A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 161 



much of Ohio, Indiana, southern Illinois, and northwestern Missouri. 

 For some of these counties it may indicate the beginning of the 

 process of abandonment, if the land cannot compete with other 

 areas as pasture land. The acreage of all land in farms has declined 

 relatively more rapidly than the acreage of agricultural land. (See 

 tables 1 and 2.) 



SOUTHERN STATES 4 



The extent of agricultural land was at its height for the Southern 

 States in 1920. (See table 2 and fig. 2.) There was only a small 

 decline for the region as a whole to 1930. The variation in the region 

 is so great that the totals do not give a true picture. The peak in 

 the amount of agricultural land for Virginia, North Carolina, South 

 Carolina, and Alabama was reached in 1910; in Georgia, Florida, and 

 Mississippi, in 1920, while for the States in this region west of the 

 Mississippi there was more agricultural land in 1930 than at any 

 previous census date. The counties of the coastal plain of Virginia 

 had more agricultural land in 1880 than they have had at any time 

 since that date. The amount of abandonment has been greatest 

 there, and has been heavy in many of the counties on the coast in 

 the States to the South, and in the sandhill region from North Caro- 

 lina through Georgia, in central Alabama, in the sugar-bowl parishes 

 of Louisiana, and in the loessial hill section of Mississippi, beginning 

 in the southwest corner of the State and running northeast almost 

 across the State. (See fig. 1.) 



In the past two decades there have been heavy declines in some of 

 the Piedmont counties and in some of the counties in northern and 

 in southern Florida. The counties in central Florida have shown 

 little change. Much of this region is subject to very heavy erosion, 

 which in many counties is the major factor in bringing about aban- 

 donment. The boll weevil has been an important cause of abandon- 

 ment in areas of heavy soil. In other areas the competition of more 

 productive land to the west has led to abandonment and to the 

 migration of farmers and farm laborers to areas where the opportu- 

 nities appeared more favorable. 



From 1910 to 1920 there was a total decline in agricultural land of 

 nearly 4,000,000 acres in counties reporting a decline in this forest 

 region, but the increase in other counties was nearly 10,000,000 acres, 

 resulting in a net increase of nearly 6,000,000 acres. (See table 4.) 

 Some counties in every State showed a decrease, but the greatest 

 declines occurred in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, 

 Georgia, and Alabama. Each State had a gross decline totaling over 

 500,000 acres. In Georgia the increases (in counties having 

 increases, totaled over 1 ,500,000 acres. In this decade the increases 

 in counties in Florida, Arkansas, and the originally forested portions 

 of Oklahoma and Texas also exceeded 1,000,000 acres in each State. 



From 1920 to 1930 the net decline in the originally forested counties 

 in this region was only 1,000,000 acres, but the total decrease in 

 counties showing declines was almost 6,500,000 and the total increases 

 in the other counties nearly 5,500,000 acres. In each of the States 

 east of the Mississippi, except North Carolina, the total decline in 

 counties in which decreases occurred exceeded 500,000 acres. In 

 North Carolina there was a slight net increase between 1920 and 



* For Oklahoma and Texas only the eastern counties are included. 



