I Land Tenure in Oregon. 63 nishes the material and the tenant does the work of hauhng and repairing. The contract generally states that the tenant shall keep all fences and buildings in as good order and condi- tion as they are when he takes possession of the farm, damage by the elements being excepted; but the owner is to furnish the material for this purpose. In the sections of the State where irrigation is carried on, the owner makes the ditches, generally pays for the water, and the tenant keeps all lateral, private ditches in repair, but the owner furnishes necessary lumber and other material. Sometimes the tenant constructs the lateral ditches. Tenants very seldom work the road tax. It is generally paid by the owner. In a few exceptional cases, the contract specifies that the tenant shall work the road tax ; more often, he does this work and is paid by the owner for his labor. The tenant, as a rule, secures firewood on the farm if any is to be had. In most of the farming communities in Oregon, no tim- ber or trees that will make firewood is found on the farm, and the farmers either buy wood or coal. Two of the greatest common causes of difficulty between owner and tenant are poor farming on the part of the renter and incomplete or verbal contracts. Among other causes men- tioned are feeding from the individual hay and grain, failure to keep ditches in repair, interference on the part of the owner when the tenant is farming according to the contract, and the terms of the lease allowing the tenant too small a share of the crop to allow him to farm in the manner that good farming should be done and make money. Not putting the grain in properly at the right time, overstocking and not doing enough cultivating are mentioned as either causes of trouble between owner and tenant. Reports from Tillamook county and a few from other parts of the State say there has been no difficulty as yet. The general idea expressed in regard to tenant farm- ing is that the tenant is a poor farmer, who is prone to be
shiftless, lazy and dishonest in carrying out the stipulations----
