AGRICULTURAL CREDIT IN THE UNITED STATES 

 By Jesse E, Pope 



(From the Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. XXVIII, p. 701, 

 August, 1 91 4) 



[Footnotes omitted from this reprint. The reader is referred to the original 

 article. Ed.] 



THE purpose of this article is to inquire into conditions of 

 agricultural indebtedness in the United States, to indicate 

 the credit facilities of the American farmer and to consider the 

 plans suggested for their improvement. 



I. EXISTING CONDITIONS 



The farmer may need credit for : 



1. Land acquisition, through purchase or inheritance. 



2. Permanent improvements, such as buildings, fences, drains. 



3. Equipment, including machinery, implements, work animals. 



4. Working capital, including expenditures for fertilizer, seed, 

 fodder, fuel, labor. 



Credit for land and improvements is usually termed ownership 

 credit ; and since it is granted for a comparatively long time on 

 mortgage security, it is referred to as mortgage or long-term 

 credit. Working credit, on the other hand, since it is granted 

 for a comparatively short time, and since the personal factor is 

 the chief element in its security, is referred to as personal or 

 short-term credit. Equipment credit, though more like improve- 

 ment than like working credit when viewed from the standpoint 

 of production, must be classed, on account of its comparatively 

 short term and the importance of the personal element in its 

 security, as short-term or personal credit. 



936 



