34 BULLETIN 1257, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
cause they do not touch the larger part of the problem, which relates 
to the development of the farms. They merely bring about sales; 
they do not provide the means for making payments. 
Some land-developing agencies attempt to' solve the problem by 
contracting to develop farms for purchasers while the purchasers 
remain in other occupations and there earn the means of carrying 
the load. This shifts the load, but it does not solve the problem, 
and has not had any considerable effect in bringing success to recla- 
mation enterprises. 
The United States reclamation act attempts to solve the problem 
by relieving the land from the burden of interest on deferred pay- 
ments, and by deferring payments for longer and longer periods, 
that is, by transferring a part of the burden from the settler on 
Reclamation Service projects to the general public. This, again, is 
a mere shifting of the part of the burden represented by interest, 
and takes no account of other charges against the land, which seem 
to be too heavy for the settlers to carrv, even when relieved of 
interest. 
The State of California has attacked the problem from another 
angle. It does not attempt to lighten the burden, nor to shift it, 
but rather to put the land and the farmer in position to carry it. 
It bases its action on the theory that land is not put into use 
promptly because of lack of capital and lack of experience on the 
part of settlers ; it supplies the capital and attempts to make up for 
the lack of experience. Payment for the land and the reclamation 
works is spread over a long period of years, and funds for improve- 
ments and equipment are furnished. The experience that the settlers 
lack is provided for in a measure by the employment of expert 
advisers at the expense of the settlers and by requiring settlers to 
farm in a manner approved by the authorities. 
The California settlements are still in the experimental stages. 
but their experience (see p. 20) shows certain things. On the first 
project, which is the smaller, and was begun when there was a real 
demand for land, the entire acreage was brought into production 
within five years. On the second project, which was larger, and 
was undertaken when the demand for land had slackened, the 
farms are not being taken so promptly, although they have been 
sold much more rapidly than on reclamation projects generally. 
The very brief California experience seems to indicate that pro- 
viding capital for farm development aids very greatly in bringing 
the land into use promptly, but that this will not be effective if 
reclamation works are over-built to any considerable extent. The 
general agricultural situation has been such that no conclusions 
should be drawn from the financial experience of the settlers on the 
State projects. 
THE FUTURE OF RECLAMATION. 
Economists have given a great deal of attention to the probable 
future pressure of population on the supply of land available for 
production of crops, livestock and timber. 9 Their conclusions as to 
8 The Utilization of our Luids for Crops, Pastures, and Forests, Yearbook, 1923, 
United Statrs Department of Agriculture. 
