4 



BULLETIN 874, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



It is clear that the advance of land values in Iowa is only part of, 

 a general rapid upward trend of land values, the average increase for 

 all the States amounting to $17.35 per acre, or 21.kper cent. In only 

 one State, California, have land values declined during the year. Even 

 in Xew England the value of farm lands increased over $10 an acre, 

 or 16.2 per cent, the increase being most marked in Massachusetts 

 and Connecticut. In the other Atlantic States the increase in value 

 per acre was most notable in the Carolinas, reflecting the influence of 

 high prices for cotton, "bright" tobacco, and peanuts. The in- 

 creases for Virginia and West Virginia were comparatively small. 

 The increases in values in the other Atlantic States are between the 

 two extremes. The largest average increase per acre in the United 

 States, but not the largest percentage of increase, occurred in Iowa, 

 followed by Arizona and Illinois. Throughout the States lying 

 largely in the Corn Belt there were increases per acre ranging from 

 $21 in Ohio to $63 in Iowa, with the exception of Kansas, where the 

 increase was only $11. 



In States characterized by a fair degree of uniformity in agricul- 

 tural resources, as in many of the States in the Corn Belt, averages 

 for the State as a whole are frequently not indicative of the move- 

 ment of values in certain sections. Thus, the increase for Kentucky 

 averages only $4 an acre, yet in the Blue Grass Region there has been 

 a very marked increase in farm land values and extraordinary activity 

 in the buying and selling of land. There has been a considerable 

 increase in the value of farm lands in Michigan, but the average for 

 the State is low because of the influence of the large areas of cut-over 

 lands in parts of the State. In the South the percentages of increase 

 are large, although they do not represent large increases per acre. 



INCREASE IN THE AVERAGE VALUE PER ACRE OF IOWA FARM LAND 



SINCE 1850. 



Table II. — Increase in the average value of improved farm land in Iowa from 1850 to 



March 1, 1920. 



Year. 



Value 

 per acre. 



Increase 

 per acre. 



Tear. 



Value 

 per acre. 



Increase 

 per acre. 



1 v.-/i . 



$0.09 

 11.91 

 20. 21 

 22.92 

 2Si. 13 

 43.31 

 90.00 





1915 



$134.00 

 153.00 

 156.00 

 174. 00 

 192. 00 

 255. 00 



$38, 'X) 





$5. 82 



8.30 

 2.71 

 5.21 

 15.18 

 52.09 



1916 



19.00 







1870... 



19i7 



3.00 



1880 



1918 



18. 00 



1890.. v 



1900.... 



1919 



1920 



18.00 

 03.00 



1910 







The statistics for the years 1850 to 1910, inclusive, are from the 

 Federal census. The statistics for 1915 to 1920, inclusive, are from 

 unpublished data furnished by the Bureau of Crop Estimates, United 

 States Department of Agriculture. 



