214 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



prices in the first decade of the twentieth century. It followed 

 a period of depression. It was the period when people became 

 conscious that the land supply is limited, and that the good, 

 free land has been taken up. It was a period of great increase 

 in the supply of gold and also a period of great increase in the 

 use of bank checks in the place of gold certificates, — this is 

 thought to be sufficient to account for half the rise in the prices 

 of farm products. The ease with which old debts were paid with 

 cheaper money has made people hopeful in obligating them- 

 selves for the payment of larger debts. 



These are some of the most important principles and con- 

 ditions which should be kept in mind in the consideration of 

 the values of farm land, and of farm live stock and equipment. 

 The prospective buyer of land will do well to bear in mind the 

 advice of Cato, a Roman agricultural writer, who is quoted by 

 Pliny 1 as saying : " Do not be too eager in buying a farm. In 

 rural operations never be sparing of your trouble, and, above 

 all, when you are purchasing land. A bad bargain is always 

 a ground for repentance." 



i Pliny's "Natural History," Book XVIII, Chapter VI; "Bonn's Library" odi- 

 tion, Vol. IV, p. ii. 



