160 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



In this cut-over region the Michigan section shows the most general 

 and the greatest declines in agricultural land. Many of the cut-over 

 counties of Michigan had more agricultural land in 1910 than in 1920 

 or 1930. In Wisconsin or Minnesota none of the cut-over counties 

 reached a peak in agricultural area until 1920. In Wisconsin the 

 declines have been more general than hi Minnesota. There were 

 decreases aggregating 675,000 acres in counties showing decreases in 

 the three States during the decade 1910 to 1920, while the increases 

 totaled 2,675,000 acres in the other counties. The net increase there- 

 fore was 2,000,000 acres. (See table 4.) During the decade 1920 to 

 1930, the situation was reversed. There was a decline of 3,000,000 

 acres in counties showing decreases and an increase of less than half a 

 million acres in the other counties, giving a net decline of 2,600,000 

 acres. The greatest relative decline in agricultural land has occurred 

 in counties in the less developed cut-over region, except where counties 

 have been affected by urban development. (See fig. 1.) 



CENTRAL STATES 



The peak in agricultural land in the Central States was reached in 

 1920. (See table 2 and fig. 2.) The increase above the acreage in 

 1900 and 1910 was not large. In general, most of the land suitable 

 for agriculture had been put to that use by 1900. The variation in 

 development is greater than in the two northeastern regions. A 

 number of the Ohio counties reached their peak in 1880, and some 

 counties, especially in Missouri and Tennessee, had a greater acreage 

 in 1930 than in any previous year, but in most counties the acreage 

 of agricultural land increased up to 1910 or 1920 and then declined 

 before 1930. The decline in most counties has been relatively small, 

 and for the region as a whole, although large in the aggregate, is rela- 

 tively much less than for New England or the Middle Atlantic States. 

 The counties showing important declines are scattered. (See fig. 1.) 



The decrease in agricultural land in a number of counties has been 

 due to urban or mining development. Outside of these counties the 

 greatest falling off in land used for agricultural production has been 

 in southeastern Ohio and the adjacent portion of West Virginia. 

 Scattered counties in other parts of the region also show considerable 

 declines, particularly in southern Indiana, southern Illinois, some of 

 the counties in the Kentucky coal area, and in the Cumberland 

 Plateau of Tennessee. Erosion has been an important factor in 

 rendering much of this land unprofitable. In many areas it has been 

 by far the major factor. 



Between 1910 and 1920, the decrease in the agricultural area in the 

 counties of the Central States reporting a decrease was 1,800,000 

 acres, while in the counties reporting increases the gain was 2,700,000 

 acres. The net increase, therefore, was almost 1 ,000,000 acres. Since 

 1920 the decrease has been substantial. The gross decline was 4,900, - 

 000 acres and the net decline was 3,500,000 acres, there being an 

 increase aggregating 1,400,000 acres in a number of counties. 



The peak in crop acres in the region as a whole was in 1919. (See 

 table 3.) As with agricultural land, the total was not much greater 

 than 20 years earlier. The crop area increased somewhat at the 

 expense of the pasture acreage from 1909 to 1919, and the decline 

 in crop acreage has been relatively greater, indicating that some of 

 the crop area has gone back to pasture. This is particularly true of 



