THE SPECIALIST FARMER.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2007, 14 March 1914, Page 8

THE SPECIALIST FARMER.

r BOOMS LAND VALUES'. \. v ■ The farmer who makes a marked success with fruit is usually a fruit specialist, the'oll6 who make's an unusual success with pigs must be a pig specialist, and tho ouo who sets the pace in dairy matters is always a dairy specialist. Now, tho specialist.'is a man who appreciates the importance of small things. Each step is a small thing, but:, the specialist does not'overlook tho importance of seeing to it that each little step takes him a bit nearer his goal.- Dan may be his goal, or Bersheba may be his goal; but tho specialist never gets stupid enough to mix the two'old landmarks and mark time by going one direction, one day and the opposito direction the next day. There is,, doubtless, no country in which tho producor finds it more'to his adautage to specialise than in a country where ho has practically absolute control-over moisture conditions. There is no littlo significance in this fact, for it so directly affects, many _phases .of production. In the first place, 'by specialising and intensive, application, the specialist forces unusual profits from his land. These profits do not stop with the specialist; they aro eagerly seized upon by real estate men and speculators, and given Wide- publicity for tho purpose of demonstrating the-' latent possibilities of tho farmiug business. In. this way men who hold land aro encouraged to jump the price up and men itre stimulated to como in from tho outside and pay higher prices than tho general average- of agricultural profits will justify.. Thus, it will be seen, is enhanced the .exchange price, of every acre of land in the entire region. It is thus that the specialist becomes the real power behind the boom. Theso exceptional profits, are so industriously noised abroad that all concerned actually forget what the average profits really are. . . ' .

In this way tbo landvaluos of tho entire, region are found to bo based on the. exceptional profits, of tho ono or, at most, the few specialists. Reckoning must "be made of tho influence.this prevailing condition of the public mind has on improvements, • both public and private, and upon tho cost of living as related to luxuries in the form of food and clothing and the family equipage, not. only of those who are actually realising the profits, but also of those who, in their forgetfulness, have como to take , it for granted that they, too, can afford those things that their more thrifty neighbours are affording.' All of this comes as a partial explanation of tho -reckless going in debt privately and publicly that always characterises tho , boom. When a country is thus over'developed in boom times, it means high taxes and burdensome interest rates in tho liquidating period that must necessarily follow.