was said fifty years ago in New 

 England; but after ruining thousands 

 of families, more than a third of the 

 land tilled in 1880 was given up and 

 abandoned before the year 1900! Do 

 you think, as long as a man can 

 buy all the sand he wants in Connec- 

 ticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey 

 at a dollar an acre, that our lands 

 will be much in demand? And do 

 you suppose, because a few inter- 

 ested men shout, "All is farm land," 

 that this will make a Jack Pine sand, 

 which already hundreds of families 

 have tried and have abandoned, into 

 a garden spot? Let us be reasonable; 

 self deception is about the worst of 

 all. Let us expect our soils to do 

 just what similar soils are doing else- 

 where. Let us hope that much of 

 this land is good and will be settled, 

 and also let us be clear and not ex- 

 pect that all will be settled any more 

 here than in Pennsylvania, New York 

 and other older states. Let us be 

 clear and understand that those large 

 areas of land on which no taxes could 

 be paid are cull and that they form 

 the part which will be a long time set- 

 tling. 



But, aside from the wild lands, we 

 have in this State over three million 

 acres of farm woodlots, where the 

 good sense of the farmer prefers to 



12 



