THE TIM BUNKER PAPERS. 309 



This talk of my neighbors shows the drift of public 

 opinion on the real estate question. In some communities 

 farming lands have risen and quadrupled in value within 

 the last twenty years. In others, they are worth no more 

 than they were a hundred years ago, and hardly so much. 

 Jones has got hold of the philosophy of it, though he is 

 not much of a philosopher, where his own affairs are con 

 cerned. In the White Oaks, and places of that kind, land 

 is cheap because cheap people own it, who think a good 

 deal more of shooting-matches, horse-races, and poor whis 

 key, than they do of farming. As Kier Frink says, &quot; there 

 aint a man of em but would sell his soul for a chaw of 

 tabaker.&quot; Kier is a little disgusted just now, and perhaps 

 the statement is a little harsh. But it stands to reason 

 that the land isn t worth much unless you work it, and get 

 something out of it. If it bears nothing but wood, cut off 

 for coal once in thirty years, everybody presumes that is 

 all it is good for. Nobody that has capital wants horse 

 jockeys, gamblers, and loafers, for neighbors, and so land 

 is cheap in the White Oaks. Land is worth any sum you 

 can make it pay the interest on, and take care of itself, 

 and it isn t worth a cent more. Some is dear at ten dol 

 lars an acre, and other is cheap at $400 for farming pur 

 poses. And it does not depend altogether on its original 

 character. Poor land can be made productive by right 

 treatment, and pny its way as well as that which is good. 

 That horse-pond lot was poor property for Jake Frink at 

 twenty dollars an acre. He did not get his interest from 

 it at that price. It certainly is worth three hundred to 

 me, aside from the abatement of a nuisance, which it al 

 ways was, until it was drained. A variety of causes have 

 made land dearer about Hookertown. There are more 

 people and of course more purchasers of homes. The 

 place has felt the effect of the war, and of a depreciated 

 currency, which makes almost every thing dearer. But 

 this cause has affected the price of land less than most 



