tricts where tenant farming was most prevalent the value per acre of buildings was small, and from 1900 to 1910 increased at no more than the average rate. This may be traceable in part to the abandonment of buildings on some patches of ground rented to part owners and to a tendency for tenant farms to suffer from lack of concern on the part of the landlord for the buildings with which his tenant has to do. CONCENTRATION ON CEREAL PRODUCTION In 1879 the greatest concentration on cereals in any part of the state was in the Southern and Southwestern counties. In 1889 the percentages in Central Illinois were tending in general to surpass those in Southern Illinois. In 1899 and in 1909 these tendencies had gone still farther. In Northern Illinois there was greater concentration on the cereals in 1899 than in 1889 or 1879. In 1909, however, the percentages as a whole showed a tendency to diminish. It seems, therefore, that the movement toward concentra- tion on cereal production has been most persistent and has gone to the greatest extremes in the districts where a large portion of the land is leased; that in the districts where ownership has been most persistent there has been a movement away from spe- cialization in the cereal crops ; and that even in Northern Illinois, where the percentage of tenancy has not been much above the state average, there was a decided trend toward cereal produc- tion during the period when tenants were multiplying most rapidly in that part of the state. It is apparent that there has; been a strong emphasis on the production of corn in the original prairie districts of the state. It would be hard to say to what extent tenant farming is responsible for this. The fact that with the increase in tenant farming the emphasis does not seem, to have been materially increased leads one to think that the land may be rented fully as much because it is corned as that it is corned because of being rented. It is probable, however, that with so much land operated under lease operators would be slow to make any material reduction in the acreage devoted to raising a crop the returns from which are so sure and s» immediate. TENANCY AS A SYMPTOM AND AS A CAUSE In the agricultural economy of Illinois fundamental physio- graphic conditions are' very important. The importance of their 515] TENURE AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 121 influence on settlement and on early conditions of land tenure is generally admitted. That the influence of physiographic conditions has not diminished, but that it has perhaps increased with the advent of machinery and market economy is one con- clusion reached in this thesis. In the dynamic changes that have taken place, the districts have gained much or little, or lost little or much, according as they compared favorably or other- wise with other districts at the start. The differences between sections of Illinois have been widening on nearly aU bases of comparison, and these differences may usually be found to have a physiographic basis. The importance of renting as a causal factor is emphasized in this investigation. Its significance as a symptom or accom- panying phase has been pointed out by nearly every economist who has written upon tenancy. The belief is urged here that renting may promote a restraint in agricultural production, and may supply a sort of pension to encourage an uneconomic atti- tude toward their investment on the part of some owners of farm land. In the case of land that produces crops the area of pos- sible or profitable production of which is not subject to expan- sion as rapidly as demand for those crops increases, farming may assume some of the characteristics of monopoly. The con- certed action necessary for the realization of monopoly advant- age is brought about, not by conscious compact, but uncon- sciously through ignorance of, inability or indisposition to employ sound methods of agriculture. To the extent that tenants are inefiicient it may be said that renting reduces the supply of agricultural produce, raises prices of produce, increases the profits from raising it, and enhances land values. The state- ment of Adam Smith that "rent enters into the composition of the prices of commodities in a different way from wages and interest"^ may not, under present-day conditions, be quite as unfounded as the critics maintain, for rents determine the amount of renting, and, so far as they are exorbitant, doubtless incite the tenants toward more exhaustive methods. The changes in the economic conditions of lUinois agricul- ture appear to have taken place with a sort of periodicity. A decade of great change was followed by one of little change, 3Smith, Adam, Wealth of Nations, (Buchanan edition), Vol. I, 243. See also, Walker, Francis, Land and Its Rent, 27; and the debate between Carlton, F. T., and Haney, L. H., in the Quarterly Journal of Economtcs, XXIV, XXV and XXVI. 122 LAND TENURE IN ILLINOIS [516 and that by one of greater change in the case of a number of the phenomena of agriculture to which reference has been made in this thesis. It appears, moreover, that to a certain extent the practice of renting has been stimulated by both phases of the periodic movement. EISESTG LAND PRICES AS A HANDICAP TO POPULAR OWNERSHIP AND GOOD FARMING In the advances that have occurred the landless farmers have not shared equally with thfc landed farmers. The specu- lative element in land values has been a decided handicap to those without land. Owners hold the land at a value capitalized at a rate below that at which money may be borrowed for the purchase of land. The greater the discrepancy between the two rates the smaller is the portion of the market value for which a mortgage loan can be negotiated on the purchased land. As a consequence of these conditions the opportunity for tenants to acquire land has been greatly reduced. Whether reduced loan rates would enlarge the expectancy of ownership for those entering agriculture without land is a question. Within certain limits the reduction of loan rates would probably reduce the rate at which the value of land would be capitalized, and thus stimulate the transfer of land. The consequence would be a rise in land prices, not only because of the greater demand for land but also because of the expecta- tion of future increment in value. Since, however, the rate at which land is capitalized depends not only on rates of return in agriculture, but also on rates of return in business in general, it is probable that farm loan rates could be reduced so as to be brought nearer to the rate at which land prices are capitalized. To the extent that this is possible, a reduction in loan rates would probably assist the landless in acquiring land, especially in the districts where land is highest in price. The cheaper loans should be available to those who give evidence of becoming or remaining actual farm operators. The prominence of land values in discussions of tenant farming leads logically to a discussion of proposals to control land prices. For the most part the upward movement in the prices of farm lands in Illinois was not a rapid one between 1860 and 1900. Increment could not have played a prominent part in the calcidations of land owners. Land was owned chiefly by those who contributed much to the developments which pro- duced the rise in land prices. From about 1900 on, however, SIT'] TENtTEE AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 123 a somewhat different condition has been prevailing. During the recent period the rise in land prices came without regard to the contribution made by the owners to the agriculture of the country. The districts where land prices have moved forward most have been those in which small expenditures need be made by owners for fertilizers and improvements. It would seem, therefore, that some method of making the rise in land prices reward the public would have been preferable during the period of phenomenal price increments. A tax of 25 per cent of the increment in the case of land bought in 1900 at $80 an acre and sold in 1910 at $200 would have yielded $30. If one-eighth of such land had been transferred and taxed, the proceeds would have been $2400 a section, or nearly $10,000 a school district. The expenditure of half this amount, $500 a year, within the school district, for roads, schools, and other public purposes would have been a considerable factor in rural improvement. The other half, if devoted to general tax purposes in the county, state and nation would have been of great fiscal usefulness. Not least of all advantages that might have come from such a scheme, however, is that of repressing speculation in land. The tendency for longer association of owners with their land, on which a premium would thus have been placed, would have done some- thing to combat the practice of short leases and of temporary association with the land on the part of tenants. Whether a tax on the increment is desirable now is another question. It is pretty certain that agitation for such a tax can- not be expected to be strong among land owners so long as the increment is accruing strongly in their sections. For that reason it seems probable that increment taxation may not be expected at the time when it might be most effective as a check on land speculation. THE OUTLOOK With land prices at the present stage it seems likely that the increment element must become less important and the rental element more important in the calculations of land owners. When the annual increment is $10 on land valued at $100, based on a net rental return of $6 capitalized at 6 per cent, the incre- ment is the source of five-eighths of the addition to the land- lord's income and wealth during the year. If, however, the annual increment is the same amount, $10, on land valued at $200, based on a net rental return of $10 capitalized at 5 per cent, 124 LAND TENUBE IN ILLINOIS [518 the increment is the source of one-half of the addition to the landlord's income. The tendency for the interest rate to faU is responsible for the failure of the increment to decline even more rapidly in importance in the calculations of the land owner. That the interest rate wiU fall as rapidly on account of the expectancy of future rise in land prices is less likely the higher the stage of land prices. An annual increment of $10 in the case of $100 land is 10 per cent on the investment and in the case of $200 land is 5 per cent. We may expect, therefore, that anticipation of future rise in value will exert a smaller influence both on the rate at which land is capitalized by owners and on the annual income or addition to the wealth of the land owner. Because greater emphasis must faU on the rental as a source of return on the high priced lands, we may probably expect a pressure by land owners for higher rents. This pressure has already been exerted in some cases. An intensified selective process is thus made operative. The demand for efficiency falls I upon farmers of all tenures. Farming efficiency in the future, however, will probably consist to a greater extent in the ability to increase net profits through co-operative dealing with the market. The efficiency test must, therefore, rule more strongly against operators of the tenures whose characteristics are opposed to successful co-opera- tive effort on their part. It is not necessary, however, that the farmers of other ten- ures operate as efficiently as the owners themselves would oper- ate. If owners prefer to have their land operated by others than themselves, and if their holdings are sufficiently large, they may content themselves with the financial disadvantage resulting from their refusal to operate their own land. The coming of the automobile and improved roads and the extension of rural delivery routes and of telephones may remove the main disadvantages of rural residence. Improved oppor- tunities of applying business methods in agriculture with a favor- able reaction on profits wiU doubtless attract people of better training and experience into the operation of farm land. The test of productive efficiency may be somewhat slow in acting and costly but it bids fair in the long run to penalize unsound farming regardless of the tenure of the operators, and to guarantee, therefore, the survival of the best forms of tenure and of the best individual operators. APPENDIX hv Jp«L^nJ*ti^ w! ''^''T ^'^^^'^ supplied unpublished data follw calculated the percentages that I. The percentage of the farm acreage operated by part owners under lease, and under deed, by counties, Illinois, igio: Adams, 7-5, n.o; Alex- ander, 1.9, 4.0; Bond, 8.4, IS.4; Boone, 3.S, 3-5; Brown, 7.7, 11.6; Bureau, 0.S, 74; Calhoun, 6.1, 10.2; Carroll, data incomplete; Cass, 6.7, 8.9; Cham- paign, 9.0, 8.9; Christian, 8.3, 8.9; Clark, 10.3, 13.7; Clay, 9.6, 14.9; Clinton, 7-5, 14.3; Coles, 7.7, 8.2; Cook, 5.3, 4.2; Crawford, 10.4, 13.3; Cumberland, 14.6, 17.7; De Kalb, 3.9. 4-9; De Witt, 8.7, 7-5; Douglas, 8.9, 8.8; Du Page, 1.6, 1.4; Edgar, 11.7, 9.7; Edwards, 14.8, 24.3; Effingham, 9.3, 17.7; Fayette, 12.2, 17.8; Ford, 5.6, 5.3; Franklin, 9.4, 13.9; Fulton, 5.5, 6.9; Gallatin, 10.6, 13.9; Greene, 9.6, 11.4; Grundy, 6.4, 7.7; Hamilton, 8.8, 15.6; Hancock, 9-1, ii.S; Hardin, 1.9, 4.6; Henderson, 8.3, 9.1; Henry, 5.2, 6.2; Iroquois, 7.4, 7.2; Jackson, 8.1, 11.8; Jasper, 13.5, 21.8; Jefferson, 8.0, 15.0; Jersey, 9.6, 12.2; Jo Daviess, 3.0, 5.0; Johnson, 4.6, 9.6; Kane, 1.6, 2.2; Kankakee, 8.0, 8.6; Kendall, 4.0, 4.5; Knox, 7.4, 8.2; Lake, S-o, 6.3; La Salle, 6.5, 6.8; Lawrence, 10.2, 10.8; Lee, data incomplete; Livingston, 7.4, 7.8; Logan, 5-8, 5.6; McDonough, 8.1,8.5; McHenry, 1.7, 2.3; McLean, 7.8, 7.3; Macon, &o, 7.6; Macoupin, 8.5, 11.5; Madison, 6.7, 10.3; Marion, 10.4, 17.6; Mar- shall, 7.7, 9.2; Mason, 8.0, 7.9; Massac, data incomplete; Menard, 9.8, 8.8; Mercer, 5.7, 6.3; Monroe, lo.i, 17.9; Montgomery, 8.4, 11.7; Morgan, 10.4, 10.5; Moultrie, 10.2, 9.7; Ogle, 5.3, 6.0; Peoria, 8.1, 9.0; Perry, 8.1, 12.5; Piatt, 7.5, 6.9; Pike, 8.4, 8.6; Pope, 4.0, 7.4; Pulaski, 7.5, 9.2; Putnam, 8.9, 8.7; Randolph, 8.1, 11.6; Richland, 10.2, 16.0; Rock Island, 5.0, 6.1; Saline, 7.2, 13.5; Sangamon, 10.2, 9.7; Schuyler, 7.9, 12.3; Scott, 9.8, 12.6; Shelby, 10.0, 11.6; St. Clair, 6.7, 9.1; Stark, 6.6, 8.9; Stephenson, 4.9, 6.6; Tazewell, 7.3, 8.2; Union, 5.9, lo.o; Vermilion, 9.4, 7.7; Wabash, 9.6, 10.2; Warren, 9.3, 9.5; Washington, 7.3, 13.8; Wayne, 9.0, 16.6; White, 9.6, 11.5; Whiteside, 3-8, 4-3; Will, 6.8, 7.5; Williamson, 6.9, 10.3; Winnebago, 41, 4.4; and Woodford, 8.6, 6.3. II. The percentage of the farm acreage operated under lease by tenants and part owners, and under deed by owners proper and part owners, by counties, Illinois, 1910: Adams, 39.9, 58.9; Alexander, 41.1, 56.2; Bond, 44.0, 55.4; Boone, 56.4, 43-o; Brown, 36.9, 62.9; Bureau, 55.7, 41.2; Calhoun, 37.6, 59.5; Carroll, data incomplete; Cass, 48.0, 51.2; Cham- paign, 66.2, 32.7; Christian, 66.2, 32.3; Clark, 38.6, 60.9; Clay, 34.1, 63.4; Clinton, 54.4, 44.8; Coles, 56.0, 42.0; Cook, 50.5, 46.5; Crawford, 40.1, 58.7; Cumberland, 40.6, 58.1; De Kalb, 58.0, 40.3; De Witt, 68.6, 29.6; Douglas, 61.1, 36.3; Du Page, 53.2, 44.6; Edgar, 58.3, 40.1; Edwards, 31-3, 68.2; Effingham, 30.4, 69.1; Fayette, 43.0, 56.2; Ford, 75.3, 23.7; Franklin, 34.1, 64.5; Fulton, 47.9, 50.3; Gallatin, 50.8, 48.4; Greene, 47.0, 48.2; Grundy, 67-3, 31-4; Hamilton, 32.0, 56.0; Hancock, 46.4, 51.9; Hardin, 21.6, 77.8; Henderson, 48.5, So.o; Henry, 56.6, 41.6; Iroquois, 66.5, 304; Jackson, 42.4, 45.3; Jasper, 36.1, 63.1; Jefferson, 31.8, 674; Jersey, 47.3. Si-i; Jo 125 126 LAND TENURE IN ILLINOIS [620 Daviess, 29.5, 69.4; Johnson, 22.2, 74.0; Kane, 54.2, 42.2; Kankakee, 53.0, 44.3; Kendall, 56.3, 42.3; Knox, 54.7, 42.0; Lake, 41.8, 50.8; La Salle. 58.2, 41.2; Lawrence, 36.7, 51.7; Lee, data incomplete; Livingston, 68^, 31.0; Logan, 72.4, 26.9; McDonough, S3.5, 449; McHenry, 50.3, 47.1; Mc- Lean, 65.0, 32.4; Macon, 68.5, 29.4; Macoupin, 51.5, 47.1; Madison, 51.0, 48.3; Marion, 32.9, 65.4; Marshall, 68.3, 31.4; Mason, 66.8. 32.8; Massac, data incomplete; Menard, 56.4, 43.2; Mercer, 47.8, 50.1; Monroe, 50.1, 49.4; Montgomery, Si-6, 47-2; Morgan, 51.8, 47.0; Moultrie, 60.2, 38.7; Ogle, S7.8, 40.2; Peoria, 50.3, 48.1; Perry, 35.8, 62.3; Piatt, 62.8, 29.7; Pike, 45.7, 52.2; Pope, 234, 75.9; Pulaski, 37.8, 61.7; Putnam, 594, 39.6; Ran- dolph, 41.8, 58.0; Richland, 32.2, 66.0; Rock Island, 44.6, 53.2; Saline, 34.8, 62.9; Sangamon, 60.8, 374; Schuyler, 43.5, 54.3; Scott, 49.1, 49.0; Shelby, 51.7, 46.7; St. Clair, 54.4, 45.3; Stark, 54.0, 44.6; Stephenson, 43.3, 55.9; Tazewell, 59.4, 38.5; Union, 38.5, 59.1; Vermilion, 63.2, 34.8; Wa- bash, 44.9, 54.9; Warren, 56.5, 38.3; Washington, 43.7, 55.6; Wayne, 31.0, 67.5; White, 46.6, 53.0; Whiteside, 60.S, 37.8; Will, 49.2, 49.9; Williamson, 3S.2, 64.1 ; Winnebago, 49.7, 49.1 ; and Woodford, 61.1, 37.9. 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Dunn, J. P. Jr. The Mortgage Evil. P. S. Q., V, SS-83, March, 1890. Fleming, W. L. Civil War and Reconstruction in the South. New York, Columbia University Press (Macmillan Co., Agents), 1905. Reorganization of the Industrial System in Alabama after the Civil War. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, (American Journal of Sociology, 1905. Frederiksen, D. M. Mortgage Banking in America. J. P. E., II, 203-234, March, 1894. Froley, J. W., and Smith, C. B. A System of Tenant Farming and 132 liANV TENUBE IN ILLINOIS [626 its Results. U. S. Department of Agriculture Farmer's Bulletin No. 437, April I, 1911. Gannett, Henry. Farm Tenure in the United States. Annals, XXXIII, 647-657. Garner, J. W. Reconstruction in Mississippi. New York, Macmillan Co., 1901. Gill, T. P. Landlordism in America. N. A. R., CXLII, 52-67, Janu- ary, 1886. George, Henry. More About American Landlordism. N. A. R., CXLII, 387-401, 1886. Hibbard, B. H. Tenancy in the North Central States. Q. J. E., XXV, 710-730, August, 1911. Tenancy in the North Atlantic States. Q. J. E., XXVI, 105-117, November, 1911. Tenancy in the Western States. Q. J. E., XXVI, 363-377, Feb- ruary, 1912. Farm Tenancy in Iowa. A. S. A., XII, New Series, 468-471, March, 191 1. Farm Tenancy in the United States. Annals, XL, Whole No. 129, 29-39, March, 1912. Holmes, Geo. K. A Decade of Mortgages. Annals, IV, 904-918, May, 1894. A Plea for the Average. A. S. A., II, 421-426, 1890. Mortgage Statistics. A. S. A., II, 1-21, March, 1890. Some Characteristics of Farm and Home Proprietors. A. S. A., V, 291-309. Tenancy in the United States. Q. J. E., X, 34-53, October, 1895. The Sources of Rural Credit and the Extent of Rural Indebted- ness. Bulletin of Social and Economic Intelligence, International Insti- tute of Agriculture, Rome, April and May, 1913. King, David B. American Landlordism. N. A. R., CXLII, 254-257, March, 1886. . Knapp, S. A. Causes of Southern Rural Conditions and the Small Farm as an Important Remedy. Washington, Government Printing Of- fice. (Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture, 1908) 1909. Mappin, W. F. Farm Mortgages and the Small Farmer. P. S. Q., IV, 433-451, September, 1889. Robinson, E. V. D. Changes in Minnesota Agriculture. A. S. A., XII, 481-487, March, 1911. Strong, Henry. American Landlordism. N. A. R., CXLII, 246-253, March, 1886. Taft, Oren, Jr. Land Credit. J. P. E., VI, 476-487, September, 189& Taylor, H. C. Landownership and Tenancy. C. A. A., IV, 174-185. United States Industrial Commission, Reports of the, X, XI. 627] BIBLIOGRAPHT 133 Rural Conditions in Ilunois Abbott, B. T. Trend of Farm Practice in Illinois. Thesis. Uni- versity of Illinois, 1911. Adams, C. S. A Rural Survey of Illinois. New York, Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church, 191 1. Agriculture, Annual Reports and Year Books of the Department of, (Between 1862 and 1888 the agricultural reports were printed as reports of the Commissioner of Agriculture; since 1889, as reports of the Secre- tary of Agriculture. The Year-Books have been issued since 1894.) Barr, G. A. Economic and Social Effect of Tenant Farming with Especial Reference to Illinois, 1897. Boggess, A. C. History of Settlement of the Illinois, 1778-1830. Chicago, Chicago Historical Society, 1908. Buck, S. J. Pioneer Letters of Gershom Flagg. Springfield, Illinois. Illinois Historical Society, 1912. Some Materials for the Social History of the Mississippi Valley. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Fifth Biennial Report. Springfield Printing Co., Springfield, 1888. Farmers' Institute, Annual Reports of the Illinois, 1896. Forbes, S. A. Forest Conditions in Illinois. Bulletin of the Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History, Urbana, Illinois, January, 1911. Greene, E. B. The Government of Illinois, Its History and Adminis- tration. New York, The Macmillan Co., 1904. Haig, R. M. A History of the General Property Tax in Illinois. Urbana, University of Illinois, 1914. Hoagland, H. E. Movement of Rural Population in Illinois. J. P. E., XX, 913-927, November, 1912. Hopkins, C. J. The Fertility of Illinois Soils. University of Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin No. 123. Urbana, Illinois, 1908. Illinois State Agricultural Society, Reports of. Springfield, Illinois, 1855-70. Illinois, Department of Agriculture of. Springfield, Ilhnois, 1871. Leverett, Frank. The Glacial Lobe in Illinois. Washington, U. S. Geological Survey, 1899. „i- • Mosier, J. G. Effect of Glaciers on Illinois Agriculture. Ilhnois Agriculturist, XVIII, June, 1914- . Lippincott, Isaac. Industry Among the French m the lUmois Coun- try J. P. E., XVIII, 1 14-128, February, 1910. Pooley E V The Settlement of Illinois from 1830 to 1850. Uni- versity of Wisconsin Bulletin No. 220, History Series. Madison, Wis- '^""^Sheftei? Yetta. The Settlement of the Military Tract. Not yet ^" Stewart, C. L. An Analysis of Rural Banking Conditions in Illinois. Chicago, Illinois Bankers Association, I9i4' INDEX Acreage in farms, relation of, to tenure, 29, 64, 71-81 ; statistics of, 63. Age of operators, relation of, to tenure and mortgage encumbrance, 108- III. Agricultural population. See Population. Allodial tenure, 9. Buildings, farm. See Equipment. Cash tenants, prevalence of, 23, 82-85; size of farms of, 85-88; equipment of, 89-91; income and expenditure statistics of, 91, 92; emphasis in farm practice shown by, 92-96; age of, 108, note 60. Cereal productions. See Farm practice. Church, rural, relation of, to tenure, 118. Color of operators. See Negroes, Race, etc. Co-operative enterprise, relation of, to tenure, 117, 118. Equipment of operators, 89-91, 1 18-120. Expenditures of operators. See Income, etc. Families per farm, 82. Farm practice, emphasis of operators in, 25-27, 92-96, 120. Glaciers, influence of. on soils, 30. Income and expenditure of operators, some items of, 91, 92. Institutions, rural, relation, to tenure, 117, 118. Landlords, classification of, 20; residence and landed wealth of, 104-108. Managers, statistics of, 15, 45, 56; size of farms of. 17, 87, 88; equipment of, 89-91 ; income and expenditure statistics of, 91, 92 ; emphasis in farm practice shown by, 92-96. Mortgage encumbrance, statistics of, 18, g6-ioi ; relation of. to leasing, 19 ; ratio of, to value of property mortgaged, 19, 99. Nativity of operators. See Race, etc Negroes, as slave laborers in agriculture, 11; as farm operators, 102-104. Operators, farm. See Cash Tenants, Managers, Owning Operators, Part Owners, Share-cash tenants. Share tenants, etc. Operating owners. See Owning operators. Owners-and-tenants, income and expenditure statistics of, 91, 92 ; emphasis in farm practice shown by, 92-96. Owning operators, early prevalence of, 10; increasing prominence after 1900, 18; statistics of, 45, S9-62; size of farms of, 85-88; equipment of farms of, 89-91 ; income and expenditure statistics of, 91, 92 ; emphasis in farm practice shown by, 92-96. See also Tenancy, Part Owners, Owners and tenants. Part owners, size of farms of, 15, 87, 88; the economic status of, 21; statistics of, 56-60; income and expenditure statistics of, 91, 92; em- phasis in farm practice shown by, 92-96. Physiographic characteristics, 30. 31. Population, preeminence of agricultural, in the United States, 10; total, 134 629] INDEX 135 33; agricultural, 34-37; rural, 113-116; relation of, to tenure, 116, 117. Prairie. See Timber and prairie. Price of land (including buildings), relation of, to tenure, 27, 67-81; historical tendency in, 39, 40; variations in, 65-77. passim. Productions, farm, description of, 41, 42. Productiveness of, land variations in, 30, 64-66; relation of, to tenure, 67-74. Property, farm, value of, 39, 40. Public domain, cessions by the states to, 9; rate of disposal of, 10. Rural church, rural institutions, rural school, rural population. See church, institutions, school, population. Race, color and nativity of operators, 102-104. School, rural, relation of, to tenure, 118. Share-cash tenants, prevalence of, 23, 82-85; size of farms of, 85-88; income and expenditure statistics of, 91, 92; emphasis in farm prac- tice shovirn by, 92-96. Share tenants, prevalence of, 23, 82-85; size of farms of, 85-88; equipment of, 89-91 ; income and expenditure statistics of, 91, 92 ; emphasis in farm practice shown by, 92-96. Size of farms, before 1880, 12; since 1900, 15; relation of, to tenure, 15, 68-88 passim; variations in, 65-69. Tenancy, as a causal factor, 120-122; predictions regarding, 123, 124. See Tenants. Tenants, statistics of, 13-17, 44-62; negroes as, 23; basis of renting, em- ployed by, 23, 83-85; owning some land, 21-25; on farms with special- ized products, 26 ; relation of, to the price of land. 27, 29, 65-81 ; relation of, to the area of land in farms, 28; relation of, to timber, 43; relation of, to value of products, 65-81; relation of, to size of farms, 65-81 ; equipment of farms of, 89-91 ; income and expenditure statistics of, 91, 92; emphasis in farm practice shown by, 92-96; re- lation of, to decline in rural population, 116; relation of. to coopera- tive enterprise, 117, 118; relation of, to business, church and school, 118; relation of, to equipment in farm buildings, 1 18-120; relation of, to cereal production, 120; relation of, to rising land prices, 122-124. Tenure, trend of, in the United States, 1850 to 1880, 11, 12; trend of, in the United States, 1880 to 1910, 13-18. See also Cash tenants. Managers, Owners-and-tenants, Owning oper- ators. 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