Such colonies would really constitute centers 

 of infection or innoculation, and do more to stand- 

 ardize the business of farming in a decade than has 

 so far taken place in the entire history of the country. 



Location of Colonies in the Southland. 



Roughly speaking, the Atlantic and Gulf Coast 

 States may have their combined areas divided into 

 three general classes, the mountainous, the Pied- 

 mont, and the Coastal Plain sections. The moun- 

 tainous sections are not adapted to agriculture, 

 with the exception of a relatively small so-called 

 Thermal Belt, which is peculiarly adapted to fruit 

 culture. 



The Piedmont section was put to agricultural 

 uses first, because a smaller amount of clearing was 

 required; the soil appealed to the early colonists; 

 and health conditions were generally better, owing 

 to few mosquitoes. Consequently, the Piedmont 

 section, speaking by and large, is well cultivated, 

 the holdings are relatively small, and the average 

 price per acre is fairly high. It contains most of 

 the larger towns and practically all of the manu- 

 facturing industries. 



Therefore, most of the opportunities in the South 

 worthy of consideration in connections with col- 

 onies for returned soldiers and sailors are in the 

 coastal plain, which begins at Norfolk, Va., and 

 extends to Galveston, Texas. In this area there 

 are, roughly speaking, below the 100-foot contour 

 along 88,000,000 acres of land. Practically almost 

 all needs drainage of a more or less important 

 character. 



Speaking broadly it can be said that a very 

 large part of this area consists of fertile soil well 

 adapted to general agriculture and corresponding 

 to the majority of good lands in Indiana and 

 Ohio, the cropping season is much longer, and the 

 period during which live stock would have to be 

 fed very much shorter. Hence, with a given 

 amount of energy greater returns may be secured 

 per acre and per man-day than in all but the most 

 fertile sections of the entire country. 



Of the many million acres of such lands suitable 

 for the purposes at hand it is easily possible to 

 have several colonies ranging from 75,000 to 

 300,000 acres in size scattered over the coastal 

 plain, and with a total acreage in each of the 



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