Introduction. This chapter presents the statistics relative to mortgaged farms which were collected at the 1920 census, including tables showing the farm mortgage debt classified according to the rate of interest paid and according to the value of the mortgaged farm. Comparative figures are also given, so far as available, for 1910, 1900, and 1890, the census of 1890 being the first one to include an inquiry with regard to farm mortgages.

The inquiries regarding the indebtedness of farmers, as used at the several censuses, related only to debt secured by real estate mortgages. It was not considered practicable to obtain information concerning indebtedness secured by chattel mortgages, crop mortgages, or collateral or personal security. It is possible, of course, that in a few cases the enumerator reported debt not secured by real estate mortgage, but the form of inquiry used in each census was entirely clear, and the number of instances of this kind should be negligible. The inquiry on the 1920 farm schedule, for example, read as follows: "If you own all or part of this farm, was there any mortgage debt or other encumbrance on the farm in 1920? (Answer Yes or No)."

The instructions given to the enumerators in connection with the census of 1920, which were practically the same as those used in the three preceding censuses, were as follows:

"The debts which should be reported include not only all debts secured by instruments locally called "mortgages," but also all debts represented by judgment notes, confessions of judgment, deeds of trust, deeds with vendor or lien clause, bonds or contracts for title, or any other legal instruments that partake of the nature of mortgages upon real estate. Do not include any debts represented by crop liens or mechanics' liens, nor any debts on live stock or on implements and machinery. Where the mortgage on a farm covers buildings and land together (as it usually does), give the whole amount of the mortgage outstanding; do not try to separate that part which is secured on the land alone."

Mortgage data were secured in 1920 and at the earlier censuses only for those farms which were operated by their owners (including, for some part of the inquiry, at least, both "full owners" and "part owners"). No attempt was made to secure such information for farms operated by tenants or hired managers, because the tenant or manager in very many cases would not know whether the farm was mortgaged or not, and would be even less likely to know the amount of the mortgage debt.

Farmers operating their own land only are classified in the census reports as "full owners," while those hiring some land in addition to that which they own are classified as "part owners." The figures given in this report relative to the number of mortgaged farms

in the United States. in 1920 and 1910 include the farms operated by part owners, but the figures representing the amount of the mortgage debt relate only to those farms which consisted wholly of land owned by the farm operator.

At the censuses of 1900 and 1890 the inquiries relating to farm mortgage indebtedness were on schedules separate from the agricultural schedules. No express reference was made on these schedules to the case of farms consisting partly of land owned by the operator and partly of rented land, but the form of the inquiry was such that the replies indicating the presence or absence of debt in practically all cases must have related only to the land owned by the operator. At the census of 1900, no inquiry was made with regard to the amount of the mortgage debt or the value of the mortgaged property. This information was secured in 1890, however, and it would appear that at that census, part owners in practically all cases reported the value of the land and buildings which they owned (not including the rented land), and the mortgage indebtedness on the same. The 1890 figures for the amount of the mortgage debt, therefore, include the debt on the owned part of these farms, as well as that on farms fully owned by their operators.

For the censuses of 1900, 1910, and 1920, the number of owner-operated farms, classified according to mortgage status, is given, as reported, with the number of such farms for which no mortgage report was secured. In the published reports of the census of 1890, the farms of the last-named class were distributed between the groups "mortgaged" and "free from mortgage"; and estimates were also made for the amount of debt on those farms reporting the existence of a mortgage but failing to give the amount. The number of "unknown" farms which were thus distributed is given, however; and for purposes of comparison with the later censuses, the distribution has been recomputed and these farms deducted from the estimated totals as published. No data are available on which to base similar computations for the amount of debt; hence these figures are presented as originally published, including estimates both for farms reporting the fact but not the amount of mortgage indebtedness and for a part of the farms making no mortgage report whatever.

In 1920 and 1910 the mortgage debt inquiries applied to all farms operated by their owners, while at the two preceding censuses they applied only to the slightly smaller class of farm homes occupied by their owners. Since, however, nearly all farms which are operated by their owners are also occupied by them as homes, this slight difference in the basis of the statistics has virtu