260 OUR USE OF THE LAND 



the zoning law prohibits the factories and stores in residential 

 districts. 



From this came the idea of Boning to protect the people's 

 rights and health. In New York City, for instance, there is a 

 zoning law which forbids people to build tall office buildings 

 unless the upper stories are set back from the street far enough 

 to permit sunlight to strike the ground. Sunlight is not private 

 property. It is something which is good for the people as a 

 whole and this zoning law is to see that they get it. 



In recent times the idea of zoning has been carried to the 

 country. Rural zoning exists in California, Michigan, Minne' 

 sota, and Wisconsin. The country zoning laws protect prop" 

 erty value and human rights. But they also try to do one 

 thing more which the city zoning laws do not do. They attempt 

 to promote an efficient use of the land. This might be called 

 economic zoning. 



When Wisconsin counties applied the principle of zoning 

 to rural areas, they were not interested so much in the value of 

 property. In most of the areas in which this law was applied, 

 the property had little value anyway. The primary reason be' 

 hind the law was to prevent useless new farm settlement on 

 infertile land, and reduce needless costs of rural government 

 (see page 81). 



If you should take the afternoon train on the Soo Line that 

 runs from St. Paul to Duluth, Minnesota, you would get a 

 good chance to see some of the most acute problem areas of 

 Wisconsin. After crossing the Saint Croix you will be in 

 Wisconsin. The land is flat and fertile. On either side of the 

 track are large fields, dairy barns in clumps of old trees, good 

 roads, and occasionally a fairly large'size town. The fertile 

 fields, deep with rich grass, that follow the winding banks of the 

 St. Croix river are green and thick throughout the summer. 



But after you pass the St. Croix the country changes. The 

 barns are smaller and not so well painted. There are more dirt 



