100 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



T'he Landschaften, or Land-mortgage Loan Associations. 



Of the various land-mortgage, or long-term, credit systems 

 operative in Germany we shall discuss but one, known as the 

 Landschaften and found largely in northern Germany, for 

 it seems to me that it is this system, or some modification of 

 it, which wnll eventually be found applicable to conditions in 

 this country. It is a system which will appeal to any one 

 w^ho has ever had experience with a mortgage on the farm, 

 for it eliminates entirely some disagreeable features which 

 characterizes the negotiation of farm mortgages here. 



To begin with, we at times have great difficulty in securing 

 a purchaser for a farm mortgage unless the interest rate is 

 high. This is due to several reasons : Such mortgages are 

 not a liquid investment ; the purchaser must ascertain the 

 soundness of the title ; he must determine the sufficiency of 

 the security offered ; he must see that interest and principal 

 are collected ; and he must see that the property involved 

 does not deteriorate to such an extent that the security is 

 endangered ; and he must also see that taxes are paid. Then, 

 too, the requirement of repayment in a lump sum, and the 

 limited time for which mortgages are allowed to run, are 

 very serious hindrances. These two factors in many in- 

 stances force the mortgagor to either secure a renewal at a 

 still higher rate of interest or else to contract a new mortgage. 

 It is just these features which the mortgage-credit associa- 

 tions have been organized to eliminate, and this they have 

 done, the so-called " Landschaften " especially. 



To begin with, the farmer seeking a mortgage has no direct 

 personal relations with the person who furnishes the money. 

 He goes to the Landschaft and makes known his wants. The 

 first step taken is to secure an impartial valuation of his 

 property. This is made by three different parties: first, by 

 two or three of the members of the Landschaft who live in 

 his vicinity; second, by an independent valuer, such as the 

 professor of agriculture in the nearest university ; and third, 

 by the officials of the Landschaft. The lowest of the three 

 valuations is then taken as a basis for the loan, which, as a 

 further precaution, is limited to only tAvo-thirds of the lowest 



