gion 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 PUBLIC-SPIRITED LAND DEALER

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
upon their 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