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with information on the geology of the region as a whole, and on specific 
areas—such as the Jonesboro and Dongola quadrangles. 
I. Land Classification 
Land is classified by the county assessors as improved or unimproved, 
the latter including woods and pastures. A brief statement of epndi- 
tions for the three main counties embraced in this report is as follows: 
County Improved land Unim proved land 
Alexander 63,806 acres 73,163 acres 
Jackson 224,703 acres 155,894 acres 
Union 159,901 acres 98,019 acres 
The average assessed value of land (which is half the market value) 
varies from $2.04 to $4.23 per acre for the unimproved and from $9.24 
to $28.88 for the improved lands. These figures are given to show that 
there is a decidedly large acreage of unimproved land in these three 
counties—about 327,000 acres—and that its valuation, even at $4.23 per 
acre, is not so high as to discourage its purchase by public or private 
owners interested in the practice of forestry. In some of these southern 
counties where bottomland is assessed at $100 per acre its use for for- 
estry purposes is of course out of the question. 
For our purpose, we may classify the land under three heads: (1) 
cleared farm lands, (2) woodlands, and (3) absolute forest lands. By 
cleared land we mean that which was once cleared, even if it is now grow- 
ing up to bushes. If reproduction on this is satisfactory, it is classed 
under saplings. By absolute forest land is meant, as ordinarily defined, 
“land fit only for forest growth.” Since this would greatly restrict the 
area for forestry in this area, we prefer to say that absolute forest land 
is that which, on account of excessive slope, rockiness, poor drainage, or 
other features, will grow a forest crop more profitably than any other. 
Under it would come gullied land whose reclamation by farming methods 
would be excessively costly, bottomland which can not be successfully 
drained, and bare rock cliffs. The area of the last is insignificant. 
The distinction between farm and absolute forest land is outside the 
present discussion, requiring an economic survey of some limited area 
typical of conditions in a much larger one, in which all the factors of cost 
of different crops, markets, and transportation conditions, should be con- 
sidered by a forester who has specialized in economics ; and such a survey 
is contemplated by the Natural History Survey as a part of its forestry 
program. The most reliable data to be obtained by soil specialists, agrono- 
mists, and foresters should form the basis of such an investigation and 
the results should go far to settle the best uses of our untilled lands. 
For our present purposes, land classification and utilization may be 
covered by the questions: (1) Is the land being profitably farmed now? 
