THE FARM LAND 97 



PROJECTS 



1. In the history of your county you will find out how the 

 first settlers took up the land in your region. See if you can find 

 out whether they occupied the land under the Homestead Acts 

 or the previous Land Grant Acts. Try to identify the act upon 

 which these people based their right to the land. 



2. From your county taxing office you could probably find 

 out the growth of farm tenancy in your county, if you live in 

 a county where there are any farms. From the region's Soil 

 Conservation Office you can get a map or a statement telling 

 you the extent of erosion in your region. See if you can find 

 any relationship between the growth of tenancy and the growth 

 of erosion. 



3 . One sign of whether or not the land is being used wisely is 

 the amount of farm tenancy in the area. If there are a lot of 

 tenants the land is frequently worn-out. Check up and find out 

 if this is true in the county in which you live. 



4. Many counties have Land Planning Boards. These boards 

 try to work out a plan for the use of the land in the county. 

 Find out if your county has one. See what it is doing and why 

 it is doing it. 



5. If you were selecting people to be resettled by the Farm 

 Security Administration, what facts would you want to know 

 about them? Suppose the people came from the Dust Bowl 

 where they had been farmers for a great many years until their 

 topsoil was blown away. Onto what sort of resettlement project 

 should you like to put these people? Why? 



6. See if you can figure out what would happen to your town 

 if the basic land resource were completely destroyed. If you 

 live in a manufacturing town, find out where the raw materials 

 for the factories come from and try to decide what would hap 

 pen if that source should be exhausted. 



