Page:Quarterlyoforego10oreg 1.djvu/159

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Land Tenure in Oregon.
45

located. The average size of California's farms was very large, and this State had the largest per cent of managers. In the Western Division, where the area of the average farm was large, the relative number of farms operated by managers was greater than in Oregon, in Washington, or in the United States.

Tenure classified according to size of farms and value of farm property shows that owners operated farms that were smaller than the average size farm, but more valuable to the acre. The same condition was, for the most part, true of farms cultivated by both cash and share tenants. Farms operated by part owners were much larger than the average, but in each farm of this class were included not less than two ; one owned, the other rented, which interpretation makes this class, also, smaller than the average but slightly less valuable per acre. By far the largest farms were operated by man- agers, and this class was much less valuable per acre. Farms cultivated by the class designated as owners and tenants were almost average in size and value. Oregon had no exception to any of these general rules or classifications.

The kinds of farms operated by each of the six classes of farmers may be further explained by the percentage of land improved which each cultivated.

TABLE 3.

PERCENTAGE OF FARM LAND IMPROVED OPERATED BY EACH OF THE SIX CLASSES OF FARMERS, IN THE UNITED STATES, WESTERN DIVISION, CALIFORNIA, WASHINGTON, AND OREGON, IN 1900. ([1])

Farmers. United States. Western Division. California, Washington. Oregon.
Owners 51.2 35.7 38.9 38.5 33.1
Part Owners 45.4 30.2 54.2 44.6 36.9
Owners and Tenants 59.5 40.2 42.8 47.8 40.7
Managers 12.5 11.0 22.9 18.8 11.6
Cash Tenants 55.1 24.1 31.5 25.3 32.8
Share Tenants 70.3 63.9 74.0 66.3 49.5

  1. U. S. Census Reports for 1900, Twelfth Census, Vol. V, p. 144.