518 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1919. 
draws more and more for subsistence upon tne Mississippi Valley 
and the Far West. The development of agriculture here is of first 
importance in sustaining the manufacturing industries in the face 
of the necessity of transporting their food and raw materials. Many 
excellent opportunities for the development of cut-over lands, the 
drainage of wet lands, and especially the rehabilitation, fertiliza- 
tion, and building up of areas which have in the past been farmed but 
are now wholly or partially neglected are offered in this section. 
The decline of New England agriculture has been due in general 
to the demand of its growing manufactures for the necessary labor 
and the competition of cheap, fertile, and extensive agricultural 
areas of the Mississippi Valley and the great West. These lands are 
no longer cheap, and the growth of the Middle West is to a large 
extent absorbing the product of the western farms, so that New 
England must enter into active competition for its food supply 
under the handicap of costly transportation. This condition has re- 
versed the influence which led to the decline of New England agri- 
culture, and in providing for its rehabilitation the soldier settlement 
program affords the opportunity of doing this and at the same time 
keeping at home the thousands of soldiers who enlisted from these 
centers of population. 
SOUTHERN DIVISION. 
In the Southern States opportunities for colonization are of the 
same three classes. The largest areas are of cut-over lands. In past 
years small holdings of timberland have been acquired by lumber 
companies and merchantable timber has been cut and marketed 
as lumber. Many of these large companies are now operating and 
are anxious to sell the cut-over land usually at low prices. In some 
cases drainage would be required and in others drainage should be 
assisted by opening and straightening surface outlets to permit the 
ready escape of excessive rainfall. In some of the richest localities 
where land can be had very cheaply, one of the principal drawbacks 
which must be overcome is the elimination of the swarms of mosqui- 
toes, which will require careful surface drainage and elimination of 
stagnant water. Also the clearing of luxuriant vegetation which 
springs up after the timber is removed. Such areas can only be suc- 
cessfully colonized in tracts of considerable size, as it is impracticable 
to carry out mosquito extermination on a small scale. In many of 
the Southern States, especially the border States, are to be found 
extensive areas which have been either abandoned or neglected since 
the Civil War and are of similar character to those described in New 
England. They can generally be purchased cheaply and rendered 
fertile by clearing and the addition of lime and nitrates. 
