Cut-Over Pine Lands in the South. 17 



in cutting off the merchantable timber and not in the future devel- 

 opment of the lands. However, some have undertaken very cred- 

 itable projects in developing their land. The lands covered with 

 stumps, unmerchantable logs, and crowns left from logging are not 

 attractive to buyers. The amount of land taken up by the native 

 people as needed for farming is not extensive. Colonizing schemes 

 have failed in most instances and the cheap land has not attracted 

 the cattlemen. Sales of large tracts of cut-over land have frequently 

 been made to land-sales companies whose chief interest was to make a 

 handsome profit by resale in smaller parcels. 



While the ownership of lands in large tracts has retarded develop- 

 ment in the past, at present it is an advantage to the building of a 

 cattle industry, as large tracts of cheap land can be bought and a 

 wide choice can be made of lands particularly adapted to individual 

 uses. 



KECOM MEND ATION S . 



Because of the newness of the cattle business along improved 

 lines and the small number of practical demonstrations it is difficult 

 to give recommendations based on well-established practice. There 

 are many points, however, which should receive the attention of the 

 present owners of these lands, beginners in the cattle business, and 

 outsiders who are contemplating the purchase of land but who are 

 not familiar with the region. 



The immediate conversion of the great body of cut-over lands 

 into small farms is not advisable even if it were possible. A redis- 

 tribution of the ownership of the lands and their use for agricul- 

 tural purposes is desirable, but the process should be gradual. The 

 present use and development of the lands as a whole must be in 

 large tracts consisting of several thousand acres. The lands are not 

 improved to an extent to make them desirable as farming lands, and 

 not until they are improved and their possibilities demonstrated 

 will they find a ready sale at a fair price. The utilization of these 

 nonproductive lands for reforestation and grazing purposes is the 

 only logical solution in the near future. 



Colonization has been a failure except in rare instances, and 

 always will be so long as land is sold at high prices in small tracts 

 to clerks, conductors, mechanics, and other city people who are 

 allured by brilliant literature describing the possibilities of the 

 country in an impracticable manner. The capital of such people is 

 usually taken up by the initial purchase, and they are left without 

 sufficient capital to develop the land sufficiently to make a living 

 income. What the region needs is farmers with sufficient finances 

 or backing to establish permanent homes and develop the land. The 

 141959°— 21— Bull. 827 3 



