18 BULLETIN 968, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
It also appears that, in general, the period of repajmient tends to 
be longer in the case of second mortgages which represent a com- 
paratively large proportion of the purchase price. For 527 records 
of second mortgages made in connection with the purchase of farms 
and with the giving of a first mortgage to the Federal land banks, 
it was possible to determine the relationship between the period of 
repayment and the size of the second mortgage. Figure 4 shows in 
detail how many of all these mortgages were fully payable by the 
end of various terms, the records being grouped according to the 
relative size of the second mortgage. 
Approximately three-fifths of those second mortgages which 
amounted to over half of the cost of the purchased farm were not 
fully payable until after the fifth 3 T ear, and approximately one-fourth 
of those amounting to between two-fifths and half of the cost of the 
purchased farm were not fully payable until after the fifth year. 
On the other hand, approximately three- fourths of the second mort- 
gages amounting to one-fifth or less of the purchase price were 
fully payable by the end of the fourth year, and over nine-tenths 
of them were fully payable by the end of the fifth year. 
PROVISIONS FOR PERIODIC REPAYMENT OF SECOND MORTGAGES. 
As in the case of Federal farm loans, provision for periodic repay- 
ment of the second mortgage loan is likely to be an important aid to 
the landless man possessing little capital. Table VIII shows the 
percentages of second mortgages repayable in various ways. Half 
of the second mortgages are payable at the end of the mortgage 
period without any provision for periodic payments to reduce the 
amount of the principal aside from instances where it was under- 
stood that the borrower had the privilege of paying off the second 
mortgage as he chose, usually at the interest paying date and in 
multiples of 50 or 100 dollars. Mortgages coming due as a lump 
sum at the end of the mortgage period occur with especial frequency 
in the group of 144 buyers who did not borrow on second mortgages 
from the man from whom they purchased the land; seven of every 
ten of these men have mortgages repayable in that manner. About 
two out of five borrowers were under obligation to make annual 
payments on their second mortgages. Borrowers who were in- 
debted on second mortgage security to relatives were particularly 
favored as to the final payment of their second mortgages, a third 
of these borrowers being permitted to make full payment practically 
at their own option. Few cases of second mortgages repayable in 
monthly or semiannual payments were found. 
