10 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



which rise occasional hiUs of the harder ArchEean rocks, makes a region 

 entirely unsuited for agrictdtiire, and useful only for forest growth. 

 The result of glacial action north of the Palasozoic rocks has been the 

 formation of poor soUs deficient in lime and often also, in clayey con- 

 stituents, except for the occasional lime-stone or shale and clay de- 

 posits." 



While the lumber industry was thriving and a home market existed, 

 the farmer on these poor soUs could produce and sell enough potatoes, 

 oats, hay, and meat products, to make a fair living. With the extinc- 

 tion of this market, however, the trouble began, and at present aban- 

 doned farms — abandoned by the more enterprising young men of a new 

 generation — and run-down farms and farmers, too poor and too lacking 

 in enterprise to move, testify to the mistaken policy of allowing ir- 

 responsible settlement on non-agricultural soUs. Conservation of 

 himian life and energy, conservation of decency in population, conser- 

 vation of soils for useful production, alike caU for a readjustment of this 

 undesirable state of affairs. 



That these statements are not overdrawn is shown by the farm 

 statistics and is corroborated by the testimony of the people living in 

 the area reported on.* 



Results of the Survey 



Preliminary to the formulation of recommendations, a siunmary 

 of the findings of Messrs. Howe and White, as detailed in their reports, 

 was drawn up. A table gives a classification of the whole area in i8 

 classes.! Since the seven northern townships are, for the most part, still 

 covered with a virgin or semi-virgia forest, they have been enumerated 

 separately, and the discussion refers, therefore, mainly to the 1,171,614 

 acres in the lower watershed. Here, 83.5 per cent is stiU forest-covered, 

 but only 700 acres are virgin forest, and less than 90,000 acres have been 

 moderately culled ; the rest have been severely culled and are, therefore, 

 in unmerchantable condition. Nearly 60,000 acres are waste 

 lands, the result of fires. Some 580,000 acres are covered with young 

 and second-growth trees ; less than 12 per cent, 134,000 acres, are 

 farmed. A table compiled from assessors' returns is added for com- 

 parison and to give an idea of values.J Discrepancies in details of area 

 from the stirvey are explained in part by either inclusion or exclusion 

 of areas in the two lists, in part by difference of method in statement. 

 On the whole, however, the results coincide fairly in so far as percentages 

 are concerned. 



* See p. 95 and Appendix v, p. 120. 

 t See pp. 21-28. 

 i See p. 29. 



