Page:Walter Renton Ingalls - Current Economic Affairs (1924).pdf/67

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AMERICAN FARMER’S POSITION
53
Land $54,829,563,059
Buildings 11,486,439,543
Total live stock and implements 11,608,097,736
Value of crops in hand 5,812,000,000
Value of growing crops 277,019,520
Miscellaneous supplies 300,000,000
Cash to run business 800,000,000
Total $85,113,119,858

In “Wealth and Income of the American People,” I estimated for the end of 1920 that there were 955,676,000 acres of farm land, worth an average of $57.45, giving a total of $54,903,586,200; and 6,450,000 sets of farm buildings, averaging $1,750, giving a total of $11,287,500,000. Dr. Gray’s estimates and my own are very close. Dr. Gray estimated live stock and implements at about 234 billion dollars more than I did, but if he includes the farmers’ automobiles, as no doubt he does, about 1.5 billion dollars of the difference is accounted for. These estimates are therefore in close concordance.

According to Dr. Gray, about 75 per cent of the farm capital that he estimated is owned by farmers who use it, the remainder being owned by landlords, about one-half of whom are retired farmers. Another class of landlords are townspeople who have inherited or acquired by marriage the ownership of farm land. Dr. Gray estimated that active farmers owned other wealth as follows:

Cash $3,635,690,034
Stocks owned 1,015,710,491
Bonds owned 694,083,058
Town real estate 731,176,083
Household goods 1,970,521,722
Bills receivable 1,651,999,911
Miscellaneous 134,555,959
Total $9,833,737,258