Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-11-20
DATA ON FARM VALUES
BY Frederic j. Haskin

and bring into the files OF the Federal
Farm Loan System a wealth of infer
nation which ultimately will cover
most Of the country II not every farm.
When that is accomplished, It wall
be possible. by consulting these rec
ords. to discover what farm in almost
any county in the country is good for,
what 70 viii raise, whether IL is water
ed or arid. what the transportation
facilities are, the climate. the condition
OF the roads and various other peril
nent data.
While this information Is being
gathered for the purpose of lending,
1t will nave the tendency to become
accepted as a basis Il sale value and
therefore, consultation OF these rec
ords can establish the price OF almost
any farm in the country.
May Hasten Detailed Survey.
! The value Of such information Is
so well recognized at Washington that
| it is considered quite likely that some
/ steps may be taken TO hasten this
| detailed survey. Under the present
| system, the reports are made only in
! connection with loan applications and
while these are coming in rapidly, in
dependent additional inyesti cations
made directly by Government agents
would bring much closer the date when
! the whole body of farm lands viii be
/ reported upon.
These reports Will have % be kept
! up to date by additional notations from
time TO time because changes are
I Tt. -
Of soils and in other matters closely
affecting the value OF farm lands. The
lack of proper fertilization Will exhaust
the productive properties Ct scil and
the farm that once was productive
/ may become practically sterile. An
excellent example Of this Is furnished
by the run down tobacco lands Of Ger
tain sections in southern states. Once,
the most fertile lands in the world.
they were worked year in and year
out, without fertilizaticn and without
rotation Of crops or fallowing, with
the result that the soil became ex-
hausted. Hundreds of thousands OF
acres OF such land may be found in
many southern states, grown up In
weeds OF a coarse variety and IN scrub
pine, which Will live On almost any
soil.
SExperts of the Bureau of Soils of the
Department of Agriculture say there
is not much which can be done to re-
trieve these old lands, but the Bureau
has made great strides in the last few
years in instructing the farmers how
TO prevent a repetition of such ex-
haustion on still fertile lands.
The construction Ct roads. the ex-
tension OF railroads Improvement oi
terminal facilities and many other
elements enter into the data affecting
the value OF farm lands. These report.
must be kept up 70 date by the nota
tion OF such material changes Il the,
are to become permanent reliab,
l references.
" Actually these reports will furnish
much data CT human interest in IN
/, lives and viciseitpdes OF the farming
! population. II they are to be of genuin
value. Suppose, for instance, that
. farmer borrows a substantial sum ol
4 an excellent farm. to which excellenc
much is contributed by the fine barns
stables. granaries and other build
7 ings which stand upon II. Suppos,
! then, these buildings are struck b
: lightning and burned TO the groun[
: 1t Will be seen that the value of tina
a mortgage and the value of the farr
I have been much impaired. The recor
y at Washington would be incompiet