14 The Dawn of a New Constructive Era 



million acres of land capable of being cultivated, and of which but 



24 per cent had been improved. Between 1900 and 1910 nearly 



six million acres more of improved farm lands were added, making 



27 per cent at the latter date. Comparing progress in these states 



with that in other states, and making due allowance for increased 



developments, it is probable that by 1930 at least eighteen million 



Only 27 Per- acres more of improved lands will be added to the farms in these 



cent of five states, or 38 per cent. This is not at all a rash prediction when 



South s Lands ^g jj^j-g (.j^^j. 34 pg^ ^^^^ q£ (.|^g g^j.g3^ q£ Wisconsin was improved 



. " farms in 1910, and 49 per cent in New York, notwithstanding the 



large mountainous area of the latter state. In the prairie states, 

 Illinois has 78 per cent of improved area, and Iowa 83 per cent, 

 which marks the maximum of present development. This will give 

 an idea of what can be done in the South. Wisconsin, which I 

 said has 34 per cent of improved farms in 1910, is the leading dairy 

 state of the Union, yet experts say that the possibilities for profit- 

 able dairying in the South are even greater than those in the North. 



To realize what the addition of eighteen million acres of im- 

 proved farm lands would mean to industrial activity in the South 

 we have but to refer to the building statistics. According to census 

 reports, the average investment per acre for buildings in the five 

 beforementioned states was $8.48. To preserve this average per 

 acre for buildings, which, by the way, is almost $5.00 less than 

 the average in Northern states, farm buildings to the amount of 

 150 million dollars would be erected, and, using the same census 

 reports, it is estimated that forty million dollars' worth of agricul- 

 tural implements and machinery would be used. These figtires are 

 based upon the assumption that the same methods of farming would 

 be maintained in the South, but if they were brought to the higher 

 planes of the Northern farms these amounts would be greatly in- 

 creased. 



The South's greatest resource today is her yellow pine forests. 

 In the seven leading states producing this species of lumber, over 

 one-quarter of a million people are employed in lumber industries, 

 which means that over one million people are dependent upon this 

 source for a livelihood. Hundreds of towns are built up and main- 

 tained mainly because of the sawmill operations in those vicinities. 

 Millions of acres of cut-over lands are left idle after the woodman 

 has passed. These lands have been productive of wealth which has 

 given work to so many people and if they are to be kept as a source 

 of revenue, we must look to the co^-operation of all agencies, gov- 

 ernmental and private, to do so. 



