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SETTLEMENT AND COLONIZATION IN GREAT LAKES STATES 35 
upon the size of the purchase, the price per acre, the initial payment, 
and the period of contract. Most were between $100 and $300. A 
considerable number of contracts scaled the payments upward from 
about $50 the first year or the first year after the exemption period. 
That many land companies reduced the matter of size of payments 
to such detail indicates that they were still living in the faith that 
such payments could be met. Data included later in this bulletin 
will make it clear that under the conditions of cut-over land settle- 
ment this is largely a delusion, except when the settler has a regular 
job, as in a sawmill. 
Of the 64 options, 47 were for four years. These 47 were all on 
Project XIII, which used a peculiar form of option which it called 
an “option lease.” All that the settler was required to pay down 
at time of purchase was $10 on a 40-acre tract. Thereafter he was 
expected to pay $10 a month rent, to be applied on the principal 
at any time within four years that he exercised his option to 
purchase. In case the settler did enough work on his holding, the 
510 a month was to be deferred. This option might be converted 
into a mortgage or kept in force until all payments were made, 
provided the settler was satisfied. It is possible that the courts 
would decide that such an option made out for a period of years in 
lieu of a contract is to all intents and purposes a contract; that the 
settler, by virtue of his accumulated payments and improvements 
on his land, has acquired an equity in it, and that the land company 
will need to go through the same process to cancel as with a con- 
tract. 
One reason for using an option is that a good many prospects 
sign for a piece of land with a small amount down and then for 
some reason drop their payments. An option made under these 
circumstances can be closed out more easily than a contract. The 
amount paid down on an option is supposed to recompense the land 
company for the trouble and possible loss sustained in holding the 
land off the market and keeping it in reserve for the buyer until he 
is ready to take possession. Small amounts paid for this purpose 
give the settler no equity in the land. 
Another reason for using the option is that frequently a prospect 
wants a piece of land but does not have sufficient funds to pay down 
on a contract. Rather than lose the prospect, the company accommo- 
dates him with an option. A few companies were selling a good 
deai of land on option to city laborers with provision for payments 
on the installment plan. Some options stipulated that the settler 
should not move onto the land until he had secured his contract, but 
most of them allowed the settler to move on. 
Closely allied to the option are the “ application to purchase ” and 
‘field agreement” made out by the sales agent usually at the time 
the land is examined. These require a small payment down to bind 
the bargain until the contract can be drawn and closed by the 
central office. 
The number of buyers dropping payments on options varied. With 
companies requiring large payments down, say one-third, before con- 
tracts are made out, as many as one-third of the buyers may 
drop out. With companies selling to city people on the installment 
plan, especially if the land is poor, or the settlement plan ill-advised, 
the failures may be from 50 to 90 per cent. As a matter of fact, 
