LAND SHARKS

(1) Land "sharks," divided between those acting outside the law and those acting within the law; (2) the ordinary real-estate dealer—of two types—the lower, selfish, narrow-minded, the higher, public-spirited; (3) "realtors"; (4) land-colonizing companies.

Land sharks are of two distinct varieties. One type is composed of men of a criminal character. The words "lawful" and "unlawful" have no meaning for them. They often sell land as their own which they do not own, or sell land other than they have promised or even shown to the buyer. Their only aim is to cheat the latter out of his money and to escape the penalty of the law.

These pirates injure both land seekers and legitimate real-estate men. They hang about the trains, railroad stations, and all points where there is a chance of attracting the land seekers. They are sometimes able to entice those who are being brought in by reputable land men. Often the pirates are of the same nationality as the immigrants and by clever emphasis on this common bond and by skillful manipulation of truth and lies they steal the men away to look at land which they call their own. The land pirates do not advertise, but live on the advertising that the reputable land men do. As a result the latter curtail their advertising and do a comparatively small amount of it, since they are prevented from realizing the full profits due on the investment. This is a situationthat forces the land men to realize the need of a licensed real-estate profession.

The president of a land company in Wisconsin gives this description of the operations of the land sharks and of the effects of their activity:

Relative to the land pirates, it is hard to estimate how much land they sell, but we find that for every customer they do sell to they queer deals for this country of from ten to twenty-four which the other land men might have landed.... I estimate that within the last two years the city of ---- has lost from fifty to one hundred customers for land though these pirates, who infest the depot and meet all trains.... Their first act is to find that the man is looking for land and to find out whom he is expecting to see, for they usually come up with some definite proposition to look over. The pirate then proceeds to throw cold water on the locality that he is to look over, and very often challenges the integrity of the party whom he is going to see. He does this preparatory to starting in to taking the man off and showing him something of his own. Frequently these men do not own a foot of land, but have a few pieces for sale on commission. They are usually irresponsible men and often put through some rocky deals, and it is through them more than anything else that the real-estate men have often got very bad names for the way they have handled customers who come up to buy land. When the customer's mind has been poisoned against the party whom he was coming to see, and against the particular piece of land or locality where he had formerly planned to buy, he is often ready to quit and go back, and it is very hard for anyone thereafter to deal with him, because his confidence has been shaken in the people and the country.

The other type of land shark is composed of men who act within the law, but, for their own gain, apply methods which are mildly called"sharp" or "unethical." They either misrepresent the qualities of the land they offer, or charge a higher price than the land is worth, or make in the contract such stipulations as will afterward ruin the settler. They profit by the settlers' failures, for each settler adds something to the improvement of the land before the conditions of the land-purchase contract which he is unable to meet compel him to leave the land. The land shark sells the land to a new settler for a still higher price, capitalizing the improvements made by the former settler. With the new settler the process is repeated, and so it goes, like an endless chain. It is similar to the method of splitting fees practiced by private employment offices and foremen who keep men coming and going.

There are no data collected to show the actual extent of the activities of the land sharks, but, judging by the stories told by the immigrants, by records of court proceedings, by suspicious land advertisements in newspapers, especially in the smaller, less reliable foreign-language papers, and by the number of cases brought to the attention of the state immigration commissioners, it is safe to state that the immigrants suffer very greatly from the land-shark evil.

One group of the ordinary type of land dealer might be characterized as being composed ofnarrow-minded, hard, and even heartless business men, working solely for their own interests. Their business consists merely in buying and selling land as rapidly as possible. In making prices for land and in making contract stipulations with the buyers, they do not "monkey," as some of them say. As a rule they do not charge a higher price than the land is worth—that is, not higher than the prevailing market price in a particular locality. They also avoid unreasonable or impossible contract stipulations. When land is sold, when the contract has been signed by both sides, then their care and interest in regard to the land and its owner end. If the buyer later fails to meet the contract stipulations in any particular the land dealer sees to it that he leaves the land at once. The dealer then advertises and sells the land again. Usually, no compensation for improvements made by the settler, in case of his failure, is stipulated in the contract. If there is any gain to the land dealer from the failure of a settler, the dealer often claims that such gain is more than offset by heavy expenses, such as for advertising, agents' commissions, and the like, in finding a new buyer.

The land dealer gives little or no consideration to the causes of the failure of the settler. According to the observation of the writer, a large number of failures in settling on land are not due to the personal defects or weakness of thesettlers, but are due to external causes, such as lack of capital and credit, lack of market, poor roads, etc. The settlers who have failed owing to such causes might be criticized for their poor judgment in selecting the land, but the land dealers might equally be criticized for not warning the settlers of the difficulties before they buy the land.

The land dealers ought to know the market facilities, the extent of capital and credit required for success on a particular piece of land and in a particular locality. As a matter of fact, dealers of the type under discussion do not warn the settlers. They give advice of an optimistic character and they apply to the settler the Darwinian theory of survival of the fittest. A number of these land dealers said to the writer:

Well, it is up to the settler himself, either to succeed or to fail. If he fails, he has himself alone to blame, and he must give place to the settler who is able to succeed. There is no room for weaklings on my land or anywhere else in this world.

The results which follow in the wake of such land-settlement policies are described in the following extract from the letter of a county agent. He writes from a locality where many of the settlers are immigrants:

In some parts of this country ... the statistics show that there is a complete change in the farmers every seven years. That means that several farmers are coming and going all the time. Several farmers are paying out taxes and interest on something they will never own.... As to the land companiesdoing things for the settler, in the most part they take care of the new man for a time, but I notice that they close them out, too, if taxes and interest are not kept up pretty well.

A similar condition is described in the letter below from a county agent in the same state:

The land companies in this county are not putting forth any special effort to make it easier for the new settlers to succeed. As far as I know, all the land companies in this county are reliable. They live up to their agreements with the settlers. However, I can also vouch for the statement that many of our farms, with very little clearing, are continuously changing hands.

The importance of advice and warning from the land company to the settler, and the deplorable infrequency with which it is given, are spoken of in this statement by a county agent:

So far the ... settler's only means of protection has been the county agent. From the county agent the settler gets the true condition of the land, climate, and possibilities in general, of the particular region into which he is going. Too often, though, the settler is met at the train by the real-estate agent, and this agent does not let his prospective buyer get in touch with anyone else until after he has been sold a piece of land. After the settler has bought his land the real-estate man thinks that his connection with him has ceased, and he is no longer interested in him other than to see that the promised payments are paid when due.

The second group of the ordinary type of land dealer, though not so large as the first group, consists of men who have a broader outlook upontheir business and work. While they also are after personal profit, they understand that they are rendering, in return for their profit, a service not only to the land buyer, but also to the public. Accordingly, they are considerate of the settler, try to make him successful, and, having the social point of view, they promote education, welfare work, and other community interests among the settlers.

The writer has met a number of such broad-minded and public-spirited land dealers. Some of them were so modest as to deny that they were interested in or were keeping in mind any public or social end in their business.

Well, I am after profit, nothing more. By helping the settler to make a success through extension of credit to him, through demonstrations, through finding a market for his products, and through organizing community work, I am only advertising my land and attracting new settlers. That is, I am applying a little bit of Henry Ford's methods to the land-settlement business, that's all!

This explanation was given by a large land dealer in one of the Middle Western states. Further conversation with him showed that he took great pride in the fact that the settlers on his land esteemed him highly and had confidence in him.

It is land men of this type that a county agent from the North Middle West speaks of in these words:

The land men in this county all believe that it is to their own interests to have every settler a satisfied settler. They are getting away from the idea that they are done with the settler as soon as they sell him a piece of land. They now believe that they are just starting their relations with the settler when he buys from them.

Another county agent writes that he believes that

the real-estate men are beginning to try to see that the settlers to whom they sell land make good. They are doing this by being lenient with their conditions and by picking only the better types of land for settlement.

One of the real-estate men who have this more public-spirited view of their work describes his relations with the settlers as follows:

I try to assist the settler by giving him all the moral support and encouragement possible, by keeping friendly with him so he feels free to come to me with his every problem. I stand ready to finance any deserving settler for the full purchase price of good milk cows, or to buy a pig or two, or for any other thing that is sure to help him over the hill. Especially, I go among them organizing farm loan associations and community-center gatherings, thereby bringing the whole family the general social opportunities that every normal family craves and has the right to expect.

View of a farmPeople helping a farmerFRIENDLY ASSISTANCE MAKES PIONEERING LESS BAFFLING

FRIENDLY ASSISTANCE MAKES PIONEERING LESS BAFFLING

A real-estate company with offices in Chicago states that it assists the individual settler in many ways:

1. We sell him horses and cows on liberal terms.2. We help him buy on credit building materials and other necessaries, such as feed for his stock, small tools, etc. We O.K. many small bills.3. We many times indorse settlers' notes at banks in order to help them get credit, and thus get the money with which to make progress.4. Our organization keeps in touch with parties to whom we have sold. Our men see them occasionally and give them advice. Often we are able to be of material assistance in helping them to buy the right stock at the right prices.5. We keep hammering away at the importance of their keeping in touch with the county adviser and getting the free literature that is sent out by the state and Federal authorities.6. We try to be of aid in everything which promotes the general social and economic welfare of the community. For example:a. Our Mr. —— was chairman of the Liberty Loan Committee in —— County.b. Any proposition for new roads, new schools, or new churches gets our hearty and immediate support.c. In all cases where we have been asked to donate an acre or half acre for church purposes, we have done so.d. We have been instrumental in helping a number of incipient business men to start cheese factories.

1. We sell him horses and cows on liberal terms.

2. We help him buy on credit building materials and other necessaries, such as feed for his stock, small tools, etc. We O.K. many small bills.

3. We many times indorse settlers' notes at banks in order to help them get credit, and thus get the money with which to make progress.

4. Our organization keeps in touch with parties to whom we have sold. Our men see them occasionally and give them advice. Often we are able to be of material assistance in helping them to buy the right stock at the right prices.

5. We keep hammering away at the importance of their keeping in touch with the county adviser and getting the free literature that is sent out by the state and Federal authorities.

6. We try to be of aid in everything which promotes the general social and economic welfare of the community. For example:

a. Our Mr. —— was chairman of the Liberty Loan Committee in —— County.b. Any proposition for new roads, new schools, or new churches gets our hearty and immediate support.c. In all cases where we have been asked to donate an acre or half acre for church purposes, we have done so.d. We have been instrumental in helping a number of incipient business men to start cheese factories.

a. Our Mr. —— was chairman of the Liberty Loan Committee in —— County.

b. Any proposition for new roads, new schools, or new churches gets our hearty and immediate support.

c. In all cases where we have been asked to donate an acre or half acre for church purposes, we have done so.

d. We have been instrumental in helping a number of incipient business men to start cheese factories.

Certain phases of the real-estate business requiring concerted action, and especially the desire of the higher type of land dealers to put their trade or profession on a higher level, and thus to prevent it from falling into disrepute in the public eye, have led the better type of real-estate men to organize themselves into local real-estate boards with an associate membership of leading local merchants, bankers, lawyers,and others particularly interested in real-estate developments. The "realtors" prefer to speak of their trade as a "profession" or "calling," not a business or trade, for they claim that an up-to-date real-estate dealer is a community builder and leader whose preparation requires a good general education and a special training, pointing out that a number of the best colleges in the country are giving courses in the real-estate business.

Nineteen local boards from thirteen states formed a national association in 1908. At present the association comprises 130 local boards in this country and Canada, with a total membership of about 8,500 persons.

The aims of the National Association of Real Estate Boards are to promote efficiency among its members, to be a clearing house for the exchange of information and ideas, to publish an organ of the association, to broaden the sphere of influence of the local real-estate men, to assist in organizing local boards, to fight the land "sharks" and "curbstone brokers," and to maintain a high standard of professional ethics.

The members of the associated local boards call themselves "realtors," as distinct from "real-estate men" or "land dealers"—names which, they feel, are tainted by the unscrupulous methods of the "sharks."

The association has published a code of ethicsfor its members, in which paragraph 13 is especially noteworthy. It reads:

As a duty to the public and each other, members should report to the board misrepresentations or any fraudulent, criminal, or illegal act pertaining to real estate, which may entrap and injure innocent or ignorant persons; and the board owes it to members and the community to take steps to stop such practices and to punish parties guilty thereof.

The local boards often render certain services to the community. The valuation committees are often called upon to give their expert advice in land matters even to the courts and government administrative offices.

But how far the association is successful in combating the underhand business methods of the unscrupulous real-estate men is very difficult to say. The fact is this, that the association favors public registry and regulation of the real-estate trade and at present is working toward that end, supporting bills of this nature that are introduced in the state legislatures. A number of the realtors are not in favor of the words "license" and "licensing." They prefer instead the words "certificate," "registry," and "regulation," believing that the word "license" is associated in the popular mind with saloon-keeping and similar trades of a lower order.

The desire of these men to separate from ordinary real-estate men by calling themselves "realtors" and their business a "profession," andtheir advocacy of public regulation, show that the land "shark" is still very much alive and that the real-estate men themselves by their own private efforts are not able successfully to combat the "shark."

In the field of private land dealing there is appearing a substitute for the individual dealer. The modern colonization company has recently grown up, and out of this new project have grown broader policies and methods.

The earlier so-called city and empire builders were in most cases nothing more than dealers in land. When a lot or farm was sold, there the company's interest ended. The modern colonization company goes much farther. When a man settles on land, the company of the better type usually looks out for him, backs him with credit, affords him the service of an expert agricultural adviser, cares for his health, and promotes his social interests and activities through a salaried community worker.

All this is done by the company not only for the sake of the settler himself, but mainly for the sake of the business interests of the company, since the success of the settlers on the company's land is the best advertisement of the company's business. It creates confidence in the company among the searchers for land and helps to increase the volume of business and the profits. Such companies are of rather recent origin and as yet are comparatively few in number. Their appearance means specialization in the land-development business.

In the North Middle Western states the wilderness land has been for the most part owned by the lumber companies. The lumber companies attempted to dispose of their cut-over and burnt-over land in the easiest way by selling to individuals. As a rule this retail selling was unsuccessful. They found that it was more profitable for them to stick to their lumber business and sell their land in large tracts to the land dealers and to land-development and colonization companies.

In this connection it is interesting to note that in the wilds of our north one may still see the following stages of frontier life as they exist side by side, sometimes overlapping and crosscutting one another.

1. The earliest stage known to American civilization was that of virgin wilderness inhabited by animals and roamed over by Indians. As remnants of that time there are found some animals, now driven into the swamps and rocks, and a few Indians settled on reservations.

2. The next stage was when the white missionaries, traders, adventurers, followed by professional trappers, began penetrating the wilderness. This white men's hunting stage is still represented by the present-day "shackers" and trappers, though they are mostly of an amateur character, and, so to speak, domesticated.

3. The following stage was when lumbermenbegan being heard throughout the forests. They are still there, though in considerably reduced numbers. They are hurriedly attacking the remaining woods, leaving in their wake a dreary, sorrowful-looking expanse of cut-over and burnt-over lands.

4. These cut-over lands are now invaded by the land development and colonization companies, with their armies of new settlers, attempting to transform the last remnants of wilderness into fertile gardens, fields, and meadows. This is the last decisive war of man upon the wilderness—a picturesque and difficult struggle. A settler gives this vivid description, printed in the Radisson, Wisconsin,Courier:

Everywhere we go we see men, women, and children cutting and piling the brush and logs that have covered the ground since the days of the logger. Everyone seems to be trying to clear more land than his neighbor, and get it ready to produce the crops that are so badly needed all over the world, and as we stop a minute to take a better view of what each one has done, we hear the boom of dynamite that is following the brush lines as they are being pushed back.

In the north the land-clearing line is called the firing line, a term which can be taken literally, for the land-clearing front is continually under fire and clouds of smoke from burning debris.

5. The sturdy new settlers, the last pioneers and frontiersmen in the country, are followed, especially along rivers where water power is at hand, by industrial workers. Here and thereare appearing thriving manufacturing and commercial towns—the last stage in the opening up of a new country to civilization.

But the most important work in the wilderness at present is that of the modern land colonization companies. To give an idea of their work and methods it is necessary to describe one of these companies in detail.

The particular company investigated with special attention is located in the wilderness of one of the North Middle Western states. In general the company is applying the same business methods to land colonization as Mr. Ford is applying to automobile production—production of new farms on a large scale so as to diminish the overhead expense, and standardization of various colonization methods. The guiding test is the success of the new settlers on the company's land. Failures among the settlers are avoided and fought against by the company as though they were a dangerous epidemic. "Each failure among our settlers is a bad advertisement for our company, a loss to us, and an evidence of defects in our business methods," stated the company's head.

To insure the success of the settlers and the settlement, the company proceeds as follows: The most careful study is made of the tract ofland which the company intends to acquire for colonization purposes. Not only is the tract of land closely looked over by the company's officials, but land experts, such as soil surveyors, are engaged to examine the land from the viewpoint of its agricultural possibilities. Federal and state surveyors' reports are also used in considering the possibilities of the land.

When the land has been acquired, a plan for a colony is worked out, with provision for necessary roads, town sites, irrigation or drainage systems, utilization of water power, social centers, experimental farms, etc. The accompanying map shows the plan of one such colony.

The tract is then surveyed and cut up into farms according to the plan adopted. A number of farm lots are selected by the company. On each of these lots there is designated a place for the farm buildings and the garden. A simple, inexpensive house and a barn are built by the company on a small clearing, usually facing the main road. At present the company has ceased to clear any land for agricultural use for the reason that if there is a piece of cleared land the new settler is apt to expend his main efforts on cultivation of this cleared land, neglecting the clearing of more land.

Our experience has shown that it is much better when a new settler begins his settlement enterprise with clearing. He at once acquires the needed experience in clearing, anddevelops the confidence that he is able to overcome the difficulties of clearing. As a result, his ambition grows to clear more land each year,

explained a company official. This again shows with what fineness the company has to adjust its methods to the psychological peculiarities of the settlers.

At the same time the company equips the experimental farm and puts it into operation under the supervision of a trained agriculturist. For the community work a hall is provided and a community worker engaged.

Meanwhile the company's agents and advertisers have been busy in making the land opportunities known to people who are intending to settle on land. The new settlers are of two distinct types. One type consists either of native Americans or immigrants who have previously been on land in the United States either as landowners or as tenants. The second class consists of immigrants who have been living in the cities and who desire to settle on land. In most cases they have been engaged in agricultural work in their old countries.

Area MapTHE WISCONSIN COLONIZATION COMPANY SEES THE NEED OF COMMUNITY CENTERS

THE WISCONSIN COLONIZATION COMPANY SEES THE NEED OF COMMUNITY CENTERS

The company itself takes into consideration racial and national factors. In the year of the investigation the company was doing its main business in the one section with Polish immigrants, and preferred them even to the native settlers. The reason given was that immigrants,especially Slavs, are easy to get along with and readily follow the company's directions and advice. They are hard workers and are satisfied with a small return at the beginning. In contrast, the natives commonly pay little attention to the company's directions and advice, being anxious to make a quick success. In case they do not succeed as rapidly as they expected, they get discouraged, leave the place, and give the company a "black eye."

The land is sold in plots of forty acres each, either as "made-to-order" farms or without farming improvements—"land only." The purchaser may buy as many plots as he desires and is able to pay for. However, the company discourages the buying of more land than the settler is able actually to improve and cultivate, which usually is about forty acres.

The company offers in its folder the following three land sale plans:

PLAN NO. 1Land Only, without Improvements

First payment, $200 for each 40 acres. Total cost, $750 to $1,000 for each 40 acres.If you buy under Plan No. 1 you pay for the land only. Should you want lumber or building supplies, we will furnish them to you at cost, and add on to your contract. The same is true in case you want live stock. In other words, we will furnish supplies equal to the amount of the first payment. Prices vary according to location and quality of land.

First payment, $200 for each 40 acres. Total cost, $750 to $1,000 for each 40 acres.

If you buy under Plan No. 1 you pay for the land only. Should you want lumber or building supplies, we will furnish them to you at cost, and add on to your contract. The same is true in case you want live stock. In other words, we will furnish supplies equal to the amount of the first payment. Prices vary according to location and quality of land.

PLAN NO. 2Forty Acres of Land with House and Live Stock

House 14×20 feet, 1 story,1 cow,1 small pig,4 chickens,Complete assortment of vegetable and flower seeds,1 bushel mixed clover and timothy seed.Cash payment, $250.Total cost, $1,100 to $1,350.These plans cover only 40 acres. If you wish larger acreage add to these plans what land you require, at $750 to $1,000 per 40-acre unit.

House 14×20 feet, 1 story,1 cow,1 small pig,4 chickens,Complete assortment of vegetable and flower seeds,1 bushel mixed clover and timothy seed.

Cash payment, $250.Total cost, $1,100 to $1,350.

These plans cover only 40 acres. If you wish larger acreage add to these plans what land you require, at $750 to $1,000 per 40-acre unit.

PLAN NO. 3Forty Acres of Land with House, Barn, Live Stock,and Tools

House 14×20 feet, 11⁄2story,Barn 12×14 feet,1 cow,4 chickens,2 small pigs,Complete assortment of vegetable and flower seeds,1 bushel mixed clover and timothy seed,1 garden cultivator,1 crosscut saw,1 ax,1 brush scythe,1 mattock.

Cash payment, $400.Total cost, $1,250 to $1,500.

These plans cover only 40 acres. If you wish larger acreage add to these plans what land you require, at $750 to $1,000 per 40-acre unit.

As experience has shown, a settler on new land which he has to clear has no opportunity for using a horse to its fullest capacity during the first two years. Therefore the company does not include a horse in the preliminary equipment of a "made-to-order" farm. When a new settlerneeds horse power either for plowing or hauling he hires a horse from his older neighbors or from the company's demonstration farm at a reasonable price.

One of the company's special efforts consists in securing a market for the settler's produce. With this end in view, co-operative creameries are favored and promoted by the company.

It is the policy of the company to encourage the organization of local state banks wherever it does any colonizing work, for the company realizes that the short-time credit needs of the settlers must be taken care of. It always encourages the local merchants and people in the near-by towns to take some stock in the bank. Whatever stock is left over, different members connected with the company usually take, upon an understanding with the local people that as soon as any of them wish some of this stock the company will sell it to them at 6 per cent interest on its money.

A number of years ago the company organized a bank in one of its colonies in order that the settlers might get proper credit. The company found it necessary to do something, as heretofore the settlers had had no opportunity to secure short-time credit. After the bank had been organized for three years the people in the colony desired to take the bank stock, and the men connected with the colonization company sold alltheir stock with the exception of one or two hundred dollars each, which the local people desired that they retain, so that out of $10,000 capital stock $1,000 is held by men interested in the company. In another colony some of the local people spoke for some stock and were offered the stock held by men interested in the colonization company at exactly what they paid for it, plus 6 per cent interest on their money. This has been true in the different sections where the company has promoted the organization of a bank.

As the company's business methods are based upon the principle of the settler's success, the company is keeping in very close touch with its settlers. For each settler a "Progress Record" card is filed in the company's local office. The following reproduction of the main features of the card indicates the items that show the economic progress of the settler. Although it is not possible to have all the items filled up to date, a beginning is always made. As visits are made to the settlers' farms by the company's representatives, or the settlers come to the company office for advice or help, information is collected and added to the cards. Eventually an invaluable record of salient facts in regard to the settler and his progress is accumulated in this way.

SETTLER'S PROGRESS RECORD

Name .................... Address ...................DescriptionAcres.............Sec............Tp........R...... ...................Sec............Tp........R...... ...................Sec............Tp........R...... ......County............State.............Total acres......Soil............Distance from school............milesFrom town..........miles. Name....................Nationality........Age..............Children.........Previous farming experience..........................Bought........acres..........from....................(year and month)Moved on land in..............191.... From...........I had in cash.................In stock...............Tools and machinery..................................

Name .................... Address ...................

Description

Acres.............Sec............Tp........R...... ...................Sec............Tp........R...... ...................Sec............Tp........R...... ......County............State.............Total acres......Soil............Distance from school............milesFrom town..........miles. Name....................Nationality........Age..............Children.........Previous farming experience..........................Bought........acres..........from....................(year and month)Moved on land in..............191.... From...........I had in cash.................In stock...............Tools and machinery..................................

Total net worth (when I moved on land) $.........

improved

Price paid for unimproved land, $..............

_____________

Paid in cash...........................Balance due............................

Improvements, Equipment, and Live Stock included in purchaseprice...................................................................................................................Terms of contract...........................................Interest rate 6 per cent.

Record of Progress1st 2d 3d 4th 5th 6th 7th 8thyr. yr. yr. yr. yr. yr. yr. yr.Built.......................................................Cleared (plowed)............................................Cleared (stumps in).........................................Fenced......................................................No. of cows.................................................No. of calves...............................................No. of horses...............................................No. of colts................................................No. of pigs.................................................Days worked out.............................................Owed on chattel.............................................Owed bank...................................................Paid on land (prin.)........................................Paid on land (int.).........................................

PRESENT VALUE OF PROPERTYLandAcresClassificationAcresAcreTotalFencedValue......Cultivated........................Cultivated (stumps in)........................Meadow (wild hay)........................Unimproved............Total value of land$......

BuildingsSizeMaterial Insured ForTotalHouse..................Barn..................Silo..................Total value of buildings$......

Live StockNo.Value,TotalEach......Dairy cows..................Dairy heifers..................Dairy calves..................Beef cattle..................Horses..................Colts..................Hogs..................Sheep............Total value of live stock$......

Machinery....................................................................................................Total value of machinery$......

AssetsLiabilitiesValue of land$......Due on land$......Value of buildings......Due on live stock......Value of live stock......Due on machinery......Value of machinery......Other debts......Value of other property......Other debtsTotal$......Total$......Present net worth$......

These progress records are valuable to the company for a number of purposes. They help in considering extension of credit, in giving advice to the settlers, and in finding out what general business methods are the best for thecompany to follow in the way of assisting the settler to make a success.

As the settler's future well-being depends to a certain degree upon his progress in Americanization, it would be advisable for the company to include in the record cards items concerning the date of the settler's arrival in America, his naturalization status, and the degree of his knowledge of English at the time of his settlement on land. These few additional items would hardly complicate or burden the recording work of the company's local office.

The company's officials stated that the immigrant family when first arriving in the colony is shy and helpless. The introduction of the family to the new conditions and surroundings has to be made gradually. A representative of the company meets the family at the station and directs it to a hotel, where it stays a few days before it is taken to the farm. During these several days the company's adviser calls often upon the family, talks with its members, takes them through the colony and introduces them to their future neighbors, and explains the local conditions. When the family is transferred to the farm the company's adviser still has to call almost daily, for there are numerous mattersupon which the settler needs advice and encouragement.

The majority of the new settlers are quite ignorant of the methods of land clearing. This the adviser has to teach them. How to feed cows, what and when to plant, how to cultivate, and how to handle the products—in all such questions the new settlers need constant direction. They themselves give two reasons for their need of advice in farming operations. First, the European methods of farm work are different from the American methods, especially because in Europe they were not engaged in opening up new land. Secondly, having been engaged in industrial work in America, often for long years, they have forgotten the European farm experience to a certain degree.

While the writer was in the office of the adviser the settlers were constantly calling upon the latter for advice in all sorts of matters. One woman came, crying, and said, through her boy as interpreter, that her cow was sick and perhaps dying. Another woman sought advice as to her sick baby. A man came to ask that a certain road be extended to his place. Still another man wanted to do some stumping on his land in co-operation with his neighbors, provided the company lent a machine and the adviser came to direct the work. Another man asked advice in regard to the extension of credit to him. So thestream of inquiries went on continually. The adviser needed to be, as he was, an extremely capable man to deal with the extraordinary list of demands. He was an expert agriculturist, energetic, and in love with the game of helping the immigrant settlers.

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