Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1908-11-13
WHAT IS AN ACRE OF LAND
WORTH?

w JAVA IL
Mr.. F. T. Pilkington of Iowa
believes that good farming land
must necessarily appreciate rapidly
in value in this country and that
this appreciation is due to its pro-
ducing ability. In part Mr.. Pix I
ington says:
You have all heard the question
discusses pro and con that no farm
is worth 500 an acre for farming
purposes. Now the value of an
acre Of land is just what it can
be made to produce and the amount
of dollars it can be made to pay
interest on. We even have renters
that complain that they cannot
pay two or three dollars an acre
rent and make anything. We know
Of land that is rented for $40 an
acre, and there is tract of sixty
three acres near Philadelphia that
pays an annual rental of $40 per
acre and is run at a profit. Now
land that rents for 81 an acre is
not very valuable, but land that
rents for $40 pays 8 per cent on
$500 an acre.
Now it all depends on the ways
and means employed to get out all
there is an acre Of land. | have a
case in mind now of a man and
wife who bought four acres of land
paying $252 an acre for the same.
These same people are now actual
ly making good living from this
four acres and putting away little
surplus every year.
Now we will take an acre upon
most any farm, put it to corn, tend
it we'll and you can nearly always
get sixty bushels Of good corn,
which at forty cents a bushel Ian
average price, makes an income of
$24. Allowing $40 per acre for the
growing and harvesting of the
crop, which is very liberal figure,
you have a net income Of $14 per
acre; and on an 8 per cent basis
pays the interest on SITS, which
would be the value OF that acre of
land, this, too, without figuring
the value Of the fodder. Still
further, we will take an acre of
hay land. Two tons to the acre
is very moderate yield and can
readily be sold for $6 a ton which
is $l2. The cost of making is
about 81 a ton. or So per acre, leav-
ing $40 net income from an acre
of hay land which on an 8 per
cent basis is the interest on $125.
Besides you can pasture the land
for five months, or cut a second
crop or cut clover for seed, max
ing good interest on at least SIS
more, making the land worth at
least 5000 per acre. The price of
the land will always be governed
by what it can be made to produce,
and as country gets older land
becomes more fertile, is better
titled, every particle of growth is
utilized and saved, and the value
of the land increases in proportion.
We have very wasteful and ex-
travagant lot of farmers, and are
just beginning to realize that we
have been wasting half our income.
Another great source of income
is the keeping of stock to eat up all
the grains and grasses raised, then,
if carefully and intelligently used
will double the value Of all the
stuff produced and increase the
value of the land accordingly.
To those people who are saying
that 500 an acre is the top limit
for farm land,I want to make this
prophecy that inside of twenty
years it will be common thing
for farms to sell at 5000 an acre,
and it will be because they are
worth it and can be run at a
profit at that figure. Improved
methods Of farming. together with
a wide diversity of interest with
a careful saving of everything
raised, will bring it about. Nor
will it stop here but in many cases
it will go on increasing in value
in favored localities up to $500
and $500 an acre. To the homeless,
II will say get some land if even
only an acre, and you willhave one
of the best legacies mankind was
ever endowed with. n