42 BULLETIN 1224, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
up only half of the market. The suppliers, or sellers, of land must 
be given equal consideration with the buyers, and it does not seem 
probable that the sellers of land are influenced by the same con- 
siderations that influence the buyers 
The sellers of land are made up in the main of three classes: (1) 
Farmers who are not yet ready to retire, but who desire to acquire 
better farms, larger farms, or to move to a different locality, (2) retir- 
ing farmers who have the option of leasing or selling their farms; (3) 
landlords who have the option of continuing to lease their lands or 
to sell them. The sellers in the first class are farmers and expect to 
continue so. They sell only to buy again. In selling they are influ- 
enced only by their desire to get another farm in the same community 
or in another community which they like better. But they would 
not be likely to sell at a loss to do this. As buyers they are influ- 
enced by about the same motives as other buyers. Desire to own 
land, prestige of ownership, etc., all play a part in determining what 
they will offer for land. The net influence of this class of sellers on the 
price of land will be about zero since they sell to buy again. But with 
the other two classes the case is different. 
Both retiring farmers and existing landlords have the alternatives 
of selling or leasing their farms. As a large percentage of landlords 
are retired farmers, they are not likely to sell for the purpose of buy- 
ing again, and the same is true with the group of farmers who retire 
each year but who have not yet become landlords. If these two 
groups decide to sell, it will increase the total supply of farms for sale 
relative to the demand for farms, and will hold down the price of 
land. But if these retiring farmers and landlords are actuated by 
nonpecuniary motives similar to those which influence buyers, they 
will hold their farms with the same tenacity with which buyers seek 
to acquire ownership. Their influence will then be added to that 
of the buyers in keeping the price of land high relative to its earning 
power; that is, in keeping the rate of return on the investment low. 
To what extent do such nonpecuniary motives influence these 
two classes? Some prestige may be attached to ownership in the 
farm community; that is, the farm operator who owns his farm may 
receive more social recognition, may have more community influence, 
than the tenant. But when a farmer retires and moves to town, he 
certainly enjoys no more prestige from owning a farm than from own- 
ing Government bonds, bank stock, or farm mortgages. The other 
satisfactions which attach to ownership are likewise enjoyed by the 
buyer who expects to operate his farm and not by the potential seller 
who is retiring from the farm. 
It appears, then, that these two groups of potential sellers will sell 
when it is to their pecuniary advantage to sell and lease when it is to 
their advantage to lease. Whether or not they will decide to sell or 
lease depends upon the alternative investments which are open to 
them, and the safety of these investments relative to investments in 
farm lands. If these potential sellers have alternative investments 
which are about equally secure as investments in farm land and with 
which they are familiar, they will sell their farms and invest in these 
securities whenever there is any tendency for farm lands to yield a 
lower rate of return on the investment, taking account of the antici- 
pated increases in income as part of the return, than is yielded by 
these securities. This action on the part of retiring farmers and 
