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This dissertation has been microiilmed exactly as received ® 7-6291 BERRY, Russell La Verne, 1914- THE SCULLY ESTATE AND ITS CASH-LEASING SYSTEM IN THE MIDWEST. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1966 Economics, agricultural University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan (c Copyrighted by Russell LaVeme Barry 1967 THE SCULLY ESTATE AND ITS CASH.LEASING SYSTEM IN THE MIDWEST DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio S tate Ihiiversity Russell LaVeme Berry, B.S., M*S« ******* The Ohio S tate U niversity 1966 Approved by ^^Rax JU aoI K- Adviser Department o f A gricultural Economics and Airal Sociology PLEASE NOTE: Figure pages are not original copy. They tend to "curl". Filmed in the best possible way. University Microfilms. PREFACS ï!he purposes of this study were (X) to determine the nature of the farm tenure problem, (2) to determine whether the Scully Estate and its cash-leasing system reduced tenure problems and (3) to e%. amine ways to improve the ability of a cash-leasing system to solve tenure problems. This work was initiated under South Dakota Agricultural Experi­ ment Station Research P roject 14? "Farm Tenancy Improvement" and has been continued under Project 371» which has the following objectives: "1, To identify the objectives and purposes which people expect tenure arrangements to serve, "2. To appraise alternative tenure systems and institu­ tions which impede or expedite achievement of objectives, • • • "3« To examine in detail specd^c arrangemmts with con­ sideration given to how well they serve the aspira­ tions of people involved. • « Project 371 is a contributing project to North Central Regional Project NC-53 "Needed Changes in Land Tenure To Meet (hanging Agricul­ tural Conditions," which has objectives similar to those of Project 371. i i Bie procedures followed closely the objectives as stated above and included a conq>arative analysis of 103 Scully and non-Scully farmers in Marion County, Kansas, to determine to what extent, if arqr, *Uie Scully Estate and its cash-leasing %rstem solved the most in^ortant farm tenure problems. The survey in Marion County, Kansas, was financed by funds made available by ^ a t i s now the Great Plains Resource Economics Committee, the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station, and the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station. The latter instituticm has borne the costs of the analysis and the preparation of this report. The cooperation of the 120 Marion County, Kansas, farmers inter­ viewed is deeply appreciated as is the help provided by the institu­ tions listed above. A number of people have made inqportant contribu­ tions to this study and deserve special mention. Among these are Professor John Kenneth Galbraith, Harvard Ihiversity, who first approved the topic for the dissertation; Dr. Joseph Ackerman, Farm Foundation; Professors Max %ers. South Dakota State Ihiversity; Wilfred Pine, Kansas Stiate Ihiversity; Kris Kristjanson then of the Ihiversity of Nebraska and John Miehlbeier, U. S. Department of Agriculture, sta­ tioned at the Ihiversity of Nebraska. %6Cial thanks are due to William Scully, namesake and grandson of the founder and owner of the Marion County Scully E state and h is agents : J. M. Quackenbush of B eatrice, Nebraska, and D. W. Mantgomery of Marlon, Kansas, who have provided much important infor­ mation needed for this study. For information concerning the Illinois i l l Estates» the author is deeply Indebted to James M. Stewart, agent, SouUy Estates Office, Uneoln, Illinois, who also gave permission to reproduce his article on the Scully Estate. (See Appendix B of this w ork.) Mich credit for the completion of tiiis work is due to the preceptive guidance of Professor William A . Wayt, chairman of the author's graduate committee, and to his able successor, Professor Richard H. Baker, both of Ohio State Ihiversily. Professor Baker's kindly but probing questions has led to much improvement in this work. Thanks are also due to Professors Robert M. Reecer and Edward Siaudys also of Ohio State Ihiversity for reading this manuscript and making suggestions fo r improvement. A number of other people have read various portions of th is manuscript and offered valuable suggestions for improvement. Among these were Dr. Marshall Harris, agricultural economist, U. S. Depart­ ment of Agriculture and Professors Paul W. Gates, historian, Cornell Ihiversity, and Homer E. Socolofsky, historian, Kansas State Ihiver- s i^ . The latter two men gave permission to use their maps showing the location of Scully Estate lands in Logan County, Illinois, and Marion County, Kansas, respectively. The interview ing crew consisted of Charles Marsh, Vernon MoKee and Ivan Scdimedemann, then graduate students at Kansas State Ihiver­ sity, Harold Bents, Joe Dvorak, Jr., Gearhard Franzen, Clarence Wall and FLoyd Yaussi, a l l of Marion County, Kansas. iv Mary WLlmont Tqrlor assisted with the preparation of the tables and the statistical analysis aad Paul H. Jess assisted with the editing, His wife, Janet Jess, typed the final product. To all these people the author extends heartfelt gratitude for their help, encouragement, suggestions and criticisms. He also absolves them o f any fa u lts th a t remain. dhe author wishes to thank the publishers for permission to quote passages from Cecil Woodhara-Smith's, dhe Gyeat Hunger; Ireland. 18h5-1849. Harper and How, Publishers, New York, 1962. The maps showing the locatio n of Scully lands in Gage and Nuckolls Counties, Nebraska,are reproduced from Addison £. Sheldon, Land Systems and Land Policies in Nebraska, with permission of the publishers, the Nebraska State Historical Society. VITA July 1 3 » 1914 . Born—Hatton, Sask., Canada 1939 B,S., Uhiversity of Illinois, Urbana 1939 - 1942 . • . IB.gh School Vocational Agricultural Instructor, Columbia d t y and S ilver Lake, Indiana 1945 - 1947 . , Research Assistant and Graduate Assistant, Farm Management Department, tfi.chigan State University, East Lansing 1948 •••••• M.S., MLohigan State Uhiversity, East Lansing 1948 - 1949 . • • A ssistant Professor (tengwraiy). Economics and Sociology Department, Kansas State University, Manhattan 1949 - 1954 . • • A ssistant Professor, Economics Department, South Dakota State University, Brookings 1953 - 1954 . • • Graduate study. Harvard U niversity, Cambridge 1954 . Associate Professor, Economics Department, South Dakota State University, Brookings 1964 - 1965 . • • Graduate study, Ohio State University, Columbus PUBIICATIONS (A selected list) How to Keep Your Farm in the Family. hfl.ch, Agr, Esqo. Sta,, Spec, Bui, 357, 1949 (With E, B. Hill and Sidn^ Henderson), Share Rents and Short-Term Farm Leases, 8, D, Agr. Exp. Sta. d ro. Il7, 1955 . Most Profitable Rotations for the Com Belt of Southeastern S. D., 8. D. i ^ r . Exp. S ta. Cire, 129» 1955.’ ” *” v i Ihe Economie Strength o f South Dakota*s A griculture as Measured by Farm Mortgage Foreclosures, 8. D. Agr, Exp, Sta, GLrc, 132» 1957 vwith G, lurldy). An Improved Farm Rental Method fo r 8. D. • 8. D. Agr, Exp, Sta, C3.ro, l5l, 1958, ”* Tenant Interest ^ Long-Term and Flexible Cash Leases » S, D, Agr, Exp* Sta. BUÏ7 teo, 1959”Wfch V, Bau), "Goals and Rules for Farm Tenancy Improvements," Proceedings of the Western Farm Economics A ssociation, 32nd Annual Meeting, July , 1959, pp, 151- 6 5 . "Probable Role of Large Scale Landlords in Farm Tenancy Improvement," Journal of Farm Economics, Vol. 42, No, 5, pp, 1500-1, December I 96 O, "Cost Sharing as a Means of Improving the Share Rent Lease," Journal of Farm Economics, Vol. 44, No, 3» 1962, pp. 796-80?, Farm Tenancy Problems in South Dakota, S, D, Agr, Exp, Sta, Bui, 510, Ï 9 S3 , "Share Rents as an Obstacle to Farm Inprovement and Soil Conservation," Land Economics. August 1964, pp, 346-52, How to Use the New County Share Rent, S. D, Agr, Exp, Sta, Circ, 158, i m : ------------------ Biying Farmland on Installment Contracts. S. D. Agr, Exp, Sta, Circ, i6 4 , 19 ^ ~ ” FIELDS OF STUDY Major Fields A gricultural Economics Studies in Land Resource Economics, Professors Elton B. H ill, V&Uiam A. Wayt, Ü chard H, Baker Studies in Farm Ibnagement and Production Economics, Professors Karl T, Wright, John K, Galbraith, J . Robert Tompkin, Howard C, Williams Studies in Economic Iheoiy, Professors Victor E, Smith, Edward H, Chamberlin, W. Leontief, Clifford James, Robert A, Patton, Charles M, Hebout, v i i TABLE OF OONTEHTS Chapter Pag® I . INTRODUCnON ............................................................... ... 1 A. Some Farm Tenure Problems. ••••••••••••• 1 B. Some hypotheses to Be Tested •••••••••••• ^ C. Procedures Used In This Study ................... ... 6 PART I . THE NATURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF FARM TENURE PROBLEMS . 18 H . ECONOMIC THB3RY AND FARM LEASES........................... .................... 19 A. %e Perfect Market, the Perfect Firm and the Perfect Lease. •••.••••••••••••••••••• 19 B. The E ffect of Tenure on Farmer's Freedom ....•« 21 C. Heady*s Concept of the Perfect Lease 24 D. Cost-Sharing to Increase Tenant Freedom. ...••• 27 E. Discriminatory Rents and Tenant Freedom. ...... 33 F» Discriminatory Rents for Other Resources and Tenant Freedom 38 G. F ixity o f Tenure and Freedom to Improve. ................ 38 H. Evaluation of Heady* s Rules fo r Tenant Freedom . 41 I. The Crucial Problan of Farm Lease Improvement. 43 J. Summary and Conclusions. .#....., ..................... 46 I I I . THE FARM TENURE SITOAHON IN THE MIDWEST ........ 49 A. The Rapid Growth in Farm Size. ........... 49 B. Historical Trends in Farm Tenure .......... 53 C. Part Ownership and the Four F* s. ..................... 84 D. Trends in Cash-Rent Leasing and Land Concentration . 69 E. Summary and Conclusions. .................... 74 IV. FARM TENURE PROBLEMS AND GOALS........................ 78 A. The Elusive Nature of Farm Tenure Problems ..... 77 B. The Four F*s and Cash Leasing in England ...... 81 C. The Four F's and Owner-Operation in the United States .................... 87 v i i i Chapter P*g® D.

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