8 



Land Planning Report 



of laaiutaiiiiiig ecouoraic farniiug. It is thought that 

 many farms in these areas are too small at present 

 to provide adetjuate family living luuier the type of 

 farming best suited to land of its eliaracter. Some of 

 the hilly lands of southeastern Ohio and West Virginia 

 are superior grazing lands, and if operated in farms 

 somewhat larger tlian at present could, it is believed, 

 support desirable agriculture. 



On many of the better and more heavily cropped 

 areas in this region, erosion is active, and immediate 

 measures are required to conserve the land resource. 



Southeastern Hilly Cotton and Tobacco Region 



Major adjustments advocated in tliis region which 

 includes tidewater, Virginia: (1) Local withdrawal of 

 crop farming, converting land withdrawn to con- 

 structive use (mainly forest); (2) introduction of 

 erosion control measures in the better farming areas: 

 (3) institution of constructive management of forest 

 land; (4) establishment of larger farms in the interest 

 of erosion control and adecjiiate farm income (mainly in 

 Mississippi). 



On the poor, and particulazly the more eroded lands 

 in tnis region, it is beheved advisable to discontinue 

 crop farming in part at least, and to devote the land 

 released from crops to forest production. (See dis- 

 cussion of social and economic conditions in area;? in 

 which it appears desirable to encourage withdrawal ol 

 crop fanning.) On the superior farm lands of the 

 region, which embrace mainly the smoother parts, it is 

 desirable for agriculture to continue. It will be 

 urgently necessary, however, to use much of these 

 smoother lands under cropping metiiods wnich reduce 

 erosion if further reduction of the already diminished 

 acreage of good land in the region is to be prevented. 



Prior to the advance of the bollweevil into this region, 

 soils of heavier textui-es were at little disadvantage in 

 cotton production, e.xcept where, as in the Piedmont, 

 they occupy steeper slopes, and therefore tend to erode 

 more rapidlj^. Under conditions of bollweevil infesta- 

 tion, however, finer textured soils experience greater 

 incidence of bollweevil injury because of the later 

 maturity of cotton grown on them. The washing off of 

 sandy-surface soils, particularly in the Piedmont, ex- 

 poses a sandy clay subsoil less desu-able for cotton, even 

 if the land is not mjured by gullymg. 



Much of the crop production in this region is carried 

 on by share-tenants and croppers. Merchant and land- 

 lord credit secured by a crop requires that tenants use 

 their labor m producing cash crops, preferably non- 

 perishable crops, rather than subsistence crops or live- 

 stock. This has led to much continuous cultivation of 

 row crops, on the same tracts, to the encouragement of 

 soil erosion. Supervision of tenants by the landowner 

 in the interest of good farm jjractice is generally 



inade(|uate. On the larger holdings, particularly, sujier- 

 vision of the many small tenant farms is difficult. 

 Institutional changes, notably in tenure and credit 

 systems, will be necessary to facilitate desirable adjust- 

 ments in land use in this region. 



In scattered areas the enhu-gement of farms too small 

 to provide adecjuate income has been indicated as a 

 desirable adjustment. It is probable that income is 

 limited, on family operated farms, not so much by the 

 acreage available, as by the acieage in crops for which 

 family labor is available. Idle arable land is inter- 

 spersed throughout most pai-ts of the region. Enlarge- 

 ment of units would ])r()bably be with the objective of 

 getting enough land in any one unit to permit tJie crop 

 land needed to sujjport a family to be located on smooth 

 productive land. 



It is believed that a more efi'ective use of the forest 

 lantl, which occupies a large portion of the total area of 

 the 2-egion, would materially increase the base of eco- 

 nomic support. Forest growth is rapid, and a number 

 of s])ecies of high utility are native to the region. At 

 present little consideration is given to management of 

 the forest land as a source of farm or of communitv 

 income. 



Cut-Over Regions 



Great Lakes Cut-over Region. — Major adjustments 

 advocated: (1) Instituting constructive management of 

 forest land ; (2) widespread local discontinuance of crop 

 farming, and conversion of the land withdrawn to 

 constructive use. 



Exploitation of the forest in the northern Lake States 

 began more recently than in the Northeastern States. 

 Large-scale methods of harvesting and clear-cutting 

 left jnuch forest land m a nonproductive state. Tim- 

 berland owners attempted to dispose of cut-over land 

 for agricultural use. Proper discrimination between 

 agriculturally desirable and undesirable land was not 

 exercised by buyers or sellers. Scattered agricidtural 

 settlements sprang up in forested areas. Subsequent 

 abandonment of many farms accentuated the sparse- 

 ness of settlement, and mcreased the cost of providing 

 public services. The cost of supporting these services 

 fell on progressively fewer properties, and the mdividual 

 tax bm-den, including that on forest property, increased. 

 Forest land could not bear its carrying costs after the 

 timber was cut, and hence was allowed to revert to the 

 State or coimty, tlirough tax delinquency. 



In contrast is the situation m northern Maine, pre- 

 viously described, where sustained use of the forest land 

 prevailed and where agricultural settlement was not 

 encouraged. 



It is believed desirable to eluninate much of the 

 scattered settlement in the northern Lake States, 

 particularly that on poor land, thereby avoiding the 



