2 BULLETIlSr 1047, U. S. DEPAPtTMENT OF AGRICULTUEE. 



value of all farms in the United States. The figures for estimated 

 total farm mortgage indebtedness as given in the first column of 

 Table 1 are based on the assumption that in each State all farms are 

 on the average mortgaged to the same percentage of their value as 

 are the owner-operated farms for which data are available. This is 

 a somewhat bold assumption, as no comprehensive study has been 

 made of the relative amount of indebtedness on owner-operated farms 

 as compared with that on farms of other tenures. It seems probable 

 that these figures are somewhat high for many States, or, in other 

 words, that they represent the maximum rather than the actual 

 amount. 



Information concerning the sources of farm mortgage loans, so far 

 as present holders of mortgages represent such sources, is no more 

 complete than the figures on total mortgages outstanding. The 

 estimated totals of farm mortgages held by banks, as shown in the 

 second column of Table 1, also involve certain assumptions which 

 expose them to possible error. The method followed in arriving at 

 these estimates will be outlined on a later page. 



NATURE AND COMPARABILITY OF DATA. 



The figures in Table 1 on loans held by insurance companies, by 

 the Federal and joint-stock land banks, by State agencies, and by 

 farm mortgage bankers, respectively, represent actually reported 

 figures only. The amounts reported for the land banks are official 

 and complete. 



The figures given for the amounts and percentages of farm loans 

 held by the various agencies, although not exactly comparable, are, 

 with certain explanations, sufficiently so to warrant their being 

 presented together. The figures representing bank loans are distri- 

 buted on the basis of the location of the banks rather than of the 

 loans, whereas for the other agencies the location of the mortgaged 

 property determines the allocation. An examination, therefore, of 

 the amounts and percentages of loans held by the various agencies 

 wiU disclose that in some States the banks held more than 100 per 

 cent of the estimated total farm mortgages for the States in wliich 

 they were located. This is due, of course, to the fact that the banks 

 of these States had invested a considerable portion of their funds 

 in farm loans in other States, chiefly certain States in the central 

 section where land values are considered well established, and the 

 rates of interest are nevertheless appreciably higher than in the 

 States in which these banks are located. As a general rule, however, 

 the farm mortgage loans held by banks are on land located in or 

 near the regular business territory of the banks. 



