Farm tenancy in Iowa is a live question because already, a large percentage of the farms of the state are operated by tenants and because there has been a rapid increase in the number of farms rented from year to year. The opinion is quite generally held that one can tell a rented farm by its dilapidated buildings, poor crops and worn out land. It is also quite generally believed that there is something wrong with the existing system of. farm leases as a whole. The fact is that many of the best managed and most successful farms are operated by tenants and in general it may be stated that out of experience have come several methods of leasing which seem to provide for good farming and a fair division of returns between the land owner and tenant.

These general facts were brought out in an investigation prompted by the general interest in farm tenancy and the rapid increase of rented farms operated by year to year tenants. Director C. F. Curtiss of the Iowa Agricultural Experiment station planned to undertake this investigation and secured the cooperation of the United States Department of Agriculture in an effort to get at the truth about farm tenancy and to determine what constitutes a satisfactory farm lease. In other words, the purpose of the investigation was to learn what the landlord and tenant each should furnish and what each should receive in a lease which calls for profitable farming and a fair division of the farm returns.