.MU1IK;AN AtADlvM^ OK SC'lKNCl':. 85 



art-as j)fnnaiit utly uiii)rodiK'tive because of scanty soil; 3) bogs and 

 swamps, perennially wet; !•) marshes and meadows, less wet than the 

 preceding type, and yielding hay or suitable to grazing; 5) forested 

 areas; 6) permanent pasture lands; 7) cultivated lands. Land that is 

 occupied by cities, factories, and trans))ortation lines is unproductive, 

 in the ordinary sense of the word, and should be distinguished from the 

 producing areas. Barrens are in the main areas of bare rock and of 

 unstable sand dunes. Land that is continuously wet may be classed 

 according to its origin as river-swamp or glacial bog, and further by the 

 dominant vegetation. Wet, grassy land that dries out sufficiently to 

 make it of use for hay or grazing should be distinguished from the more 

 swampy tracts. Lorested areas may be subdivided according to their 

 tree associations, and as well into tracts of standing and cut-over timber 

 or slashings. Seriously burned tracts, in which the soil is partially 

 destroyed, may be indicated in some places. The cultivated lands are 

 to be classified by the dominant crop or the type of cultivation. There 

 will thus be areas of field cultivation with corn, wheat, hay, beets, or 

 some other crop dominant, and areas with garden, vine-yard and orchard 

 cultivation. Many other uses can be represented, but enough has been 

 outlined to show that such a map is the logical consequence of soil 

 studies. As in the mapping of soils, the units represented should not be 

 too small, j^robably 10 to iO acres as a minimum. Otherwise the 

 })roblem of mapping becomes excessively complicated and tedious and 

 the map loses its value in a brief period. 



A map of this type unfolds a complete panorama of the rural con- 

 ditions in a county. It will enable comparative studies in rural economy 

 that are now impossible. F'or the geographer especially, it wall supply 

 much material now unavailable. To the prospective purchaser it supplies 

 a bird's-eye view of stage of development and character of farming- 

 conditions that can be equalled only by spending much time on the ground 

 in making careful observations. It will prevent many of the regrets 

 attendant upon purchase of land with a few bits of information regard- 

 ing farm conditions. If profjerly executed such a map will not readily 

 become antiquated. In Southern j\Iichiga"n, as in large i)arts of the 

 Middle ^^'est, farm practice is pretty well established. There are many 

 areas in which such a map if it had been made 2.5 years ago would 

 need few alterations. If, in an old farming district the character of 

 farming changes, it is imi)ortant to have it recorded. To a careful 

 purchaser the past history of land may mean nearly as much as its 

 present appearance. The drainage of swamp lands, abandonment of 

 grain production, introduction or abandonment of orchards are instances 

 in point which it may be desirable to know. If the region is beginning 



