Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1756-1963 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities external link and the Library of Congress. Learn more
Image provided by: Washington State Library; Olympia, WA
Newspaper Page Text
portion to the increased and improved shipping facilities. The fruit is now landed in perfect condition in northern markets, which, a few years ago, were totally inaccessible. In the far west land heretofore con sidered of little value has recently pro duced some surprising results. For in stance, land adjacent to the Columiba river has produced a yield of wheat to equal or exceed that of the middle west. Portions of Wyoming, Montana, Washington, Colorado, Nevada, Ari zona and New Mexico have never been developed owing to the lack of irriga tion. Should irrigation facilities be fur nished by the government, these sec tions would offer great opportunities for profitable investment. Irrigation an Important Factor. Irrigation has been an extremely im portant factor in the past in develop ing certain sections of the country, and in all probability will be just as important in the future. In a recent report I notice that "a comparison of the number of irrigators and the num ber of acres irrigated at the beginning and end of the decade 1880-1899 shows that these have approximately dou bled." Irrigation has produced many very remarkable results. In fact some of the most valuable agricultural land in existence was at one time apparently worthless. Dakota land, for a long time very quiet, has recently taken a strong brace. The demand is principally for farms of large acreage. Kansas land, with the exception of the more desir able portions, has reached a very low ebb, and a heavy purchase of this land might result in immense profits within the next few years. Farm land adjacent to the large cit ies are always attractive to investors and practically sure to prove profitable if bought at a low price. All land, however, is liable to fluctuate in value, and because of this fact it is neces sary for a man to be thoroughly wide awake in order to be a successful land investor or operator. Good Farming Affects Prices. While the value of a farm as an investment is largely affected by local conditions, it is also affected to a great extent by the way in which it is operated. A farm may be bought for $30 per acre and after several years under expert management sell for $40 or $50 per acre. I have in mind a man who recently purchased a farm of 320 acres in Bates county, Missouri, and has just been offered $42 an acre for it. This year his wheat yielded 37 bushels to the acre and his corn will yield 80 to 85 bushels to the acre. His profits for the year look something like this: Profits on corn, 16,000 bush els, delivered in December, $7,000; profits on hogs sold, $1,800; on hogs raised this year, about $1,200; profits on wheat, 1,620 bushels,sl,loo; on flax, etc., about $1,000; and the difference between the purchase price of the farm and the price he has been offered for it, $3,840. The total profits will amount to about $15,940, or nearly $9,600 net profit in one year, just the price he paid for the whole farm. This is the story of a man who knew practically nothing about farming when he bought the property, but who was an excep tionally good manager. An Illustration of Good Management. This is simply another illustration of the fact that any good farm is a good investment under the proper kind of [management. In nine cases out of [ten, when a farm is said to be run down and unprofitable, the cause can be traced to inefficient management. Farming in the true sense of the word is a real science, but unfortunately this fact is not appreciated by the ma jority of farmers. A great many farm ers with whom I have come in contact seem to think that very little educa tion and business ability is needed to run a farm. I have never known one of this class of men to be more than ordinarly successful, while on the oth er hand, the most highly successful farmers I have known have invariably been men of more or less education and excellent business ability. Put a shrewd, intelligent business man on a good (or even fairly good) farm and in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred he will be successful, even though handicapped by entire lack of experience. Rapid Increase in Values. I am continually receiving reports from all parts of the country indicat ing rapid increase in the value of land and great prosperity among the agri cultural classes. One man writes: "Farm lands are now on the verge of the greatest boom in the history of the state of Missouri. Crops are magnificent all through the state and the farmers have been mak ing money." Another man writes: "Farm lands in Minnesota and Dakota have increas ed very largely in value recently. The land is exceptionally fine in this lo cality and the crops have never been better than they are just at present." These are only samples of scores of similar letters. Farm lands will steadily increase in value for three reasons: First —Because of the greater in crease in population than in the de velopment of new land. Second —Because of the increasing desire of people to locate in states which are already settled rather than go into a new territory. Third —Because of the tendency of the middle and wealthier class of to day to buy country homes of large acreage for themselves. Tendency to Hold Onto Land. This latter fact is in itself bound to increase the value of land from year to year, although, perhaps, but slowly. The tendency today to hold onto land is very strong because of the absolute independence of the man who owns a few acres. Labor conditions do not seriously affect him and he is less con cerned with the questions of protec tion and free trade than any other class of our people. If necessary he can live absolutely independent of any other class of people. Land value in all parts of the coun try is affected to a great extent by local conditions which are continually changing and the man who is going to invest in land should watch these conditions very carefully before plung ing too deeply. Generally speaking, however, I be lieve that under the present prosperous conditions of our country, a judicious investment in farm land is one of the safest and most profitable investments that can possibly be made. Ninety-one per cent of the fertilizing matter of the food consumed by the sheep is returned to the soil. The Merino is the best wooled sheep. The Downs, Leicester and Cotswold produces a sheep having good mutton form and a good fleece. A grain nation of two-thirds corn to one-third bran is good with the fall pas ture of the fattening sheep. THE RANCH. location. <£e/ectMet/tods. ■I £» I || I JEk Modem Business I l|jKLl«Xofleße.H» defect Tedc/iens. Se/ectdtudeoTs. northwesternTusiness college 809 Second Avenue, Spokane, Washington. Fills more positions than all other similar schools of the Inland Em pire combined. Courses of study: Bookkeeping, Shorthand, Civil Service, Teleg raphy, English, Cartooning. Send for catalogue to-day. E. H. THOMPSON, B. S., Principal. InL w\ LULD ■■ ■ ■ «*, |*^I®,'*,! . H&fijm-jimwHigfr..,,. HOTEL AND SANITARIUM f|^t^ vCSffl^wl^y^v^lHrat^l WINDMILLS __Jlk I tanks ihm||J I WATER I Hi* CIIDDI IFQ ■ jlj^^ WESTERN MACHINERY CO. WESTERN MACHINERY CO. No. 308 Occidental Aye., SEATTLE. 1 ®®®®(SXSX!X!!XSXS)®(SXSXS)®^^ ®@®®®®®®®®(SXSX£^^ I Doc, More Than 15 Hli*Glt MOII I 1 I Jack-of All-Trades | I Lull 309 occidental rt VC■ ■ I*/ wt~~/Hs£m^ Seattle, ® tiifciiß "''j[lrT\tfffr*T^m'fcfc vVIII save its ' jjWtp^^^P ** VI \\ I «^rti^s^ii^ ib cos^ every year ® * <ml!3tEk W^^i&^Wy^^X^^' :>^i Move it any- ® \-"'""^^PllWW^^^ '">&^tfi^r IU) danger, no ? Oomt Bo ma hour wbmn running; no expense Whan Idle. 0 7