184 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



A report has been prepared on methods of land settlement on 

 cut-over lands in the Lake States, which is based on earlier field 

 studies of the methods employed by colonization agencies and of 

 the progress of settlers who have gone onto such lands. This will* 

 point out practices that have proved successful and those that have 

 failed, and should serve as a guide to prospective settlers in locat- 

 ing under favorable conditions and in avoiding settlement under 

 conditions in which they have little chance of success. 



COST OF ESTABLISHMENT ON RECLAIMED LAND. 



During the year work was begun in cooperation with the Bureau 

 of Public Roads on a project for determining the cost of establish- 

 ing going farms on reclaimed land. The object of this study is to 

 obtain adequate data for determining the feasibility of land reclama- 

 tion in diiierent sections. Too often judgment in this matter has 

 been based on the assumption that the cost of reclamation is the 

 only capital investment on which returns should be obtained. This 

 work is going forward in the current fiscal year. It involves a 

 study of the methods adopted by land-settlement agencies in plac- 

 ing people on the land, particularly of the extent to which they pre- 

 pare land for farmers in advance of settlement, and the terms on 

 which lands are sold. 



SUPERVISION OF LAND SETTLEMENT NEEDED. 



Much attention has been given to the public control, supervision, 

 and direction of land settlement, both as to existing State activity 

 along this line and as to the field for possible or desirable Federal 

 activity. During the current year a field study of State activity is 

 being undertaken, and a report will be prepared. This should be 

 useful in pointing out the most desirable and most effective systems 

 of State supervision or control and in showing the field for Federal 

 supervision. There is great need of some public supervision that 

 will prevent fraud ; and, at the same time, there seems to be need for 

 public direction along right lines. 



INCOMES FROM IRRIGATED FARMS STUDIED. 



A special tabulation of the values, cash rents, and mortgages for 

 irrigated and nonirrigated land was made from the farm schedules 

 obtained by the Bureau of the Census in 1920 in connection with the 

 subject of land reclamation and in cooperation with the Colorado 

 Agricultural College. Results of this tabulation will be digested 

 and a report prepared during the current year. This should throw 

 light on the subject of the value of irrigation in sections where it is 

 possible to farm without it. 



OWNERSHIP AND TENANCY OF FARM LAND STUDIED. 



To throw light on methods of renting farms in dairy regions, in 

 July, 1922, Farmers' Bulletin No. 1272, Renting Dairy Farms was 

 issued. A report on the changes in farm occupancy, ownership, and 

 tenancy occurring during the year ending December 1, 1922, was 

 issued in April, 1923. The press story of this report and the com- 

 panion report entitled When Do Farm Tenants Move? were widely 

 reprinted. Field studies of certain special ownership and tenancy 



