CHAPTER III 



Agricultural Situation in the East 



With the advent of the white man in America, 

 farming was confined to the land along the At- 

 lantic coast, from Florida to Maine, inclusive. The 

 soil was fertile and responded readily to cultivation. 

 There seemed to be little necessity for giving any 

 particular attention to the maintenance of soil fer- 

 tility. As soon as a field became nonproductive it 

 was abandoned and new land further west was 

 taken up. This continued as population increased. 

 The younger generation crossed the Allegheny 

 mountains and settled in the fertile Ohio valleys. 

 The migration continued westward, until now al- 

 most all of the available lands in the United States 

 are occupied. The bringing of new territory under 

 cultivation maintained the general average produc- 

 tion of the country, so that until recently it was 

 difficult to realize that the older soils were decreas- 

 ing very rapidly in fertility. In fact, today, if 

 statistics alone are relied upon, it would be difficult 

 to convince anyone that soils are wearing out. The 

 taking up of new land, the improvement of seed 

 and the fact that cultivation is more thoroughly 

 understood, has resulted in larger yields per acre 

 for all the leading crops than ever before noted in 

 the history of the country. Of course, in the older 

 settled sections of New England and all along the 

 Atlantic coast, it is perfectly evident that the soil 

 is not as productive as it was formerly, but taking 

 the country as a whole, this depletion could not be 

 proved. 



It has become evident, however, that the farms of 



