198 THE HIGH COST OF LIVING 



the land was privately owTied. Then the price of 

 land began to rise. It rose with great rapidity. 

 A million incoming immigrants increased the de- 

 mand, not only for land, but for food as well. And 

 this increasing demand upon a limited supply af- 

 fected all land values. It has been especially oper- 

 ative during the past few years. Fifty years ago 

 land in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, and the 

 Dakotas was held at from $3 to $5 an acre. To- 

 day it is held at from $100 to $300 an acre. In 

 Texas it is the same. In California land which a 

 generation ago could be had for the asking is held 

 at from $500 to $1,000 an acre. The farming land 

 in America is held at a higher price than it is in 

 England. Only in such intensively cultivated coun- 

 tries as France, Holland, Belgium, and Denmark is 

 the value of agricultural land equal to that in the 

 central states of America. 



Even in the East the price of land is prohibitive 

 to the would-be farmer. Only by the most intensive 

 application can he make enough to keep up pay- 

 ments and make a decent living. Frequently he 

 loses his whole investment through failure to meet 

 the charges against him. 



This speculative price of land is one explanation 

 of the decay of agriculture and the failure of farming 

 to keep pace with our needs. The earth is closed 

 against the would-be farmer. The man of aver- 

 age capital is unable to buy or to make a living 



