VALUE OF FARM LAND 



buy when prices are too low and to sell when the 

 values rise too high. Unwise speculation in land 

 may have the very opposite result. 



The study of the rise and fall of the price of 

 land in the United States seems to show that there 

 are times when the price rises rapidly for a few 

 years and then remains stationary for several 

 years. This latter period is usually character- 

 ized by the fact that sales of land are relatively 

 few. Land is generally held at the prices which 

 were reached during the period of rapid sales 

 when optimistic views of the future forced the 

 price considerably beyond the present capital 

 value. If sales are made during this dull period 

 they are likely to be at a price appreciably lower 

 than that at which land is usually held, and likely 

 to be a forced sale. The price of land, then, may 

 be illustrated by a curve which rises during one 

 period, remains on the same level or falls during a 

 succeeding period, and then rises again. When 

 viewed for a long period of time, the general rise 

 in land values is evident, but the temporary fluc- 

 tuations are very important to any one interested 

 in buying land. 



The price of land in any given district is influ- 

 enced by the number and character of the men who 

 desire to be farmers in that district. It often hap- 

 pens that competition for the use of land is keener 

 in some regions than in others, even though the 

 land be as fertile, and the prices of agricultural 

 13 i93 



