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. In 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.
| YEAR | Total farms |
Number of farms operated by | Number of persons out of each 1000 males engaged in agriculture on farms operated by | ||||
| Owners | Cash tenants |
Share tenants |
Owners | Tenants | Other persons | ||
| 1900 | 5,739,657 | 3,713,371 | 752,920 | 1,273,366 | 423 | 231 | 346 |
| 1890 | 4,564,641 | 3,269,728 | 454,659 | 840,254 | 420 | 166 | 414 |
| 1880 | 4,008,907 | 2,984,306 | 322,357 | 702,244 | 422 | 145 | 433 |
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:
| YEAR | Total number of farms |
Number of farms operated by | ||
| Owners | Cash tenants |
Share tenants | ||
| North Atlantic division |
||||
| 1900 | 677,506 | 536,724 | 74,421 | 66,361 |
| 1890 | 658,569 | 537,376 | 52,120 | 69,073 |
| 1880 | 696,139 | 584,847 | 49,011 | 62,281 |
| South Atlantic division |
||||
| 1900 | 962,225 | 536,627 | 172,699 | 252,899 |
| 1890 | 740,600 | 461,057 | 96,098 | 194,445 |
| 1880 | 644,429 | 411,673 | 74,946 | 157,810 |
| North Central division |
||||
| 1900 | 2,196,567 | 1,583,841 | 207,732 | 404,994 |
| 1890 | 1,923,822 | 1,474,086 | 147,248 | 302,488 |
| 1880 | 1,697,968 | 1,350,225 | 88,743 | 259,000 |
| South Central division |
||||
| 1900 | 1,658,166 | 852,620 | 286,091 | 519,455 |
| 1890 | 1,086,772 | 668,972 | 151,901 | 265,899 |
| 1880 | 886,648 | 565,556 | 105,092 | 216,000 |
| Western division | ||||
| 1900 | 242,908 | 202,596 | 18,782 | 21,530 |
| 1890 | 145,878 | 128,237 | 7,292 | 10,349 |
| 1880 | 82,723 | 72,005 | 4,565 | 7,153 |
The percentage of rented farms and the rate of increase of these are greatest in the South. The greater proportionate number of rented farms in that section results from the industrial change incident to the overthrow of slavery. Negroes prefer renting to wage-earning. In 1899 there were 769,528 farms operated by colored farmers, 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 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 common. In Great Britain, by contrast, the long term system of tenure prevails.
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 irrigated. 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
