l6o AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



small percentage, this i)rosperity on the whole is on the sur- 

 face, — a thin veneer which one poor crop will puncture. There 

 are many farmers, who owe two years' fertilizer and grocery 

 bills, and many of them are obliged to pledge their crop before it 

 is planted in order to secure fertilizer with which to grow it. It 

 is estimated that 200,000 tons of fertilizer are used in the state, 

 and that over 150,000 tons are purchased by the farmer on time, 

 at a rate of interest in the past amounting to from 25 to 40 per 

 cent. One hundred and fifty thousand tons at $38.00 per ton 

 amounts to $5,700,000. If the farmer could purchase these 

 150,000 tons of goods on a cash basis they would cost him only 

 $4,800,000, a saving of $900,000. If the farmer saves $900,000 

 then the state is that much better off financially. The farmer 

 pays $38.50 per ton for a 4-6-10 when he buys on December 

 payment, while if he purchases for cash through his associa- 

 tion he pays $32- 50, a difference of $6.00, or 36 per cent. Farm 

 machinery, harnesses, sleighs, etc., are bought on the same 

 basis, all combining to keep the farmer poor. 



RURAL CREDIT BANKS. 



There are many land credit schemes in Europe, but not many 

 of them would work out successfully in this country. How- 

 ever, we are fast drifting into European conditions. That the 

 European land problem should have arisen in this country while 

 those who are still living have seen land free for the asking 

 and approved of granting millions of acres of the public domain 

 in the form of subsidies to railways, shows how rapidly the 

 world fills up and how precious the land is. Many are now 

 demanding that the government shall lend the people money 

 to buy back the land it gave away to the railways. 



Many senators and representatives have interested themselves 

 in various plans for rural credit. Among these plans was the 

 Moss-Fletcher bill, but this did not appear to be just what the 

 farmers required. Then it was decided that direct government 

 aid was both politically expedient and desirable, and then ap- 

 peared the Federal Farm-Loan act, called the Bulkley bill, 

 with the following provisions : 



That any five persons may form a cooperative farm-loan 

 association like a mutual building-loan association, for the pur- 



