4 BULLETIN 1048, U. S. DEPAETME^iTT OF AGRICULTURE. 



obtained for the banks reporting was also applicable to the loans and 

 discounts of the banks which did not report. In view of the fact 

 that city banks, as explained above, were represented in the reports 

 rather more largely than country banks, it would seem that the esti- 

 mates arrived at on this basis should be conservative rather than the 

 reverse. 



The prominence of agriculture in the West North Central States is 

 apparent from the figures in the colunrn showing the estimated total 

 personal and collateral loans outstanding to farmers. The seven 

 States in this division have about 40 per cent of the total of such 

 loans in the United States, and Iowa alone has over 10 per cent. 



Turning to the percentage which personal and collateral loans to 

 farmers constitute of total loans and discounts of banks in the various 

 States, the highest figures again are found for the West North Cen- 

 tral States. The three States showing highest percentages of such 

 loans to farmers are South Dakota, North Dakota, and Kansas, 

 where the figures are 67.98 per cent, 62.58 per cent, and 60.07 per 

 cent, respectively. 



It has been estimated that the banks of the United States on 

 December 31, 1920, held approximately $1,447,500,000 of farm mort- 

 gage loans. ^ Combining this figure with the estimated amount of 

 personal and collateral loans as shown in the table, namely, $3,869,- 

 891,415, it appears that last December the banks of the United States 

 had total loans to farmers approximating $5,317,400,000. This 

 amount represented 18.3 per cent of the total loans and discounts of 

 all banks. A similar combination of the percentages for the esti- 

 mated totals of the two classes of loans indicates that the total bank 

 accommodation to farmers constituted 78 per cent of the total loans 

 and discounts of all banks in South Dakota; 77 per cent in North 

 Dakota; 69 per cent in Kansas; and 68 per cent in Iowa. 



SEASONAL FLUCTUATION IN PERSONAL AND COLLATERAL LOANS TO 



FARMERS. 



It is generally known that in agricultural sections banks experience 

 a gradually increasing demand for credit, which commences with the 

 planting of crops and reaches a peak immediately prior to the time 

 when crops are ready for market. Figure 1 indicates for the United 

 States and for each of its geographic divisions the fluctuations which 

 occurred during 1920 in the amount of farmers' personal and col- 

 lateral loans outstanding with reporting banks. For the United 

 States as a whole, there was a gradual increase for each month from 

 January to October, when loans began to decline. It is apparent, 

 however, that this decline was very slight, and that the contraction 



1 Department Bulletin No. 1047, entitled, " Farm Mortgage Loans by Banks, Insurance Companies and 

 Other Agencies." 



