4 BULLETIN 425, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
swamp lands, especially in northern Minnesota and the northern 
peninsula of Michigan. Much of the swamp land is productive when 
drained and generally the cost of drainage is not excessive. As is 
common in most glacial districts, the soils range from light sand to 
very heavy clay. There is a small percentage of worthless sandy 
land that the prospective settler would do well to avoid, and there 
are larger areas of light sandy soils that can not produce large crops 
without fertilizers. Sandy loam and medium loam soils predominate 
and these when properly managed produce satisfactory yields of all 
crops adapted to the district. Such crops as clover, beans, peas, rye, 
vetch, buckwheat, corn, potatoes, root crops, and small fruits do 
well on the sandy loam soils. These crops also do well on the heavier 
soils, and in addition these richer soils produce satisfactory crops of 
timothy, wheat, oats, and barley. 
The winters in this region are usually long and cold, with a heavy 
fall of snow. Ordinarily the summers are short and hot, with ample 
rainfall, well distributed. Late frosts in spring and early autumn 
frosts limit the kinds of crops that can be grown, yet early varieties 
of corn mature in the southern portion of this belt and make good 
silage over a large portion of this area in the average year. 
Forest products and rich iron and copper mines have brought the 
railroads to almost every part of the region. These enterprises have 
also caused the growth in this district of many towns of considerable 
size and a few comparatively large cities. The railroads and Great 
Lakes furnish excellent shipping facilities for agricultural products 
and the towns and cities furnish good local markets. Wagon roads 
are generally poor, though there is ordinarily good material for road 
construction close at hand. Scattered population and lack of funds 
have prevented the rapid building of good wagon roads. It is also 
true that until recently there has been little in the way of agricul- 
tural products to be hauled over the roads, consequently there was 
small demand for road improvement. Considering the undeveloped 
condition of the country, school advantages generally are very good. 
The cut-over district is exceptionally well watered. Many small 
streams and lakes are distributed over the region. (See fig. 2.) 
Xearly everywhere wells of moderate deptli furnish an adequate sup- 
ply of first-class water. 
TYPE OF FARMING. 
In most parts of the cut-over district definite types of farming 
have not yet become established. Over a large part of this area 
conditions are especially favorable for the development of dairying. 
The relatively large acreage and high yields of hay, together with fair 
yields of silage corn over much of this section indicate a promising 
