12 BULLETIN 874, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Table VII presents a classification of the alleged motives of sellers 

 in making sales of their farms. It is undoubtedly true that motives 

 were in many cases mixed. Even when the motive given was the 

 desire to retire from farming, to reduce the size of holdings, or some 

 other reason, it is probably true that the making of the sale at the 

 particular time was due to the favorable prices for farm land. How- 

 ever, back of this immediate motive was often some special reason 

 for selling. In only 276 cases out of 919, or 30 per cent, was the 

 primary motive given as the desire to realize a speculative profit. 

 Even in this group only 40 sellers specifically asserted that they had 

 sold for speculation. However, several other types of answers may 

 be interpreted as indicating the desire for speculative profit as the 

 principal motive. In 117 cases the sellers classed in this group 

 asserted that they held the land as an investment, but gave no other 

 reason for selling. It is assumed that they sold because of the 

 opportunity of making a satisfactory return from the increase in 

 value of the land, since they had abandoned their original intention 

 of retaining the farm for investment. 



One hundred and ninety-five sellers, or 21 per cent, assigned as 

 the principal motive the desire to buy other farm property. It is 

 probable that some of these sellers sold their farms in order to buy 

 other farms that suited them better, either in size, quality of soil, 

 location, or improvements. However, it is also probable that a 

 very large number of these sellers who asserted that they were sell- 

 ing in order to buy again were simply speculating in farm land. 

 They probably sold to realize a profit and bought again for the same 

 purpose. Consequently a considerable number of this group belong 

 to the class of persons who were selling for speculative reasons. 



In 42 cases, or 4.6 per cent of the total, the alleged motive was 

 the desire to reduce the holdings of farm land or to dispose of some 

 of the holdings while retaining other land. However, a considerable 

 number of answers in this group indicate that the desire was not so 

 much to reduce the holdings as to take advantage of the opportunity 

 of selling a portion of the holdings at high prices. Consequently 

 some of this group belong in the speculative class. 



Two hundred and forty-nine, or 27.1 per cent, of the total gave 

 as their motive the desire to retire from farming. Probably most of 

 these persons had been intending to retire at some time and seized 

 the favorable opportunity of high prices of farm land to fulfill their 

 intentions. The high prices for land made it possible for some to 

 get enough for their farms to retire on, whereas otherwise they would 

 not have been able to do so. Unquestionably, therefore, the large 

 increase in the prices for land facilitated the tendency toward re- 

 tirement from farming. 



