40 AGEICULTURE IN THE SEMIAEID GEEAT PLAINS. 



the same methods used in more humid sections or by more careless 

 methods, and are dependmg on timely rains to bring results. Then, 

 too, among the immigrants to any undeveloped country there is a 

 relativel}^ large proportion of individuals who do not go with a fixed 

 purpose to establish a home but expect to sell at the first opportunity. 

 In fact, in many sections it is difficult to keep from gaining the impres- 

 sion that land speculation is receiving more attention than crop pro- 

 duction. Far too many, whether their holdings are deeded lands or 

 merely homestead entries, are hoping to sell at a profit rather than to 

 establish homes. To such this discussion makes no appeal. It is 

 written not as a guide to speculators but as an aid to home seekers. 

 The writer does not wish to be understood as condemning land specu- 

 lation, but land speculation does not develop the agricultural possi- 

 bilities of a region or support a stable population. Wliat is needed 

 in the semiarid region is not speculators but home builders — not a 

 shifting but a stable, producing population. There probably are 

 many people both in this country and in Europe who could be happier, 

 freer, more healthy, and more prosperous on the semiarid Plains than 

 in their present situations. 



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