Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-11-20
By FREDERICK
J. S

ords. to discover just what a farm in
| almost any county In the country is
| good for, what it will raise, whether it
IS watered or arid, what the trans
portation facilities are, the climate.
| the condition of the roads and yori-
Gus other pertinent data.
While this information is being
gathered for the purpose Of lending,
it will have the tendency to become ac-
| cepted as a basis of 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
| we'll recognized at Washington that it
is considered quite likely that some
! steps may be taken to hasten this de-
tailed survey. Under the present sys-
TEN. the reports are made only in CON
nection with loan applications and
while these are coming in rapidly, in
dependent additional investigations
made directly by government agents
would bring much closer the date
when the whole body Of farm lands
will be reported upon.
These reports will have to be kept
up to date by additional notations
from time to time because changes
are constantly taking place in the ma
ture of soils and i'll other matters
closely affecting the value Of farm
lands. The lack of proper fertiliza-
ton will exhaust the producing prop
critics of a soil and the farm that once
was productive may become practical
ly sterile. An excellent example of
this is furnished by the run down to-
bacco lands of certain sections in
southern states. Once, the most fer
tile lands in the world, they were
worked year in and year out, without
fertilization and without rotation of
crops or following, with the result
that the soil became exhausted. Hun
dreds of thousands of acres of such
land may be found in many southern
states, grown up in weeds of a coarse
variety aud in scrub pine, which will
live on almost any soil.
Experts Of the bureau of soils of
the department of agriculture say
there is not much which can be done
TO retrieve these old lands, but the bu-
reau has made great strides in the
last few years in ~instructing the farm
ers how to prevent a repetition of
such exhaustion on still fertile lands.
The construction of roads, the ex-
tension of railroads, Improvement of
terminal facilities and many other ele-
ments enter into the data affecting the
value Of farm lands. These reports
must be kept up TO date by the nota-
ton Of all such material changes If
they are to become permanent reliable
references.
Actually these reports will furnish
much data of human interest IN the
lives and yicissitudes of the farm pop
u~lation, if they are to be of genuine
value. Suppose, for instance, that a
farmer borrows a substantial sum on
an excellent farm, to which excellence
much is contributed by the fine barns,
stables, %granaries and other buildings
which stand upon it. Suppose, then,
these buildings are struck by lightning
and burned to the. ground. 1t will be
seen that the value of that mortgage
and the value of the farm have been
much impaired. The record ut. Wash
ington would be incomplete and mis-
leading were not an immediate nota-
ton made of the disaster. Further,
should the buildings be erected again,
that should have its place IN the rec
ord.
These records, as they grow, should
| contain the material for all the novels
of rural life that the world could read.
Doubtless they will contain the rec
ords of generations of people as the
years pass. They should be of the ut
most value to antiquarians of the fu-
ture. 1t will be recalled that the ru-
raj parish records have been the most
fruitful source Of personal history IN
England and other foreign countries.