Maladjysfmeiif.'i hi Land L\se 



41 



is not a unit agriculturally, hut includes such diverse 

 units as the Aroostook potato district, the Connecticut 

 Valley, the Champlain Lowlaiul, the trucldng section 

 of the northern Coastal Plain, and the general farming 

 areas of southeastern Pennsylvania and the Shenandoah 

 Valley. 



Settlement and Population. — This was the first region 

 in the United States to receive extensive settleni(>nt. 

 Conse(|uently its soils have long been ]c(|niied tv 

 support agriciildinil pi(i(jucti<in. ()\i>r lai'gc portions 

 of the region the soils weie not fertile at the outset, and 

 great amounts of fertilizer have been required to make 

 them productive. In addition, the rapid evolution of 

 manufactural and commercial adjustments nearby 

 have long all'orded a counter attraction to labor. In 

 the adjacent Northeastern Highlands, farm abandon- 

 ment has been going on for a hundred years. In con- 

 trast to this, the northeastern agricultural region shows 

 a slightly increasing farm population, and a very greatly 

 increased farm production. 



Relation to City Population. —Within or adjacent to 

 this region is a long line of large cities, reaching from 

 Portland, Maine, to Washmgton, D. C. The total 

 population of these cities exceeds 13 million or one-tenth 

 of the total population of the United States. As 

 pointed out by Dr. O. E. Baker in his Agricultural 

 Regions of North America, probably no region on earth 

 possesses such an enormous and immediate city market 

 for its products. Consecpiently, it has here been 

 profitable to fertilize relatively infertile lands and to 

 expand the production of crop specialties. vSimul- 

 taneously, farm abandonment has been reduced to a 

 minimum, and agiicultural expansion locally has l)een 

 encouraged. 



Areas of "Problem" Agriculture. — Natural fertility 

 and superior farm management have produced a num- 

 ber of liiglily exemplary farming areas in this region, 

 such as the Shenandoah Valley and portions of south- 

 eastern Pennsylvania. There are many other areas 

 of moderate fertility and even some with relatively 

 infertile soil where the location and favorable climate 

 outweigh soil deficiencies and make jjossible a profitable 

 agriculture. Much land in the vicinity of New York, 

 Philadelphia, and Boston which would ordinarily be 

 submarginal for agriculture has a high value for subur- 

 l)an residence and part-time farming. This is true of 

 much land adjacent to tlie smaller population centers 

 id so. 



In contrast to these generally satisfactory conditions 

 there are probably more than l,4()(),0()n acres of farm 

 land which are distinctly subnuirgiiial. Accordingly, 

 :i, .")()() farms, valued at $7,000,000, have been recom- 

 mended for elimination. Most of these lie on extremely 

 sterile sandy soil, or on poorly drained land, in a few 



instances, on land the use of which is urgently needed 

 for public recreational use. 



The largest areas of "problem" farming in this region 

 lies in the southeastern and south central portions of 

 New Jersej". For the most part this district is covered 

 with sterile sandy soil, but, here and there, sandy 

 loams are present. In addition, there are unnum- 

 bered small bogs. Originsdly the land supjjorted a 

 forest of pitch pine, mixed with black oaks and many 

 small shrubs. For this reason, the area has long been 

 known as the New Jersey "pine barrens." 



Agricultural settlement in the pine barrens began 

 during the Colonial period, but proceeded slowlJ^ As 

 urban markets developed, the encroachment of agri- 

 cultural settlement upon the margins of the area was 

 accelerated. The acreage of improved land increased 

 each decade between 1S60 and 1910. Since the latter 

 date a decline has occurred. 



At the outset, the same sort of people settled on the 

 pine barrens as chose the better lands of New Jersej-. 

 But through emigration of the more energetic indi- 

 viduals, there has been a selective depreciation of the 

 stock which has remained. Added to this, as the com- 

 mercialization of agriculture proceeded, the less effi- 

 cient human types have been "elbowed" out of the 

 ])rogressive areas, from whence they have drifted onto 

 the submarginal sand areas. 



Early land clearing for agricultural occupance tended 

 to follow certain major thoroughfares without regard 

 to soil quality. Many areas, therefore, were aban- 

 doned and the land has reverted to oak scrub and 

 coppice. Between 1883 and 1898 logging operations 

 were prosecuted along the railways, and the forest 

 area was much diminished. Since then fire has taken 

 a serious toll of the remaining timber. 



In southeastern New Jersey, there is today an are.) 

 of probably 1,200 square miles wherein there is little 

 or no farm settlement, but ui)on which public manage- 

 ment of forest is needed. Immediately surrounding 

 this central area there is a marginal zone embracing 

 perhaps 1 ,000 scjuare miles which contains a more or less 

 scattered farm settlement. In 1908 Dr. K. II. Whit- 

 beck described the denizens of the jjinc hnrrens as 

 seemingly untouched b}' modern urban ci\ ili/.ation and 

 ahnost as primiti\(' as the jnountaincers of the self- 

 sufficing areas of the Southern Appalachian hill 

 country. A large juajority of the inhabitants dwelt in 

 cabins ilevoiil of ])ainf . Clothing was |)oor, and adults 

 commonly went i);ir('fii<p| during much of tiic year. 

 Family lixing \\;is derived by cultivating a few infeitile 

 acres, gathering cranberries in the bogs, anti picking 

 wild huckleberiies. It was further eked out by raising 

 a few hogs and chickens, and by collecting firewood 

 from the scrub timber. 



