LAND CONDITIONS 



e. Land conditions in the United States. 



131 



Apparently over 900 million acres are neither forest nor field, 

 largely too dry and therefore prairie or desert. About 300 million 

 acres are wild woods on absolute forest soils, the lands being un- 

 suited to farming by reason of climate, cold mountain country, to- 

 pography, all large mountain ranges, and to a lesser extent, poor 

 soil. South and I^ake states and the East. 



What these conditions may be even in an old settled state is well 

 seen from the following figures for Michigan : 



State. 



Total area million acres 36.8 



Per cent improved 35% 



f. Agricultural use. 



Generally the agricultural possibilities of any district finally de- 

 cide its use. Any good tract of agricultural land as large as an ordi- 

 nary county will become farm settlement in our country. This fact, 

 based on large experience has helped to fix in the minds of most 



