Cut-Over Pine Lands in the South. 5 



ment either to make them productive or to demonstrate their value 

 and place them in a form so that they would be assimilated as farms 

 on a large scale. ' However, considerable raw cut-over land is being 

 sold to settlers. 



Increasing interest in the development of cut-over lands was re- 

 sponsible for the "Cut-Over Land Conference of the South," which 

 was held at New Orleans, La., in April, 1917. More than 400 large 

 landowners and agricultural experts, both State and Federal, were 

 present at the meeting. That the utilization of cut-over lands in the 

 near future depended largely upon the use of grazing animals was 

 the consensus of opinion. The meeting also brought out the fact 

 that very little definite information was available concerning the 

 possibilities of the region for cattle production. 



The map, figure 2, shows the area discussed in this report. The 

 shaded portions represent the approximate commercial distribution 

 of the long-leaf yellow pine. The heavily shaded portion indicates 

 the area in which the larger part of the land is unused cut-over land 

 and the region to which this report particularly applies. The shaded 

 portion in Arkansas is forested with shortleaf pine but lies within 

 the Coastal Plain, and the soils and conditions are similar to the 

 upper Coastal Plain region east of the Mississippi Biver. 



SURVEY OF THE CUT-OVER LANDS. 



OBJECTS AND PLAN OF PROCEDURE. 



The survey of the Piney Woods region, herein reported, was made 

 to secure first-hand information as to the resources and possibilities 

 of the cut-over pine lands of the South for beef-cattle production and 

 was undertaken with the following points in view : 



1. To determine the status of the beef-cattle industry. 



2. To determine the adaptation of the region for the production 



of beef cattle. 



3. To determine what recommendations for improvement of 



present conditions should be made. 



4. To determine what experimental work with beef cattle is 



needed. 

 A study was made of available literature pertaining to the Piney 

 Woods, including soils, crops, grasses, forage, and experimental work 

 with beef cattle. The agricultural colleges were then visited and 

 with their cooperation an itinerary was mapped out for trips of in- 

 spection to the farms of the principal cattlemen, lumber companies, 

 and development associations in the Piney Woods of Arkansas, 

 Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. Typical un- 

 developed tracts and virgin forests were also visited in the different 

 States. In addition questionnaires were mailed to all county agents, 

 all owners of pure-bred beef cattle, so far as lists were available, and 

 all the larger lumber companies. 



