St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-09-01
Splendid Showing Of the Re-
suits Of a New System !
Of Farming.
State Labor Bureau Invests
-
cation Discloses Impor-zz--.
49,
tant Facts. = =
Diversified Farming the Sal
walton Of a Large Group-
~
Of Counties. E
DeplOpable Exhibit in Sec
tons Where Effort Is BadE :
ly Directed. ::

For the past two years the State
bureau of labor statistics. has been
gatherlng statistics of farm values and
mortgage foreclosures. mortgage re.
demptionS. etc., for the two years 1881
and 1891. The object is to ascertain. as
far as such statistics can show, whether
the farming industry of the state is more
or less prosperous today than ten years
ago. -
The statistics of land vain es are. to-
gether with all the other allied statis-
tics. complied from tho records of the
register of deeds Offices in the several
counties of the state, In the tables OF
land value are included the sales of
land by the acre. 1t takes no account
OF land sold by the lot or block, as In
the towns and cities. In each
county i'll the state there is
first taken an abstract of all
transfers of land for the given years.
where those transfers appear of record.
From this list is then eliminated all
deeds given where no complete consid-
GRAFTON or value of the land is gwen
in the deeds. Thus all deeds for a dol
lar and all deeds given 10 clear up title
are stricken out. The list that remains
includes all lands sold where the value
OF the land rs expressed in the ins.ru-
ment or sale. These lists of land sales
III all counties of the state are being ar
ranged in number of interesting
tables One table shows the changes
In land values in ten years. For nearly
every county in the state there is found
an advance. This; in MANY counties is
quite marked. - Do.
Then the average value of land, as
shown by land sales is
Land Valued Compared.
with the assessed value of land as the
same is estimated forpurposes of tax
alton. This table. it is thought, will be
valuable check, upon the present
equalization of taxes Ill the several
counties. Other tables will be arranged
showing the totalvalue of farm PROPERTY
IN each county, the average per acre of
improved and unimproved land. of lanoI
sold under mortgage foreclosure or
other forced sale, and of ali the lands In
the state. ~
The compilation Of all those tables,
some fifteen in number, will not be COM
pleted before Get: IS. The work has.
however, progressed sufficiently to fully
bring out these facts: The average
value OF farm lands, as whole, in Min
nesota. has advanced quite materially.
In ten years. In some counties this adj
vance Ill land values leads to tabular
results that may be referred to as a par
ad0X OF hgureS. The general advance
OF land values has brought into the mar,
ket many acres of railroad land whptiS
is OF so poor a quality that it was un-s
salaDle ten years ago. This land is sold
at low price per acre In few com,
ties so much OF this land was sold in 1891,
as to make the average value of all lalrdS
sold In those counties FOR that YEA
TO be less than it was IN 1881. That the.
land is advanced in those counties lis
proven by the average value of lands
other than railroad, by the average
price at which mortgaged land has been
sold on foreclosure. and by numberrOf
other facts presented in the report. 60
The Mortgage Question.
In compiling the statistics relating to-
mortgages, the bureau has not made an
estimate of the mortgage indebtedness
of any county. That will be shown for
all states IN the forthcoming report of
the United States census department.
The Minnesota bureau has gathered an
other line of statistics relating to mort
cages. The forthcoming report will
SHOW the mortgage foreclosures of acre
property and atoOf lots and blocks in
separate tables. This will place the re-
suits of mortgage Indebtedness in CITY
and in the country in contrast.
10 bring out the real causes of the
mortgage foreclosure of todayin Mime.
sofa, the counties of the state are
grouped i'll foar divisions. In the first
group are placed the mortgage records
of the older settled agricultural counties
of the state, the counties having quite
generally adopted a diversified system
OF crops. In the.second group will be
found the remainder of the counties
mainly devoted to. agriculture. This
group includes those newer counties in
which farmers.mainly rely for their in
come upon one or very few crops. 1t
embraces the great wheat-Droducing
section of the state. In the third group
will be arranged the mortgage statistics
for the counties mainly covered by tim
Der, and the ones in whose territory are
being developed mines of various kinds. 4
In the fourth and last group will be
found the record of the forced sales of
land in the three cities of Duluth,
Minneapolis, and st. Paul 80
The statistics relating to none of these
groups are as yet complete. Enough
data have, however, been collected to
give an exhibit Of the results to be ex-
pected when full returns have been re-
ceived.s The figures for the first group
of counties are at present in the most
complete state, and the following ex- \
hibit of twenty-five counties is herewith
given to the public. These counties are
all of the three southern tiers of coun-
ties which have thus far been tabu- /
lated. The work for these counties, it
may be stated, has not been verified, as
it will be before publication in January.
The figures for each county are for the
years 1881 and 1891, respectively: