6o SOUTHEASTERN PINE TYPE 



turned into market gardens but south of there it has only been 

 possible to raise certain special crops like early potatoes from 

 Florida, for example. Of course, market gardens near the larger 

 southern cities have prospered but every section does not con- 

 tain a New Orleans or an Atlanta. 



Probably the best criterion of what the average pine land is 

 worth for agriculture is the standard set at the recent Cut-over 

 Land Conference in New Orleans — April 1 1 to 13, 191 7. There 

 it was agreed that $5 an acre was a reasonable figure for raw 

 lands which had to be cleared, fenced and cultivated. This 

 valuation is not so high that growing a second crop of trees is out 

 of the question. In fact it was resolved that many acres were 

 "better adapted for forest growth than for agricultural crops." 

 Briefly then, while pine land has a potential value for market 

 gardening, general farming and grazing, the economic conditions 

 must be favorable to make these uses more profitable than 

 forestry. For any of these purposes an average value of more 

 than $5 per acre does not seem justified. 



Titles. — The same situation with reference to titles prevails 

 as in the rest of the south. In the surveyed parts they are reason- 

 ably clear and simple but in the old original thirteen states where 

 the quarter section system of land surveys was not adopted the 

 confusion is almost hopeless. Grants have been issued with 

 reckless disregard to prior claims so that there is a network of 

 conflicting lines. This maze has been still further snarled up by 

 the loss of records during the Civil War. As a consequence a 

 complete abstract of title or even a clear chain of titles is out of 

 the question in many places and it is as difficult to locate grants 

 on the ground. Much of the land has been considered of low 

 value so that no attempt has been made to keep up the fences or 

 corners. 



