THE GRASS LANDS 149 



in nearby areas, spreading over the face of the plains like a 

 shroud. 



Thus, along with the overgrazing of cattle and sheep which 

 destroyed the grass, was the dry farmer who tore up the sod 

 and left drifts of dust in his wake. And as the grass cover was 

 destroyed, insect pests like the grasshopper seemed to increase, 

 eating the crops of the remaining dry farmers and taxing the 

 grass even more. 



In 1911 the enlarged Homestead Act was passed. This 

 permitted a settler to take 320 acres. Then in 1916 came 

 another Homestead Act giving the settlers the right to 640 

 acres of land. This was called the Stock Raising Homestead 

 Act. 14 Congress had at last realized that the original grant of 

 160 acres was too small in the arid regions. But this act came 

 too late. Even if it had come earlier, it is doubtful if it would 

 have provided enough of the good land for profitable grazing. 

 As it was, a large portion of the good land was taken up or 

 destroyed, and 640 acres of bad land was of little use to anyone. 

 One homesteader expressed his feelings about it in this song: 



Hurrah for Greer County! the land of the free, 

 The land of the bedbug, grasshopper and flea; 

 Til sing of its praises and tell of its fame, 

 While starving to death on my government claim. 

 (From "Tom Right's Scrapbook," Oklahoma City, Okla., 

 1909.) 15 



It has frequently been said that one of the chief causes of 

 failure in land use is a lack of knowledge of how to work with 

 the soil. If there is one part of the United States where this 

 statement fits best, that part is the plains country. One reason 

 the farmers and ranchers have not understood how to use this 

 land is the fact that all their knowledge of land use had been 



"Parkins and Whitaker, op. cit., p. 125. 



15 John A. and Alan Lomax, Cowboy Songs, The Macmillan Company, New 

 York, 1938, p. 407. 



