worst kind of a jungle will spring up so thick that 

 a jackrabbit will be unable to penetrate it. The rich 

 leaf loam in the wooded areas has been destroyed and 

 a thin covering of potash and phosphate remains ovei 4 

 the sandy soil. Admitting in the face of American 

 and European scientific experiments that one or two 

 crops may be obtained off such land, uncommon 

 sense might prompt a guess that it would take 20 

 years of clover crops to get the land back to its 1920 

 degree of productiveness. If there is any benefit to 

 be derived in burning peat it is in the open bogs. 

 All peats are rich in nitrogen, containing up to 4 

 per cent compared with 0.1 to 0.4 per cent in fertile 

 mineral lands. Such soils may be cropped indefinite- 

 ly without fear of exhausting the nitrogen. Fire elim- 

 inates the nitrogen and leaves nothing but potash and 

 phosphate. It would seem, then, that clearing stumps 

 off peat land by fire is done at the sacrifice of the 

 fertility of land for years to come. It would appear 

 that the stump puller and dynamite would not only 

 greatly aid in the prevention of fires, but would help 

 prepare some of the most fertile land for the plow. 



The people of Minnesota have for years clamored 

 for a soil survey that the state-owned agricultural 

 and non-agricultural lands might be classified. Scores 

 of civic organizations, including the biggest state de- 

 velopment bodies including men and women in all 

 walks of life, have repeatedly passed resolutions, ap- 

 pealing, urging and "demanding" that the state 

 legislature provide for such survey without material 

 effect. The hidden hand of opposition is at least as 

 plain as the handwriting on the wall. The crop value 



20 



