No rule can be laid down as to the relation which should exist between the value of land itself and the value of the improvements. In practice it varies greatly. In the United States the farm improvements constitute on an average 21% of the total value of land, being as high as 45% in Massachusetts and as low as 15% in Texas. The young farmer may well consider, therefore, whether he can earn interest on his investment when the improvements cost more than 25% of the total value of the real estate. Certainly when it becomes one-half it is excessive. The man who runs a farm as an avocation usually errs in putting too much money into permanent improvements for the farm to be a paying investment. If it is admitted that the farm unit is limited because of the physical difficulties of managing large areas, then it must at once be seen how important the arrangement of the farmsteading must be to the successful conduct of the farm. In the older farming communities where the present farm holdings are the result of several purchases or sales the shape of the farm, the arrangement of the fields and the place of the farm buildings become an extremely important matter. Sometimes satisfactory rearrangements are easily made, at other times they are quite impossible. No attempt will be made to discuss this subject in detail here, but the young farmer should bring to this question all the experience and study possible. When the young farmer goes to inspect a farm it is to be assumed that he will be conducted over the farm by the owner or his authorized agent. It is proper to give respectful attention to everything that is told him, provided he follows carefully the California adage to "believe nothing you hear and only one-half what you see." If a farm consists of 200 or 300 acres of land, it is possible for the agent to convey the purchaser over the farm in such a way as to prevent the least desirable portions being seen. If the farm has attracted the seeker of land, he should not purchase until he has made another visit, preferably some days or weeks after the first one. He may then very properly visit the farm alone, passing over quite a different course from that pursued hitherto. Sketches and notes will be found very helpful, and if the use of the soil auger is understood it may be well employed to study the character of both soil and subsoil. During the interval between visits some casual inquiries may be made among those who know the history of the farm in question, because the past history of the farm obtained from unprejudiced witnesses is of prime importance in arriving at a conclusion concerning its value.