A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 159 



and 1900, consequently the amount of agricultural land being used 

 in those years can not be ascertained. Many of the counties in this 

 region reached the maximum acreage of agricultural land after 1880, 

 most in 1890, 1900, and 1910. There were only seven counties 

 which reached a peak in 1920 and none in 1930. The net decline in 

 agricultural land from 1910 to 1920 for the counties of the region 

 showing a net decrease was at an average of 230,000 acres annually 

 and from 1920 to 1930 the decline averaged 440,000 acres annually. 

 (See table 4.) 



The total acreage of crops harvested also varied but little from 

 1879 to 1909. (See table 3.) There was a slight increase the first 

 decade, a very slight decline during the second decade, and in the 

 third decade, from 1899 to 1909, the decline was somewhat greater, 

 bringing the acreage in harvested crops somewhat below that of 

 1879. Owing to increased prices during the World War, the acreage 

 in harvested crops in 1919 was only slightly less than in 1909. A 

 decline was reported in a number of counties, but these losses were 

 nearly offset by increases in other counties. Whatever crop land 

 was included in the area of agricultural land that went out of use was 

 almost counterbalanced by the plowing up of pasture for crop produc- 

 tion. During the past decade, 1919-29, the decline in crop acreage 

 was almost universal in this region, and totaled over 3,000,000 acres. 



LAKE STATES 



Agricultural development is more recent in much of the Lake 

 States. For the region as a whole the extent of land used for crop 

 and livestock production reached a peak in 1920. The movement in 

 the three States is following the trend of the development of agricul- 

 ture from east to west. The peak in the extent of agricultural land 

 was reached in Michigan in 1910, but the decline in that State between 

 1910 and 1920 was offset by the increase in the other two. (See 

 table 2 and fig. 2.) Although more land was used for agricultural 

 production in Wisconsin and in the originally forested section of 

 Minnesota in 1920 than in 1930, the decline was relatively greater 

 in Wisconsin. The cut-over area of these States is especially signifi- 

 cant from a forestry standpoint. The counties comprising this area 

 are less developed agriculturally than are those in the southern part 

 of these States. In a majority of these counties less than half of 

 the area is in farms and a much smaller proportion is actually used 

 for farming, as indicated by the area of agricultural land. 



In this cut-over area the individual, and the resources he has or can 

 secure, especially the capital he has or can borrow during the period 

 of development, count for much in the success or failure of the agri- 

 cultural enterprise. There is certain to be a number who would fail 

 even under favorable conditions, but only a small amount of land 

 would be permanently abandoned unless other conditions made the 

 utilization of the land unprofitable. 



Much of the abandoned land in this region was inferior for agricul- 

 ture when it was cleared ; in other cases economic conditions have ren- 

 dered the land unprofitable. The loss of local markets through the 

 disappearance of the lumber industry and the increased burden of 

 taxes on farms as a result of the loss of local revenue resulting from 

 depletion of the timber supply are important factors in cut-over 

 areas. 



