work progressed more slowly than we expected." 

 After this survey the United States Government pub- 

 lished a colored and handsome topographical map of 

 the Park. 



Southern and Central Minnesota as well as northern 

 Minnesota, have lands better suited for timber growth 

 than for other purposes. Lands of this type should 

 be put to work regardless of where they are located. 



Minnesota Pensioners 



Did you ever take the time to figure out the num- 

 ber of acres in your county that are not working at 

 the present time ? If you ever did the results probably 

 astonished you. Even in the prairie countries the 

 percentage is amazingly high, but in some of the 

 timbered counties it is appalling. 



By acres which are not working I do not mean the 

 thousands and hundreds of thousands w r hich are pro- 

 ducing poor crops on account of insufficient handling. 

 They are bad enough. But I refer to the steep hill- 

 sides, the bottom lands which are subject to overflow, 

 the sand barrens, the burnt-over stump lands, the 

 boulder strewn patches and the thin soil on rock out- 

 crops. Land which is producing absolutely nothing. 

 In every county the aggregate runs into thousands 

 of acres, in some counties in hundreds of thousands. 



These lands are not only not working, they are 

 riding and dragging their feet. Ninety-nine per cent 

 of them are health}^ able-bodied acres, capable of 

 earning a fair living, and yet do not even pay taxes. 

 Their taxes are paid for them by the other 



15 



