496 FARM MANAGEMENT 



enough of the product to attract buyers, to get railroad 

 facilities, and to develop a community spirit and commu- 

 nity knowledge. 



The Bureau of Forestry estimates that 51 per cent of the 

 area of North America can be used for agricultural pur- 

 poses ; 26 per cent can be used as arid ranges. The re- 

 maining 23 per cent is mostly adapted to forestry pur- 

 poses. 1 All the land in states like Illinois is included in 

 the agricultural land. There are many small areas on farms 

 that are adapted only to woods or pasture. 



CLIMATE 



303. Change of climate. Perhaps no error has been 

 the cause of greater losses in farming in arid regions than 

 the erroneous idea that climate changes. Figure 110 shows 

 the rainfall for North Platte, Nebraska. It will be seen 

 that there are wet years and dry years. There is no rela- 

 tionship between the rainfall of one year and that of the 

 year following. When a few wet years come, nearly every 

 one decides that the climate has changed and that dry 

 years will never come again. Those who have land to 

 sell are very positive about it. When a series of abnor- 

 mally dry years come, farmers decide that it will never rain 

 again, and frequently sell their farms for much less than 

 they are worth. Before buying and before selling, one 

 should make a very careful study of the rainfall. After 

 a few years of good rainfall, the land in semi-arid regions 

 sells for much more than it is worth. 



Seasons vary but climate does not change. The super- 

 stition that plowing, cutting off the forests, or any other 

 thing in man's power can affect climate is almost universal. 



1 U. S. Dept. Agr., Forest Service, Circular 159. 



