Evening star., 1934-06-30
DEMAND GROWING
FOR FARM LANDS.
c. F. c. Ladd Sees Great
est BaCk-to.La Move
ment in u. S. History.

farm land as an investment-and in
actual sales-in the last few months
was reported at the annual conven-
ton of the National Association of
Real Estate Boards in Minneapolis
this week by Charles F. C. Ladd. San
Antonio, Tex, speaking at the open
ing meeting of the associations newly
organized Institute of Farm Brokers
and Managers, of which he is
president
"The greatest back to = the land
movement in all the history of the
United States is getting under way
Mr.. Ladd who is also president of
the Texas Association of Real Estate
Boards, asserted. He cited conditions,
circumstances and trends which he
held. despite current complaint of
lack of funds on the part of proSpec-
tive land buyers, will result in steadily
increasing demand for good farm, for
several years to come.
Many Responsible Buyers.
''In three years our Federal Land
Ranks, which write fully One-eighth
of all Of our farm mortgages, have
found 5000 responsible and expert
enced buyers of repossessed farms, "
Mr.. Ladd said. Insurance companies
agree that the demand for farms is
Drapidly increasing.
The remedy for the land surplus
of the country lies in the steady mi
grafton already going on from poor
soil sections, where the farmer can
only hope to grub bare living, to
richer and more productive regions,
where he can expect to earn a little
more than crust of bread by the
sweat of his brow. 1t lies in convinc-
ing the more intelligent. energetic
men now on marginal lands that it is
to their best interest TO move TO more
favorable locations.
The old Western frontier to which
surplus population may migrate
those regions where development and
progress are still to be expected. This
frontier of development and progress
in some regions has capacity for
absorbing new population much
greater than that of the old frontier
regions of covered-wagon days. And
1t is not going to require any Govern
ment help to move surplus population
to this new frontier"
Favorable Factors.
Factors favorable to a bettered
farm lands market, as cited by the
Farm Land Institute head:
!. Absorption of the present ap-
parent food surplus like a SNOWFALL
in August" as the millions at present
unemployed get into back-to-normal
consumption.
2. The present trend toward the de-
GENERALIZATION of industry. An Illus
tration: The International shoe fac
tory of St. Louis has IS of its fac
tories located in small towns. Jack
son johnson, chairman of the board,
asserts that by developing special
lied small plants in agricultural
regions the company has forgotten
all about labor troubles. materially
reduced labor turnover, relieved con-
gestion of living and transportation,
avoided competition among employers
for labor) and counteracted the ef-
fects of sectional business depressions
and crop failures"
3. The clearly defined movement all
over the United States from the con-
gested urban and industrial centers
back to the farms Men who were
born and brought up on farms recog-
nize and appreciate the safety of an
investment in farm land at present
prices.
4. The unlikelihood that farm lands
will ever be cheaper than they are
now. Since 1.-The decline in land
values which took place in the past
decade has been outdone by decreases
in the value of stocks and bonds the
American people are awakening to
the fact that agriculture is still one
of the most substantial industries OF
the country, and they are turning
to the real values to be found in
farm land" Mr.. Ladd said.
Future Possibilities.
Things which can be done-and
will eventually be done-increaSe agrl-
cultural returns and make the own
ership OF farm land more attrac-
tive. Find new uses for agricultural
products and for many of the by
DTOQuCUS IlOW WdSGeO. T lllu d oOlu-
ton for some of the present unfavor-
able marketing conditions, chiefly
through closer and more effective CO.
operation. Convince farmers that
they should not strive to grow more,
but to grow more economically. Re-
lieve the farmer of his present ex-
cessive burden of taxation.
There is generally prevalent
opinion that all of the farmers are
broke and that the Government is
compelled to spend millions to keep
them out of the poor house. The
fact is that conditions are not nearly
so bad as they have been painted.
A few years ago the capital value of
our farms and their equipment was
found by the Government to be $78,-
OoO,0oo,Ooo. 1t is probable that their
total valuation still exceeds the
capital invested in manufacturing
mining and transportation together.
In 1882 the farmers earned upward OF
$4,000. 100000. According to techni-
cal bulletin No. 288 of the Depart
ment of Agriculture, nearly 60 per
cent of all the farms of this Nation
are free of mortgage debt. There