FAEM-MOETGAGE LOANS IN" THE UNITED STATES. 
draw on outside capital for considerable amounts; and that, on the 
other hand, in States where local capital is in the main sufficient for 
farm-mortgage loans, a large proportion of the loans are made with- 
out the payment of any commission. 
SOURCES OF CAPITAL FOR FARM-MORTGAGE LOANS. 
BANKS. 
The sources of capital available for farm-mortgage loans in the 
various States have been studied carefully. Banks appear to furnish 
from their own funds approximately $740,000,000, or more than 
one-fifth of the total amount invested in farm mortgages in the 
United States. Table 5 and Diagram D show the relative importance 
of the farm mortgages held by banks in each State. In California 
the farm mortgages held by banks represent 45 per cent of the 
estimated total farm-mortgage debt; in Louisiana, 45 per cent; in 
Indiana and Michigan, nearly 40 per cent; and in Mississippi and 
South Carolina, more than 36 per cent. 
So far as the bank funds in any State invested in farm mortgages 
represent local capital, there is the advantage of first-hand contact 
with borrowers, enabling the investor to see that the security is 
properly cared for during the term of the loan. In certain sections, 
such as the New England and the Middle Atlantic States, where 
it is customary for banks to place loans in other States, the banks 
do not have this advantage, but must operate through other agencies 
in placing their loans. 
Table 5. — Quantitative data relative to farm-mortgage loans. 
[Figures for amounts represent thousands of dollars.] 
Estimated 
total farm- 
mortgage 
debt.i 
Farm mortgages held 
by life insurance 
* companies. 2 
Farm mortgages held 
by banks. 3 
Farm 
mortgages 
Geographic division and State. 
Amount. 
Per cent 
of esti- 
mated 
total. 
Amount. 
Per cent 
of esti- 
mated 
total. 
"han- 
dled" by 
banks. 4 
3,598,985 
693,940 
19.3 
739,500 
20.6 
486, 5S0 
Geographic divisions: 
80,544 
313, 150 
944', 436 
1,375,903 
153, 155 
127, 135 
299, 614 
101, 285 
203,757 
106 
556 
121,075 
426,960 
22,930 
22,871 
72,685 
12,532 
14,225 
0.1 
.2 
12.8 
31.0 
15.0 
18.0 
24.3 
12.4 
7.0 
84,900 
30, 900 
220, 000 
216, 400 
40,800 
33, 600 
27, 900 
19, 800 
65,200 
105.4 
9.9 
23.3 
15.7 
26.6 
26.4 
9.3 
19.5 
32.0 
10 
Middle Atlantic 
2,040 
East North Central 
123,360 
282, 710 
19, 920 
4,710 
West North Central 
South Atlantic 
East South Central 
West South Central 
18, 750 
17 300 
Pacific 
17, 780 
1 Estimate based on Thirteenth Census figures, assuming that the ratio between the mortgage debt on farms 
operated by their owners and the total value of a!l such farms holds good for tenant farms also. It is pos- 
sible that this ratio may be too high for the tenant farms in some of the States, in which case the estimates 
will be too large; but even if this is the case, the figures presented have considerable value as representing 
the maximum amount of farm mortgages probably outstanding in the census year. 
2 Based on reports received (in October, 1915) from 2:0 insurance companies, comprising five-sixths of 
the total number in the United States and having more than 99 per cent of the total admitted assets. 
3 Estimate based on reports received from banks in the spring of 1914. 
* Farm mortgages negotiated by banks or bank officials as agents or correspondents for other investors. 
Estimates based on reports received from banks in the spring of 1914. 
