SETTLEMENT AND COLONIZATION IN GREAT LAKES STATES 71 
surveyed were 65 per cent foreign born, and only 19 per cent came directly from 
farms. 
As would be expected, the record of these settlers was considerably under 
the average both in clearing and in net gain. They had been on their holdings 
2.02 years, and had cleared only 4 acres per farm and brushed only 6 acres 
additional per farm. The receipts of the 10 first and second year settlers 
from labor off the farm and timber products averaged $340; and of the 11 
two to five-year Settlers, $520 per farm from these sources. These 11 settlers 
were milking less than 2 cows each. This, therefore, is essentially a group 
of settlers still engaged in lumbering more than in farming. Of the area of 
farms sold 36.9 per cent was still in merchantable timber. 
VI. The company of Project VI used high-pressure methods of selling, but 
sold mostly to prospects of considerable means; or if it sold to the other kind, 
the sales were made mainly on options. The 21 settlers covered in the survey 
had used 50 per cent of their beginning net worth as first payments on their 
land, and the initial payments on contracts averaged 36 per cent of the pur- 
chase price, which is a half more than on any other project studied. The 21 
farms averaged 146 acres. The price paid per acre was high (index, 105), con- 
sidering that much of the land had rather light soil. 
The average beginning net worth of the 21 settlers was $3,259. This bears 
out the statement of the company that it did not want its purchasers to 
move onto their holdings until they had plenty of capital. Hence, the 21 
actually found on the project were a select group. Only 10 per cent of them 
were foreign born, and 42.8 per cent came directly from farms. Most of the 
others were back-to-the-landers from city trades. 
; As might be expected, the progress record was an excellent one. The 21 
settlers had cleared almost twice as much land as other groups who had 
been on their land about the same length of time. This was partly owing to 
the easy clearing of some of the land. The net gain record was about the 
same as that of Projects IJI and IV. The receipts of these 21 settlers were 
over one-third from crops, which is much above the average. They had been 
somewhat slow in developing their dairy herds, partly perhaps because their 
previous farming experience had been mainly in the Corn Belt. Their largest 
increase in inventory was for buildings. 
VII. The 73 settlers visited on Project VII were mostly foreign born, but 
only 23 per cent had no farm experience, and 21 per cent came directly from 
farms. Their beginning net worth was $1,377, which is high considering 
that most of them arrived before the rise in price level. The average period 
of settlement for this group was 5.1 years. The settlers used 35 per cent 
of their net worth as first payment on their land, and had an average of $621 
of cash left on hand. The jand company took an active hand in community 
' development but made no advances of any kind to the settlers. The settlers 
had actually decreased their average land debt by $109 and their total debt 
by $40 in spite of the fact that a dozen or more of them had obtained Federal 
farm loans. Their clearing record was about 15 per cent below the average, 
and their net gain about the lowest of any group. This was because they 
had made such slow progress with their buildings and livestock. Apparently, 
they could have used more credit to good advantage. Nearly two-thirds of their 
receipts in 1919-1920 was from labor off the farm. Apparently, the crops the 
settlers had obtained from their land had not encouraged them to develop it 
rapidly. 
VIII. All the preceding seven projects have been classified as giving “little 
or no aid” to the settlers. Project VIII belongs in the “aid” class. Settlers 
visited on this project were mostly of city type, only 17 per cent having come 
directly from farms; but four-fifths of the remainder were born on farms. 
The company had advertised mostly in city dailies. After the settlers arrived 
they worked in the company’s sawmill and logging camps most of the time. 
They were worth $1,086 on the average when they came, and used only 22 
per cent of this as first payment on land. Nearly a fourth of them bought on 
options, paying down only 12.5 per cent of the purchase price. Those who 
bought on contracts paid down only 16.3 per cent of the purchase price. The 
company expected to get its payments out of the settlers’ pay checks at the 
mill. The 30 settlers covered in the survey had an average of $684 cash on 
hand at time of settlement. The prices paid for land were among the lowest 
prevailing upon the various projects covered in the survey, and the quality 
was good. The company advanced credit for lumber, dynamite, and other 
supplies, and gave a certain amount of supervision. The unpaid bills for 
