Thomas Nixon Carver

“ When the farmer must make a heavy investment, he needs a long loan. The only satisfactory security he can offer is a mortgage, and the market for farm mortgages is limited, because comparatively few persons with money to lend are experts in farm values or otherwise in a position to deal safely in farm mortgages. ”

“ Local mortgage brokers or banks having the necessary expertness, could lend on a limited number of mortgages, and after adding their own endorsements, discount the loans with eastern investors. In other cases, some of the large insurance companies sent their own experts into selected regions to place loans secured by mortgages. Again, a number of large corporations, commonly called mortgage banks, were organized to lend on mortgage security and to sell their own bonds to the investing public. ”

“ Country merchants frequently advanced supplies to a farmer and received their pay after his crop was marketed. Manufacturers of farm machinery and of fertilizers also did a large credit business. A great many small country banks had sprung up since 1890 whose chief function was to supply short-time credit to farmers. The chief difficulty, however, was to supply long-time or mortgage credit. ”