SELECTION OF FARM 



tion which should exist between the value 

 of land itself and the value of the improve- 

 ments. In practice it varies greatly. In the 

 United States the farm improvements con- 

 stitute on an average 21% of the total value 

 of land, being as high as 45% in Massachu- 

 setts and as low as 15% in Texas. The 

 young farmer may well consider, therefore, 

 whether he can earn interest on his invest- 

 ment when the improvements cost more than 

 2$% of the total value of the real estate. Cer- 

 tainly when it becomes one-half it is exces- 

 sive. The man who runs a farm as an avoca- 

 tion usually errs in putting too much money 

 into permanent improvements for the farm 

 to be a paying investment. 



If it is admitted that the farm unit is lim- 

 ited because of the physical difficulties of 

 managing large areas, then it must at once 

 be seen how important the arrangement of 

 the farmsteading must be to the successful 

 conduct of the farm. In the older farming 

 communities where the present farm hold- 

 ings are the result of several purchases or 

 sales the shape of the farm, the arrangement 



8s 



