CLEARING FARM LAND 25 



Case C-1 — Brush, trees, and some stumps were cleared from a sandy loam soil 

 for a total cost of $115 per acre which included the bulldozer charge of $100 per 

 acre and $15 for burning brush and stumps. This land was well adapted to 

 potatoes and produced 200 bags or over 300 bushels per acre. In the first year 

 of cropping, a net profit of 75 cents per hundredweight was realized on potatoes. 

 At this rate sales of 150 hundredweight or 250 bushels of potatoes per acre would 

 pay for the cost of clearing in one year. Prices received for potatoes were high 

 in this season and the margin of profit will be less in years of lower prices. Alter- 

 native uses may be needed for this land. 



Case C-2 — In several instances a similar type of cover was cleared and the land 

 used for vegetable crops. In these cases the profits over cost of production in 

 one year were more than equal to the clearing costs of about $100 per acre. For 

 a vegetable crop with a net return of only 40 cents per box, only 250 boxes per 

 acre were required to pay clearing costs. With lower prices for vegetables the 

 margin of profit from land improvement will be decreased, but the cost of land 

 clearing also may be lower with more efficient methods and machinery. 



Case C-3 — When woodland was cleared on stony loam soils on sloping land for 

 new orchard plantings the clearing costs were also about $100 per acre. A less 

 thorough job of removing stones and roots was performed because the land was 

 not plowed. If interest and taxes were charged on this land for 12 years until 

 the orchard came into production, a total cost of $200 per acre would be accu- 

 mulated on the land exclusive of seeding costs and trees. At a net return of 50 

 cents per bushel of apples over costs of production it would require the profits 

 from crops of two or three years to pay costs of the land. When the margin of 

 profit is greater in a period of higher prices the land costs may be paid in one or 

 two years. Probable returns are used here to demonstrate the ratio between 

 benefits and costs because the orchards have not been in production long enough 

 to give figures on actual returns. 



Case D-1 — Benefits from land improvement work through drainage depend 

 somewhat upon amount and distribution of rainfall. In ordinary seasons these 

 ditches which were blasted will carry surface water rapidly enough to prevent 

 killing of crops or grass by standing water. 



In one case a ditch about 500 yards long was blasted for a total cost of $120 

 for dynamite and labor. Three acres of land thai had been too wet for harvesting 

 during a rainy season were made suitable for hay. In addition, 12 acres of land 

 were made suitable for pasture. An extra ton of hay per acre at $15 per ton 

 amounted to $45 and three additional months of grazing on 12 acres at $7.50 

 per acre gave a total return of $135 on a drainage cost of $120. Drainage costs 

 were only $8 per acre on this farm and two seasons of grazing would pay the 

 total costs ot reclamation and seeding. 



Case E — The benefits of stone wall removal usually cannot be measured in terms 

 of new land added to (he farm. Stone walls were removed on most farms to 

 combine several small lots into one larger field so that machinery could be used 

 in crop production. This was true for hayland where tractor mowers, pick-up 

 field balers, and field choppers were used and for cultivated crops such as potatoes 

 where planters, sprayers, dusters, and diggers were used on long rows for more 

 efificicnt production. Mechanized farming has been a powerful incentive to 

 keep many young men on the home farm and the use of machinery has aided in 

 obtaining and keeping a higher type of hired farm labor. An intangible benefit, 

 but none-the-less important to many farmers was the satisfaction of seeing one 

 large open field instead of small lots bounded by stone walls covered with vines, 



