228 PRINCIPLES OF RURAL ECONOMICS 



owned by the gardener. In both these cases, however, there are 

 special reasons why the cultivator does not desire especially to 

 own the land. In England the ownership of land is a kind of 

 passport to good society. At least it confers a certain amount 

 of dignity upon the owner, and for this reason the competition for 

 ownership is severe among the well-to-do classes. This compe- 

 tition forces the selling price of land up to a high figure as 

 compared with its rental value. In this country, land which rents 

 for $5 an acre net will sell for $100 or $150. In England it 

 will sell for twice that amount. This allows the owner so small 

 an interest on his investment as to prove unattractive to one 

 who is not seeking social distinction. The farmer who is seek- 

 ing only the profits of farming finds that he can make more 

 from his capital in some other form than when invested in land. 

 Even if he owned his land, he would be tempted to sell if he 

 were offered say $300 an acre for it, with the privilege of renting 

 for from $5 to $7 an acre. By putting the large sum of money 

 which he might receive from the sale of the land into stock and 

 equipment he could get a larger income than would be possible 

 by retaining the ownership of the land. If he is not the owner, 

 he would find it, for the same reason, less profitable to buy the 

 land than to lease it. 



In the neighborhood of Paris there are also special reasons 

 why the gardener frequently does not own his tiny plot of land. 

 Much of this land is being held as future building sites, and has 

 a speculative value for that purpose far in excess of its present 

 value as garden land. The man who wants it as garden land 

 alone could not afford to pay such a price. However, the owner 

 is willing to let it at a rental which will not yield normal interest 

 upon its speculative price, rather than not get any income from 

 it at all. However, some of this gardening is done on land near 

 the military fortifications, where regulations prevent the erection 

 of permanent buildings. 



