BUYING FARMS WITH LAND-BANK LOANS. 3 
or its methods. Since the organization of the system notable progress 
has been made in extending its influence. Up to December 31, 1920, 
loans amounting to $369,242,464 had been granted by the 12 Federal 
land banks. Moreover, the ratio of the loans to the total number of 
farms appears to be high in those sections of the country where farm 
credit had been costly to the farmer. (See fig. 1.) In fact, it is prob- 
able that in parts of these regions the system has been an important 
influence in improving the terms of credit obtained by the farmers 
through private agencies. 1 In short, the fundamental purpose of 
the present study is merely to determine the extent to which the 
system provides for the needs of the landless farmer seeking to 
buy farm land. 
NUMBER OF 
lESTIONNi 
Fig. 2. — Distribution of some 2,700 replies received to questionnaire. 
Some information on this point has been published by the Fed- 
eral Farm Loan Board. These figures are presented in the follow- 
ing discussion. To supplement this information, 12,000 question- 
naires were sent to persons who have borrowed under the Federal 
farm loan system, ostensibly for the purpose of buying farm land. 2 
Approximately 2,700 replies were received, distributed as shown in 
the accompanying map (fig. 2). These replies constitute the prin- 
cipal basis of the discussion which follows. 
The data are presented and interpreted on pages 5 to 20, follow- 
ing. The general conclusion derived from the data will be found on 
1 Second Annual Report, 65th Congress, 3d Session, House Document 1624, p. 5. 
2 The authors are indebted to the Federal Farm Loan Board for furnishing the ad- 
dresses of these borrowers. 
