THE HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARM BUREAr MONTHLY 



hold the apples firm and then haul 

 them to Williamsburg either by auto 

 truck or spring wagon. The brick 

 building near the railroad station 

 that was u.sed last year for storage 

 will be used again for a packing and 

 storage house. With some repaij's the 

 building will hold 1500 or more bar- 

 rels. This is large enougii as the trait 

 that is not sold in the fall will be 

 shipped to a cold storage plant it nec- 

 essary. 



Each farmer will have a number 

 and this will be stamped on his bar- 

 rels. When h-.s apples are run througn 

 the grading machine and sorted he 

 will be given credit for so many bar- 

 rels of Grade A, B, or ungrade, ac- 

 cording to the number of each sort- 

 ed out. The apples are then pooled 

 and each grower receives for his 

 grades what the average for each 

 grade brings during the season. For 

 e.xample: If a farmer delivered 100 

 barrels at the packing shed and they 

 sorted 35 barrels Grade A, 30 barrels 

 Grade B.. 30 barrels ungraded, aid 5 

 barrels cider apples and the average 

 pviice received for the season was $3 

 a barrel for A, $2.50 a barrel for B, 

 $2 a barrel ungraded, and 4''^c a barrel 

 cider apples, the farmer would receive 

 $105 for A'g, S75 B's, $60 ungraded, p 

 cider apples, total $242, minus over- 

 head charges and expense for grad- 

 ing. 



This system will relieve the grower 

 of all the trouble of trying to locate 

 a buyer or of trying to sort and grade 

 his fruit according to the new state 

 law. If enough growers co-operate, it 

 will also tend to bring larger houses 

 i.nto thtU- district to buy fruit ,as they 

 can find the fruit at a central house, 

 uniformly graded, and in larger 

 amounts. 



The association is incorporated, and 

 has a board of directors elected from 

 its members at the annual"^ meeting. 

 The fruit is sold under the counsel of 

 the directors by the manager of The 

 association. 



Fall will soon be here and those 

 who have many apples to sell should 

 be seri.ously thinking of where to 

 market them to the best advantage. 

 Several growers have signified their 

 intentions by marketing co-operative- 

 ly and if there are any others who de- 

 sire to do so, the Farm Bureau will 

 be glad to furnish them with infor- 

 mation and give assistance where 

 needed. 



FARM LOAN ACT. 



The Federal farm loan act, popular- 

 ly called the "Rural credits law," was 

 signed by the President and became a 

 law on July 17, 1916. 



The primary purpose of this act is 

 to promote agricultural prosperity by 

 enabling farmers to borrow money on 



farm mortgage security at a reasona- 

 ble rate of interest and for relatively 

 long periods of time. To attain this 

 object, two farm mortgage systems 

 are provided: (1) A system operating 

 through regional land banks, ana (2) 

 a system operating through joint- 

 stock land banks. 



To attract money to the farm-loan 

 field the act provides a method 

 whereby those who have money to 

 lend can fin-d safe investment in the 

 form of debentures or bonds, of small 

 and large denominati.ons, issued by 

 the banks and based on the security 

 of mortgages on farm lands. 



These two systems are to be under 

 the general supervision of a Federal 

 Farm Loan Board in the Treasury 

 Department, composed of the Secre- 

 tary of the Treasury, as chairman ex- 

 officio, and four members appointed 

 by the President. This board has au- 

 thority to appoint appraisers, exam- 

 iners, and legistrars, who will be 

 publi.c officials. 



OUTLINE OF FAPOI LOAN ACT. 



The act provides for the creation of 

 12 Federal land banks and permits 

 the establishment o2 any number of 

 joint-stock land tanivs for the pur- 

 pose of making loans at a reasonable 

 rate of interest, for long periods of 

 time, on farm lands. 



A Federal Farm Loan Board has 

 complete control over these banks. 



(A) FEDERAL LAND BANKS 



Twelve Federal land banks are pro- 

 vided, one in each of 12 districts into 

 which the country will be divided. 

 These banks are empowered to lend 

 on first mortgages on farm lands in 

 amounts of $100 to $10,000 for ap^ 

 proved purposes. The loans are to be 

 made through farm loan associations 

 and agents. No loan may be made for 

 more than 50 per cent of the value ol 

 the land mortgaged and 20 per cent of 

 the value of the permanent improve- 

 ments upon it. 



National farm loan associations — 

 local organizations composed exclu- 

 sively of borrowers — are authorized. 

 These associations must be stock- 

 holders i.n the land banks in propor- 

 tion to the amount their members 

 wi.sh to borrow. Eventually all stock 

 in the Federal land banks will be 

 owned exclusively by these associa- 

 tions. 



A reasonable interest rate is estab- 

 lished. The act prohibits the Federal 

 land banks from charging more than 

 6 per cent on any mortgage, or re- 

 quiring fees not approved by the 

 Farm Loan Board. 



The borrowers wi.ll share in the net 

 profits of the bank because they are 

 stockholders. It is contemplated that 

 ultimately the borrowers will be the 

 only stockholders. 



Long-term loans are provided by 

 authorizing mortgages for periods of 

 from 5 up to 40 years. 



Small annual or semi-.uinual pay- 

 ments on tne principal are made a re- 

 quired feature of all mortgages. 

 (B) JOINT-STOCK LAND BANKS. 



Joint-stock land banks are author- 

 ized. They are corporations for car- 

 rying on the business of lending on 

 farm mortgage security and issuing 

 farm loan bonds. They are .o be un- 

 der the supervision of the l^arm Loan 

 Board, but the Government will not 

 invest in them. Subject to geographi- 

 cal limitations and subject to the 50 

 and 20 per cent limitat .on, these 

 banks can lend to an individual any 

 amount they wish, and for any pur- 

 pose. They can not charge an inter- 

 est rate exceeding 6 per cent, and 

 such rate must not exceed by more 

 than 1 per cent the interest they have 

 pail on their last issue of bonds. 

 Their mortgages, however, must pro- 

 vide for amortization payments. 

 These banks are prohi.bited from 

 charging, under any pretext, fees or 

 commissions other than those author- 

 ized by the act. 

 CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH 



LOANS MAY BE OBTAINED. 



The act specifically defines the pur- 

 poses for which loans may be ob- 

 tained. These are: 



(a) To provide for the purchase of 

 land for agricultural uses. 



(b) To provide for the purchase of 

 equipment, fertilizers, and live stock 

 necessary for the proper and reasona- 

 ble operation of the mortgaged farm; 

 the term "equipment" to be defined by 

 the Federal Farm Loan Board. 



(c) To provi.de buildings and for 

 the improvement of farm lands; the 

 term "improvement" to be defined by 

 the Federal Farm Loan Board. 



(d) To liquidate indebtedness of 

 the owner of the land mortgaged, ex- 

 isting at the time of the organization 

 of the first national farm loan as- 

 sociation establLshed in or for the 

 county in whi.ch the land mortgaged 

 is situated, or inde'-'tedness subse- 

 quently incurred for one of the pur- 

 poses mentioned in this section. 



Loans may '/e made only on first 

 mortgages on farm land. 



Only those who own and cultivate 

 farm land or are about to own and 

 cultivate such land are entitled to 

 borrow. 



No one can borrow save for Ihe 

 purposes stated in the act, and those 

 who after borrowing do not use 'he 

 money for the purposes specified in 

 the mortgage are li,able to have their 

 loans reduced or recalled. The secre- 

 tary-treasurer of each as.sociation ia 

 required to report any diversion of 

 borrowed money from the purposes 

 staged in the mertgages. 



