in this group which have a large percentage of improved land.

SIZE OF FARMS. From the following table it will be seen that the size of farms varies greatly in different parts of the country:

The most fundamental principle in determining the size of the American farm is that it is adapted to an area convenient for the average family. Unlike the English farmer, the

typical American farmer does not expect to employ a large number of hands. Neither does he expect to supplement his farm work by hiring himself to others, as is common among the peasant class of France. A son who is a member of a large family often works for a farmer who is not blessed with a surplus of sons, and thus there is an adjustment to suit the average family. The United States, therefore, has no peasant class corresponding to that of Europe. The recent settlement of the West, in which the average homestead (160 acres) was adapted to the average family, has tended to establish this condition of things; but it is also true of the older States. One may note also that in the South, where the plantation system formerly prevailed, a rapid readjustment is taking place to suit the family unit. But the size of farm that a family can cultivate varies with the methods used in cultivation, that is to say, whether capitalistic, intensive, etc. Thus the same labor that will suffice for a grain or stock farm of a given size is sufficient for only one-half or less of that amount when a cotton farm is in question. There are certain kinds of farms that for special causes tend to depart more or less from the system above described. Such are the grazing farms of the West, the Louisiana sugar plantations, the bonanza wheat farms of the Northwest and California, and, in a less degree, the garden farms of the Atlantic Coast, where, though the farms are small, much help is employed. Referring to the foregoing table, in the Western division we have two extremes: large grazing or wheat farms, and small irrigated or fruit farms. In Wyoming less than one-seventh of the total number of farms in 1900 contained less than 100 acres each, while 42 per cent. of the farm land was contained in farms over 1000 acres and the average size for the State was 1333 acres. In Utah the average size of farms

The increase shown in the group 20 to 50 acres was mainly in the Southern States and particularly in the cotton belt of that region. The South Central States had 23.6 per cent. of its farms in this group in 1880 and 30.1 per cent. in 1890. The decrease in the group 50 to 100 acres was mainly in the North Central States, there being at the same time a general increase in this class in the Southern States. The decrease in the group 100 to 500 acres was most marked in the South and West. The two larger groups decreased in the South and increased in the North Central and Western divisions. In 1900 the census made three classifications for farms having between 100 and 500 acres, with the results as follows: Group 100 to 175 acres, 24.8 per cent. of the total farms; group 175 to 260 acres, 8.5 per cent. of the total farms; and group 260 to 500 acres, 6.6 per cent. of the total number of farms. The large number in the group 100 to 175 was partly the effect of the homestead claim laws. Over two-thirds of the farms in Oklahoma were in this group. The decrease in the average size of farms from 1860 to 1880 was due primarily to the rapid decrease in the size of farms in the South. The increase shown in the period 1880 to 1900 was due to the development of large bonanza and grazing farms and to the increased use of machinery.

FARM TENURE. As the country becomes older there is a rapidly increasing and almost universal tendency toward the renting system, though this is much more marked in some regions than in others. In the earlier period of development the man of small means took a claim, but now he is forced to rent. The frontier, as it pushed across the country, has been characterized by the fact that most of its farms were operated by owners. In the table below it will be seen that the highest percentage of owned farms is in the West, but the renting of farms began at

once and steadily increased. The increase in tenancy has generally been deprecated as indicating a decadence in agricultural welfare, but in the following table it is shown that the increase in the number of tenants has not been at the expense of owners, for the farms operated by owners have also rapidly increased. În fact,

the increase of these tenants since 1850 has been faster than the increase of the agricultural population. The increase in both the number of owners and the number of tenants has been at the expense of the wage-earning employees.

ers, of whom 451,799 were in the South Central division of States. Of the latter number 86,748 owned their farms, and 13,895 farms were operated by part owners, 917 by owners and tenants, 623 by managers, 171,105 by cash tenants, and 178,511 by share tenants. It is noteworthy that in the two Southern divisions of States the negro cash tenants almost equal in number the negro share tenants; while at the same time the white share tenants outnumber the white cash tenants 8 to 3. Renting is least customary in the North Atlantic States. (See article

The first class may be further subdivided as follows: owners, 54.9; part owners, 7.9 per cent.; owners and tenants, 0.9 per cent.; and managers, 1 per cent. There is an increased tendency to delegate the management of farms. In the south especially, the large number of the owners are absentees. Of the total number of owners of rented farms in 1900, 1,005,479 owned but one farm each, 142,838 owned two farms each, 67,719 owned three and under five farms each, 28,698 owned five and under ten farms each, 8966 owned ten and under twenty farms each, 3241 owned twenty farms and over. Of the last group 2332 owners were in the South Central States and 704 in the South Atlantic States. The following table shows the number of owned and rented farms and the tenancy in each class: Number of farms operated by

YEAR

Total number of farms

NEGRO IN AMERICA, and section on Cotton in this article.) Rented farms average less in size than the owned farms, and a larger percentage of the rented farms is improved. This is particularly true in the South and is most noticeable in share-rent farms. Farms in that section are leased mainly for raising crops. Farms in the United States are usually rented for short periods, one year at a time being the most comIn Great Britain, by contrast, the long term system of tenure prevails.

mon.

METHODS. See the article AGRICULTURE. IRRIGATION. It was not until after the humid region had been generally settled that the arid region was occupied. The Mormons, in 1847, were the first to practice irrigation in the West. In 1870 there were only 20,000 acres irrigated. In the Great American Desert the area at present under irrigation and cultivation is insignificant as compared with the uncultivated portion. It is estimated that the water supply is sufficient to irrigate only one-fifth of the arid region.

The decade 1870-80 was characterized by rapid development of small ditches. In the latter year there were about 1,000,000 acres ir rigated. The following decade was characterized by rapid construction of canals, nearly all of which resulted financially in failures. In many instances the supply does not equal the demands placed upon the canals. There are now but few unused sources from which water can be largely obtained. Hereafter the extension of the irrigation system will depend mainly upon the construction of large reservoirs. Irrigation has suffered much from the want of adequate laws. In only three States-Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming is the system of supervision and control complete. In several States no public control is exercised. The laws are often indefinite or contradictory. There have arisen disputes as to the rights of the different States to the use of a stream which may pass through their territories. In 1902 a new act was passed by Congress which provided that the Department of the Interior should deal with questions of the water supply, and the location, construction, and management of irrigation works. Receipts from the disposal of public lands are set aside for construction works. Water is to be furnished both to public and private lands. Before the beginning