18 Bulletin 827, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 
sale of unimproved land should be on easy terms, and the improve- 
ments made by the settler should furnish a satisfactory margin of 
security. As a matter of safety the settler should be advised as to 
farming methods that promise success. 
The sale of small farms, except in colonies, is a slow process for 
the owner of large tracts, and such sales are necessarily at higher 
prices. From the purchaser's standpoint, small farms of from 40 
to 60 acres are not large enough for a farmer to make a living. The 
sale of medium-sized tracts of land on reasonable terms to farmers 
who wish to increase their operations should be encouraged. 
Lands that are not yielding enough to pay taxes at present may 
either be turned to raising cattle at a profit and at the same time 
improved so they may be marketed at a fair price as they come into 
demand for farming land, or be reforested, either by the present 
owner or by the State or the National Government. 
The development of the land by the lumberman presents two 
phases. It may be developed with the idea of making a permanent 
business of farming and cattle raising, or partly developed as a 
demonstration of its possibilities with the idea of its future sale. 
In either case cattle raising must be considered as a business in itself 
and given intelligent and close study, the same as any other business. 
If the owner can not give the business this attention himself he 
may employ a competent manager who, preferably, should have 
a financial interest. 
Individual farms operated for the diversion of the owner may 
well be show places, but ranches run for profit and demonstration 
farms should be as practical as possible. The profit- and-loss column 
of the ledger should be the principal item to show prospective buyers. 
The size of a ranch for beef-cattle production in this region must 
necessarily be large as compared with a general farming proposi- 
tion. The business must be large enough for the owner to get a 
living from the operations, and that requires the raising of a con- 
siderable number of cattle. 
The man operating less than a section of land can not depend 
on cattle as the main farm enterprise without intensive pasture im- 
provement or the use of other cattle range, as, under present con- 
ditions, 600 acres of pasture will carry but 60 head of cattle. On 
the other hand, the maximum size for a profitable cattle ranch is 
limited by the quantity of winter feed that can be produced. It 
must be borne in mind that the cut-over ranges do not support cattle 
the year round and that provision must be made for feeding cattle 
at least 3 months in winter. If farm labor can not be employed 
profitably to produce feed enough for the cattle, winter feed will 
have to be purchased. 
