1919] EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 693 



KURAL ECONOMICS. 



Arable land In the United States, O. E. Bakeb and H. M. Strong (U. S. 

 Dept. Agr. Yearbook 1918, pp. 4S3-Ui, pls. iO).— This article describes in detail 

 the location and extent of the present arable, nonarable, and potentially 

 arable land in the United States. Maps show the approximate percentage of 

 the total land area which was Improved farm land April 15, 1910, and the lo- 

 cation of the land not in farms on the same date. Factors limiting the crop 

 area In the United States are similarly Illustrated. Those natural conditions 

 limiting agricultural development which prevail over the area of potentially 

 arable land are considered, and the lands classified as forest and cut-over 

 lands, swamps, and other wet lands susceptible of drainage, potentially ir- 

 rigable land, and unimproved lands other than woodlands. 



It is estimated that 850,000,000 acres of land are at present in crops and 

 potentially available for tlie production of crops. Of this area, nearly 

 480,000,000 acres were " improved " in 1910, 200,000,000 acres were of potentially 

 arable forest and cut-over land, 60,000,000 acres were swamps and other wet 

 lands awaiting drainage, 80,000,000 acres of potentially irrigable land, and 

 80,000,000 acres of other lands. These undeveloped lands may provide about 

 8,000,000 farms. It is stated that 1,000,000,000 acres or more of nonarable 

 land consists of about 860,000,000 acres of absolute forest land, 615,000,000 

 acres of grazing land, and 40,000,000 acres of desert land ; also, there are about 

 40,000,000 acres in cities, rural highways, and railroad rights of way. It is 

 asserted that the forest area will probably never be reduced to 860,000,000 

 acres, that an appreciable proportion of the land suitable for crops will be 

 kept in pasture, and that due to certain economic factors the area in crops 

 will probably never reach the estimated possible total of 850,000,000 acres; 

 but that when the population of the United States becomes as dense as that of 

 northwestern Europe the improved land will be about half of the humid area 

 of the Nation, or from 600,000,000 to 700,000,000 acres. 



Allotments for all, G. W. Butcheb {London: George Allen d Univin., Ltd., 

 1918, pp. 96, pis. 8). — This is a popular account of successes with war gardens 

 In and about the city of London, with suggestions for winning security of 

 tenure for allotment holders and a description of the aims of the National 

 Union of Allotment Holders. 



Legal decisions affecting' alienation of agricultural and forest lands, P. 

 Sabatini (Die Oesetzlichen Bestimmungen iiber die Verduszerung Land und 

 Forstioirtschaftliclier QrundstUcke. Vienna and Leipzig: Carl Oerolds Son, 

 1918, pp. 77). — This is a handbook giving the text of several decrees and deci- 

 sions of dates August 9, 1915, to March 27, 1918, Inclusive. An appendix by 

 E. Relchel is Included. 



Some points brought out by successive surveys of the same farms, H. W. 

 Hawthoene (Jour. Farm Econ., 1 {1919), No. 1, pp. 2^-37). — This discussion 

 centers around three areas, a hill section of Ohio, a dairy section of Wisconsin, 

 and the corn belt in Indiana, for each of which continued surveys extending 

 over five years or longer have been conducted. The object of this paper is to 

 show the variations as they occur year after year, and the variations for the 

 years prior to the war or prior to 1916, as compared with the variations during 

 the war or in 1916 and 1917. 



Tlie labor income variation from year to year in each of these areas is first 

 shown. All the areas show higher labor Incomes In 1916 than the earlier years, 

 and the Ohio and Wisconsin areas still higher in 1917, owing to combinations 

 of higher price levels and increased production. The percentage return on the 



