The Mankato free press., 1910-04-22

Two or three weeks ago n Nebraska
farm 10 IA man of the younger set, re-
cent graduate of the Iowa Agricultural
college. The farm was quarter sec
tion of good black prairie loan. The
price paid was Sl7,920. $ll2 per acre
Ii had been bought sixteen years be-
fore for $500. or shade less than
SD per acre. Improvements made in
the meantime had cost $50 an acre
leaving II difference between purchase
and sale prices of $50 an acre. on
Sll, 200. This ease was far from rec
ord breaking
The foregoing is The introductory
paragraph of an article which appeared
IN the Saturday Evening Post OF
January %, last, under the caption
What's an Acre WORTH" a glance at
farm land values, by William X. Ligh-
ton
| read this article with great deal
OF interest, As | suppose other members
"f this club did also. | was impressed
particularly with the good plain Eng
lish in which it was written and the
blunt way in which the author drove
home the cold. hard facts of his
reasoning.
You will ask, what has this all to
do with the subject | am supposed
To treat upon in this paper. Ii |
could read YOU the entire article in
this connection. the question would be
answered. But that would be imposing
too much upon your good nature be-
sides ] do not want To 90 on record as
purlolning my entire paper from the
writings OF others. There will be
enough of that rs it is. | may, how
ever. refer to other portions of Mr.
lighton'S article before | get through
and right here | wish to summarize
little further on the transaction lust
referred TO.
1t seems that both the seller and
buyer did very little talking until the
deal for the farm was cinched, as we
say. Then their reticence disappeared
the buyer congratnlating himself upon
getting what he wanted at what seem
ed 10 him reasonable figure, while the
seller did likewise because he had I'M
loaded AT top-notch price in that
Section. He had seen land sell for
high prices before. in the boom times
and had also seen the bottom drop
out when the boom collapsed, and he
was anxious To unload He did not
stop Ia consider the change that had
taken place in conditions nor the fact
that his farm had. for the last five.
ar six wears. been paying him nearly
twenty-five per cent. on the price at
which he sold it, while it was. as an
investment. steadily approaching in
valne
1t is hardly necessary To saw here
that the average farmer of the old
school is not a good business man i'm
even Il very liberal construction of that
term. 1t Is true that many have done
rs well or even better than the Ne
bra skan referred 10. They have grown
rich without realizing ii and when the
'1cf dawns 'mon them thev lose their
heads at the prospect of so much
money coming all in lump. sell out
and then are at sea as to what to do
with their riches. ! do not mean To
say that the average farmer is
Spcndthrift or fool. not by any
means. He is prudent and economical
as a rule and has been educated by
sometimes bitter experience to make
10th ends meet somehow or other.
tent To live in modest way upon a
very modest income derived from
less profitable investment, and probably
less secure, of the proceeds of the sale
of their farm. Others learn their mis-
take and reinvest in agricultural lands.
some in Il new and undevelOped coun
Try where they have to practically
begin all over again Some are content
with Il less acreage in Il developed sec
ton.
Failures are bound to and do occur.
for the reason. rs | said before. that
the business ability is lacking. And
it is in providing the means by which
the greatest of all our industries is
being elevated to the same plane with
other business enterprises that our
national and state governments are de-
voting their best thought and highest
scientific effort today 1t was through
one of the state agencies. an agricul-
tural college, that the young man from
Iowa was enabled to place his valna-
tion upon the Nebraska farm. He had
been educated TO know exactly what
an acre of such land could be made to
produce. There was no guess work
about it with him, it was a scien-
life problem whicn he was prepared
To handle on scientific principles, with
Naturally, the national government
10 uncertainty as TO the outcome.
occupies much wider field in its ef-
iort> at promoting agriculture than
0oes any single state. Its work is
accomplished through its department
OF agriculture. fully equipped in every
way for the handling of the work in
all its various and many details. Tie
other departments OF the governments
lave been in existence since lie organ
iTation of oar nation ard in colnpari
son as To a"c the department of a.i>-
culture is bu, an infant.
Agriculture, thongh tie most impor
tani of all onr Industrial pursuits,
has in The past been The most reg
lectrd ly both state and nation. This
condition has changed WONDERFULLY with
in = comparatively short space Of imc
and today il is Eeing rapidly developed
and brought forward 10 the place in
The ranks OF Industrial pursuits where
IL properly belongs. While in the na-
t;onal eye its operations may not ai
tract rs much attention as those of
the war, navy or postoitice depart.
inents. tie vast scope OF its work is
lein. recognized in the industrial world
OF which II forms so important part.
The department of agriculture keeps