134 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
gage from you will establish a value on 
that property so that in case of disaster 
our people can take that and create a sec¬ 
ond mortgage on their property and still 
have a good merchantable security. 
Suppose you establish a 30 per cent 
valuation on citrus properties; suppose 
you have a leeway of 20 per cent of what 
you loan; then suppose a severe freeze 
should visit the state again and raze those 
properties to the ground; you then, under 
the law, could properly loan an additional 
20 per cent on that mortgage and with 
those funds properly expended that prop¬ 
erty can be brought back again to a state 
of production where it can go on and take 
care of the interest and the principal. 
I believe a 30 per cent loan on a 100 
per cent valuation in the state of Florida, 
offers the Farm Loan Bank a better se¬ 
curity than any other farming land in 
America. 
From a banking standpoint, there are 
loans in this state made on a higher per¬ 
centage than 30 per cent, considered per¬ 
fectly good, but for the fact that these 
are not liquid loans and on account of 
national restrictions on real estate loans, 
our banks in this state, if they had any 
money they could loan for thirty-six 
years, would be eager for these invest¬ 
ments, because they know that, taking 
the average which has come in the past 
on these disasters, and judging the future 
thereby, a citrus grove will pay back prin¬ 
cipal and interest so many times during 
its period of prosperity that they can 
stand these losses and still have an ex¬ 
cellent investment and ample security. 
Therefore, in considering this matter, 
if your appraisers will try to establish a 
100 per cent valuation on our property, 
and then cut down the percentage that 
you are going to loan, if you fear there 
will not be enough left to take care of 
the property during some disaster, you 
will then give to this state a basis of val¬ 
uation which it has never had before, and 
which will serve our growers well if we 
should need to place a second mortgage 
for short-time periods on the property. 
It was a happy thought that came to 
the author of this law when he provided 
for the local boards. You can go into 
every community in this state and select 
three or five men, and those three or five 
men know every property within a given 
radius. They know what each property 
will produce; they know the moral risk 
behind the loan; they know the possibility 
of the property being frozen, because they 
know local conditions; they know if a 
property is planted on cold land or not. 
Those questions can all be answered by 
that local board and the investment is 
safeguarded to far greater extent than 
any appraiser could possibly safeguard 
it in establishing his valuation. It re¬ 
quires local knowledge to obtain that in¬ 
formation. 
You have come to Florida at what I re¬ 
gard the most opportune time to hear this 
discussion, within the past twenty-two 
years, for you are seeing this state at its 
lowest ebb from the standpoint of secu¬ 
rity that at any time within that period. 
It will be very interesting to you gen¬ 
tlemen to return to the state in twelve 
months from today, or twenty-four 
months from today, and see for your¬ 
selves the great recovery that has taken 
place in these properties, which today are 
