256 



Game Survey of the North Central States 



break type, however, are so far probably favorable to all species of small game be- 

 cause they have increased cover, and at the same time do not lie in such large 

 blocks as to cut off access to grain feed on adjacent farms. 



Missouri and Indiana will serve as samples to illustrate the magnitude of the 

 reversion process. Map 20 shows the net gain or loss in farm area for each 

 Missouri county during the census decade ending in 1925. The trend may be 

 summarized by saying that only three Missouri counties showed a net gain in farm 



LOSS IN AREA OF FARMS 



MISSOURI 



COMPILED FROM THE 1925 CENSUS 

 BY FREDERIC DUNLAP, STATE FORESTER 



LEGEND 



Gain in farm Area (or |< 



loss irrelevant because j 



of urban growth) 



- 5000 acre loss 



5-15000 acre loss 



15 -45000 acre loss 



1, 722, 000 Acres 



South of Missouri 



River 



MAP 20 



area. The 78 remaining counties lost from a few acres to over 80,000 acres each 

 during the 10-year period. The losses run as high as 8,000 acres per county per 

 year, or 50 farms. 



In Indiana between 1910 and 1925, 18 southern counties lost an aggregate of 

 405,000 acres in farm area. From 19 to 47 per cent of these 18 counties now 

 constitutes woodland and wasteland. The loss ran as high as 3,000 acres per 

 county_per year, or 18 farms. 



The aggregate of taxes collected in 29 southern Indiana counties in 1928 was 

 less than the taxes collected in Marion County alone (Marion County contains 

 Indianapolis) . This poor showing is in spite of the fact that these 29 counties, 

 together with four others, contain a quarter of the population and a third of the 

 land area of Indiana. Furthermore each of them receives direct financial aid 



