Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1912-01-17

land and butldins s.S psr =, emit 81 III.
Elements and n1acl1llnneR1, ana 10.s per
cent By livestock. mo percentage
gain (s7.2 Per cent? n the total value
Of farm property from 1900 to 1910
was less than during any preceding de-
cade except that which ended In 1890,
but the absolute increase was almost
as great as that during the preceding
half century.
# In average size the Minnesota farm
decreased from 1889 acres in 1850 to
1894 in 1870, but since that time it
has continuously increased until at
present 1t is IT'S. i, IF i
farm, including it's equipment, has
grown during the last decade from
$500 to $9,456. OF this $9,456, about
$500 represents the value of. land
and buildings, more than $1,000 the
value of livestock, and $335 the value
OF implements and machinery. The
average value per acre Of land and
buildings is nearly twice as great as in
1900. 1t increased more in the last
decade than in the preceding half cen
fury. RI ~.t -
Soil Titled by Tenants.
1t is significant that while there
was an increase of 1,478 in the total
number of farms during the last de-
cade, the number operated by owners
and managers decreased 1873, and the
number operated by tenants increased
6,O56.
In 1880, 9 out of every 100 farms
were operated by tenants. This pro-
portion increased during the following
thirty years, until, in 1910, 81 out Of
every 100 farms were thus operated
The eleventh census 1880 was the
first to collect data relating to mort
gage debt on farms. The basis of the
returns was the farm home" occu-
pied by its owner. The same class Of
information was secured by the popu-
lation schedules Of the twelfth census
$4,000. The agricultural schedules of
the thirteenth census $500 secured
practically the same information, ex-
cept that the basis was owned farms"
instead of "owned farm homes''-a
difference involving, however, no ap-
preciable incomparability.
In 1910 the total number Of farms
owned in whole or in part of the oper-
ators was 122,104. OF this number, 65,-
O38 were reported as free from mort
gage 56,145~ were reported as mort
gagged, and for 921 no report relative
to mortgage Indebtedness was OBJ
tanned. The number of mortgaged
farms constituted 46.3 per cent of the
total number of owned farms, exclu-
sive of those for which no mortgage
report was obtained. The percentage
is about the same as it was in 1900
and in 1890.
The average debt of mortgaged farms
increased in the twenty years from
1914 to 1864, or 129 per cent, while
the average value OF such farms rose
from 1854 to 1902, or, 174.4 per cent.
Thus the owners equity increased from
$1,760 to 1913, or 1853 per cent. AS
a result of the greater relative increase
in farm value than in farm debt the
mortgage Indebtedness, which was 31.6
per cent of the value of the mort
gagged farms in 1890, has decreased to
26.4 per cent Of that value in 1910.
Nearly one-half CT the Minnesota
farmers are native whites, while over
one-half are foreign-born whites. Only
293, or two-tenths of one per cent of
all farmers, arc non-whitc, 264 being
Indians and 20 negroes. II is sign;fi-
cant that only 1879 per cent of the
foreign-born white farmers are
tenants, while 28.7 per cent of the ma
tive white farmers are in this class.