644 JOURNAL OF FORI^STRY 



Lake States and the Southern Pinery into high hght. But there is now 

 a note of frankness, even in the "boomers' " Hterature, hitherto 

 wanting. 



A contributing editor of Cut-Over Lands (the very existence of 

 such a publication proving the new status of the subject) and a mem- 

 ber of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers writes : ^'^ 

 "There is no sense in the cut-over-land owner trying to deceive him- 

 self because profitable development must be based upon the lands as 

 they are. . . . As to productivity, . . . cut-over pine lands, 

 in general, are poor. . . . The problem of the land owner is to 

 determine whether his most profitable crop will be timber (reforesta- 

 tion), cattle or sheep (grazing), or suckers (unwarranted land- 

 selling)." 



And, again :^* "There has been much talk about utilizing the cut-over 

 pine lands of the South with cattle, but very little information is avail- 

 able as to the profitableness of such an enterprise. . . . Perhaps 

 the best advice ... for those with little experience is not to 

 plunge into the live-stock business." . 



If to such sound advice the editor of a lumber trade journal reacts by 

 calling it "ill advised" and "theoretical," another writer can remark: 

 "One reads many statements as to the carrying capacity of cut-over 

 pine lands. Let me say that, taking the land in its present state, if a 

 reasonable charge is made for the land, it will take so many acres, that 

 cattle raising will not be profitable. "^^ The director of cut-over land 

 utilization of the Southern Pine Association admits that "the pine-cut- 

 over area ... is now extending at the rate of approximately 

 51,600 acres per day. . . . Something must be done to maintain a 

 permanent industry," . . . and advocates the gradual development 

 of the region through settlements, agriculture, grazing, and reforesta- 

 tion, according to a well-considered plan which would require, of 

 course, a genuine land classification/'*^ There will be no such long- 

 drawn controversy between grazing and forests as between farms and 

 forests. The problems involved are so urgent, so obvious, so complex, 

 and so utterly dependent upon a really adequate and dependable land 

 classification that it wall not require much further agitation to bring 

 action on a previously unknown scale. 



The high wave of "conservation" made its peak about 1909 and was 



Cut-Over Lauds, June, 1918, p. 6. 

 Cut-Over Lands, July, 1918. 

 Cut-Over Lands, November, 1918, p. 20. 

 Cut-Over Lands, November, 1918, p. 15. 



