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Show III ii i in 1 1 1 1 1 1 ii iiihii 1 1 1 ii i n 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 m ii 1 1 n 1 1 1 ii mi 1 1 nil ii ii 1 1 1 1 1 ii ii i n n 1 1 1 1 n ii n Fifty Millions of Farm Loans With But Thirteen Defaults in Six Years By GUY HUSTON, President American Association. Out of $50,000,000 in loans made in Iowa and Illinois by the Chicago Joint Stock Land bank, only thirteen defaults have occurred in six years. One-crop farmers are the deepest sufferers now, because they have not been able to take advantage of the new economics of modern farm equipment. Ninety per cent of the borrowers among the farmers are carrying car-rying on in good shape. The farming business is not as bad as painted. More than 50 per cent of the fanners are clear of debt and 90 per cent of the other 50 per cent are in good condition. Only six per cent of the land classified as "agricultural land" is real "plow land." Only 25 per cent of the land in the country is agricultural land, which is valued at $67,000,000,000. The estimated value of crops this year is about $8,500,000,000, which is not such a bad return, even with labor costs taken out The farmer with a 240-acre farm, worth $50,000, with clod breakers and modern equipment, is making money. The small farmer, on land less valuable with no machinery equipment and small production to the acre, is in a bad fix, but so are manufacturers in the city in poor locations, ill equipment and lack of knowledge. |