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Agriculture Handbook No. 153

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
By F. J. Marschner, Collaborator, Farm Economics

Research Division, Agricultural Research Service

Agriculture Handbook No. 153

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Preface

The purpose of the study reported here was to contribute to a

more mature understanding of the patterns of rural land uses in

the United States. The underlying physical factors are described,

and their influence is explained in relation to major historical and

still evolving institutional determinants of agricultural development and land use. The varied and unequal impacts of industrialization and of the continuing technological revolution v^ithin

agriculture are emphasized.

This report also demonstrates a methodology for research in

land use that is applicable wherever men are concerned with

improving the levels of human life through the development of

agriculture. Students of agriculture everywhere, and in particular American students and professional agricultural workers,

will find the report helpful in broadening their understanding of

agricultural land problems. Students and professional workers

in agricultural geography will be interested in the general

methodological approach used and also in the graphic analysis

and description.

A pioneering feature of the report is the use of aerial photographs of 168 local areas with descriptive legends. This part of

the report will interest many technical and professional students

of agriculture and geography.

In the preparation of the report, valuable cooperation was

received from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the

United Nations. The concern of this organization with improving the standards of human life through the development and

improvement of agriculture in areas where the present level of

agricultural production is low led to its interest in research

methodology in land utilization in the Unit:ed States as presented

here.

11
Contents

Page

SUMMARY 1

THE BACKGROUND 3

New Ways of Adjusting Man-Land

Relationship Needed 3

Adjustment to Physical Conditions 4

Technology and Land Use 4

Overall Picture of Land Use 6

SETTLEMENT, DIVISION, AND

USE OF LAND 8

Pre-Columbian Era 8

The Hunting and Foraging Period 8

Beginning of Crop-Growing Era 9

Colonial Period 10

The Spanish Grants 10

Settlement by Northern Europeans 10

Indiscriminate Settlement 11

Appalachians, the Colonial

Frontier of Settlement 13

Settlement Extended to Western Waters 13

Defects of Colonial Land Surveys 14

Rectangular Land-Division System of

the Public Domain 15

The Ordinance of 1785 15

The Ordinance Modified 15

Comparison with Roman System 16

Rectangular Land Divisions of Non-Federal

or Reserved Public Lands 17

The Northern States. 17

The Southern States 18

Texas 19

Other Areas 19

Acquisition and Disposal of

Public-Domain La,nds 21

The Northwest Territory 21

Later Accessions 21

Land Disposal 21

Land Grants 23

The Remaining Public Domain 23

National Parks, Monuments, and

Wildlife Sanctuaries 24

State-owned Lands 26

Expansion of Settlement and Development

in the United States 27

Early Settlements 27

Westward Thrust 27

Opening of the West 28

Natural Environment Changed

Through Settlement 28

Development of Urban Communities 30

Reactions to Land Divisions . 30

Shifts in Land Use 31

Page

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS AND LAND USE.. 32

Land Relief 32

Rock Formations Affect Land Use 32

Glaciation 34

The Glaciated Region. 34

Land Use Affected by Glaciation 36

The Periglacial Zone 37

Pluvial and Dry Periods 37

The Alluvial Valley of the Mississippi 38

Wind Reactions 39

The Columbia Basin : 39

Sand and Loess Deposits in Plains 39

The Coastal Belts of Pleistocene

Marine Submergence 41

Inñuence of Climate on Land Use 46 '

Precipitation 46

Temperature 49

Elevation ... ^ 49

Winds 49

Adjustment to Climate 49

Soils in Relation to Land Use 50

Parent Materials 50

Climate as it Affects Soil 50

Effect of Natural Vegetation on Soil 51

Soils Affected by Land Relief 51

Development of Soils Affected by

Other Factors 51

Use Capability Affected 52

Pioneers Exploited Land 52

Natural Vegetation and Land Use 56

Natural Vegetation Changed by Land Use.. 56

Vegetation Still Adjusting 58

Effective Use of Range 59

Use for Recreation * 61

WATER MANAGEMENT AND LAND USE.. 61

Natural Distribution of Water 61

Water Management 62

Storage Reservoirs 63

Drainage Installations 64

Ground Water 66

EFFECTS OF INDUSTRIALIZATION ON

LAND USE AND RURAL LIFE 68

Rural Life Before Industrialization 68

Industrialization of the Country '... 69

The Case of Cotton 69

Mechanized Crop Production 72

Efficiency of Farm Labor Increased 73

TYPE-OF-FARMING AREAS 74

The Corn Belt 76

The Great Plains 77

Suitcase Farming ; 79

111
Contents—Continued

Page

TYPE-OF-FARMING AREAS—Continued

Flax a Special Crop 79

The Dairy Belt 80

The Lake States 80

The Northeast 81

Specialties Produced 81

The General Farming Belt 82

The Cotton and Subtropical Fruit Belt 83

Cotton 83

Large Holdings 84

Fractionalization of Holdings 84

Woodland and Forest Uses 85

Other Crops Grown 86

The Semiarid and Arid Western Plains

and Basins 89

Sugar Beets 89

The Pacific Valleys and Basins 90

Page

Water Important in Land Use 90

YIELD-IMPROVING PRACTICES 91

Conservation Practices 91

Use of Fertilizer and Pesticides. 92

IMPACT OF CHANGES ON LAND

AND PEOPLE 93

Rural Population Changing 93

Regional Specialization 93

Our Changing Diet 94

Social Implications of Land Use 95

Low-Income Areas of Land Use. 96

Better Land Use 97

LAND USE PATTERNS AS RECORDED

BY AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY 99

GUIDE TO AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS 101

LITERATURE CITED 273

Washington, D. C. Issued April 1959

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C.

ÍV
Summary

At the beginning of the 20th century, the

internal development of the United States took

a new turning on the road to progress. Advances were made in rapid succession in the

different fields of human endeavor, so much

so that no universal yardstick can be applied

to measure all the incidental consequences.

Both human and material resources were involved. All aspects of man's life were affected.

But when land use for primary production is

the particular field of inquiry, the application

of scientific knowledge and technical skills

account largely for the many innovations and

improvements.

The marked improvement in the use and

productivity of the land necessarily had its

repercussion in the lives of the people. When

a trend toward declining returns is arrested

and within a few years becomes a trend toward

abundance, economic and social problems are

associated with the change. The reaction to

such changes is not confined necessarily to users

of the land ; their effects are felt by the entire

Nation. Even the national boundaries do not

represent the ultimate limits of the reaction;

these changes affect the man-land relationship

the world over to such an extent that a reorientation in the outlook for the future is required.

In the United States, we must recognize,

therefore, two distinct periods with opposite

trends in the productivity of the land. In one,

the productivity of the land declined, sometimes

to the point of making it useless for further

cropping; in the other, depletion was halted

and the productivity of the land improved.

Before we inquire into the circumstances that

provided flfè^ directive forces and helped in the

reversion of the trend, a brief review of the

events that led up to it is necessary.

The first period is roughly coextensive with

the period of settlement, which came to a close

at the beginning of the 20th century. Agencies

that issued titles to land on which settlers

located had no definite information as to the

productivity of the land, nor were the settlers

able to determine it objectively. All that could

serve as a guide was a subjective appraisal of

the land's quality, which to the dismay of the

settlers, was frequently discouraging. Agriculture was the first industry that supported

the settlers, and it was pursued without any

particular care for the land. This was generally true of farmers who cultivated their

own land, but it was even more the case with

the many tenants who had no stake in the land.

Abundance of land was the all-pervading concept that dominated the thoughts and activities

of the people. Under these conditions, land

use was exploitive, and as a consequence, it

was frequently accompanied by diminishing

returns.

Toward the end of the settlement period and

more particularly during the last half of the

19th century, the large-scale application of

scientific and technical principles in the manufacturing industries began to affect the national

economy. Transportation and communication

facilities had not only opened the country

locally but had connected the East with the

West and the North with the South. Mechanized industrial production had made a running start, which soon produced chain reactions.

It not only increased production but also

diversified the means of production by developing new sources of energy. The internal combustion engine made its debut at that time. It

revolutionized transportation and was soon

applied to farm operations.

In this respect, American farmers were in a

better position to take advantage of mechanized

farm operations than their Old World cousins.

As a rule, European farmers had control over

fewer acres than American farmers. Consequently, they enlarged their scope of operations

proportionately. Even now, in the division of
European estates, approximately 40 acres are

considered to be sufficient for a family-operated

farm. Practically the same idea was embodied

in the American slogan of "40 acres and a

mule," which originated with the freedmen.

Settlers, however, usually acquired a much

larger acreage. According to the Census of

1900, in none of the States that form the

eastern humid half of the country was the

average size of farm less than 80 acres. In the

drier Western States, which include the tier

of States from North Dakota south to Texas,

farms averaged from 200 to more than 1,000

acres, except in Idaho. Farmers in America

therefore, were comparatively well supplied

with land on which to use mechanical equipment. This was particularly the case in the

Great Plains, where most of the small grains

are grown.

Although technology transformed farm

operations, science played a major role in

increasing the effectiveness of farm labor and

the productivity of the land.

Near the turn of the 19th century, a beginning was made in the study and survey of the

soils of the country to obtain more reliable

information as to how they could be used to

produce crops. Their physical characteristics

and chemical composition were studied. As a

result, their use adaptability, and their adequacy or deficiency so far as plant nutrients

were concerned became better known and

served as a guide to the use of fertilizers, the

conservation and management of the soils, and

better adjustment of land use to the potentiality

of the land itself.

To obtain a factual background of the manifest climatic divergencies in the different parts

of the country, the Weather Bureau established

many cooperative stations to record and report

the daily readings of the instruments. With

the accumulated records over the years, characteristics of local climatic regional variations,

and to some extent the hazards of weather,

could be determined. Thus, agriculture was

able to adjust its enterprises and operations

to conform to some extent to the vagaries of

weather.

On the economic side, farm-management

studies were undertaken throughout the country to help farmers organize their operations

more efficiently. This was done especially with

a view to improving farm incomes by taking

the cost-returns ratio into account, and by

adjusting farm enterprises to the advantages

and shortcomings of the physical and economic

environments in which they were carried on.

The work of county agents and experiment

stations had a similar orientation. County

agents were appointed for most counties so that

farmers could avail themselves of their advice

and counsel when special problems arose. The

office of the county agent served also as intermediary in the introduction of advances made

in agricultural production.

These are some of the more conspicuous landmarks established along the road of progress

before World War I. When, therefore, the war

emergencies called for increased production,

the mechanism for doing the job was available

and farmers responded with alacrity.

Progress in this direction did not end with

the end of World War I. Although there was

a temporary economic slackening, new improvements in industrial and agricultural production

occurred. New machines appeared; higher

yielding crop varieties were introduced; conservation and management of the soil received

greater attention ; conversion of feed into food

became more efficient; new methods of food

preservation and marketing were devised and

established; and new wood-using processes

provided the foundation for new industries.

These and other innovations have affected agriculture and forestry in particular and the

country as a whole in general.

Internal development of the country is linked

inevitably with the use of the land. This has

been true since the first settlers arrived from

Europe four centuries ago. The transition from

primitive conditions to a highly industrialized

civilization was accomplished in a shorter space

of time here than in other parts of the world.

Moreover, the conversion of the country has

been so effective that little land is left that does

not bear the imprint of cultural features. This

should not be construed as meaning that there

is no room or need for further improvement.

Actually, our land and water resources are not

fully developed. Increase in population alone

will require perennial adjustments and improvements in the use of both land and water

to accommodate the needs of the people.

Expansions and contractions in the use of the

land for primary production must be expected

and accepted as part of the growing pains of

the Nation. In addition, problems were inherited from the past. Not all the damage

inflicted on the land during the exploitive period

has been repaired. Of even longer standing is

the unfinished business of boundary determination left by the colonies and the States that

succeeded them. Uncertain boundaries of

administrative divisions and land-ownership

units,^ which stem from the methods of issuing

titles that were prevalent in the colonies and

the States, are still a fruitful source of contention. These problems, which are connected

with civic order and national growth, have

awakened interest in ownership and use of the

land. To provide a better insight and causal

understanding of these problems is the purpose

of the study reported here.
The Background

strains and stresses in the man-land relationship make up one of the issues the world

faces today. When examined from a realistic

viewpoint, many of the impediments that arise

are found to be centered largely in the difficulty

of keeping the functional relationship between

two factors of a different order in proper balance. Land is relatively static in both quantity

and natural characteristics, whereas population

is dynamic in both its action and its reaction

on the use of land. The density or sparsity of

population, its rate of growth, and shifts in the

social groupings of the population are variables

so far as time and place are concerned. Each

has a marked reaction on the use of the land.

To these must be added the influence exerted

by an advanced economy and improvements in

standards of living. As a higher standard of

living usually means a greater demand for more

diversified and improved products of the land

and for proportionately larger acreages on

which to produce them, use of a fixed acreage

of land requires continuous adjustment to meet

the changing needs of the population.

Changing the use of the land to meet the

needs of the population is identified with the

progress of civilization. Since ancient times,

use of land has been intensified step by step to

increase production. Primitive tribal society

used the land mainly as a hunting and gathering

ground. The products of the chase and the

edible fruits and plants provided by the natural

vegetation satisfied the needs of the population.

Later, with the domestication of animals,

nomadic herdsmen used the land as open range.

With the planting of crops, a new era was

ushered in. It marked the beginning of more

intensive use of the land and in turn changed

the habitual way of living of the people. Crop

planting was the initial step in the direction of

development and use of the land for agriculture.

Although the patches of land planted were

shifted from time to time, people began to

attend to fields and domestic animals from a

fixed place of residence. Thus permanent settlement as the preferred mode of living was

initiated.

In most parts of the world, increasing the

production of food, feed, and fiber to provide

for the needs of a larger population was not a

particularly stringent problem in these early

stages of civilization. With increased experience, agricultural practices became more

efficient, and this in itself increased production.

The standards of living were not so exacting

that they could not be satisfied readily by

moving to new land, which was abundant.

Even though it was not located in the same

region, it could be reached and settled through

migration or, as was frequently done, acquired

through conquest. In arid regions, irrigation

was applied early to obtain a reliable supply

of food and feed from agricultural production.

These, in short, were the chief methods used to

adjust the man-land relationship from ancient

to modern times.

New Ways of Adjusting Man-Land

Relationship Needed

When the present world situation is used as

the background of reference for this discussion,

it becomes clear that some of the former ways

of adjusting the man-land relationship are no

longer realistic. All land is now partitioned

and under the jurisdiction of one country or

another. Some land is still not fully occupied

or developed and coulci easily support more

people. But, in most instances, the free movement of people, aside from travel for business

and pleasure, is restricted to the confines of

their own countries. Paradoxical as it may

sound, this is at a time when modern transportation facilities have made man more mobile

than ever before. For the most part, any

improvement in the man-land relationship to

promote the common welfare of the people must

first be sought within individual countries.

That the maladjustment in the man-land

relationship is now felt more acutely in some

parts of a country, or in some parts of the

world, as compared with other parts, usually

cannot be attributed to a single cause. The

combination of fixed and variable factors in

each instance must be recognized and studied

in its natural setting if the problems contained

therein are to be analyzed and solutions found.

Natural conditions and wealth differ from

region to region, and the distribution of population does not always conform to the distribution of natural resources. In addition, each

country or region has its own customs and

institutions that govern the actions of the

people and, in some instances, control the use

of the land. Under these circumstances, it

cannot be expected, nor is it possible, that

people everywhere can attain a uniformly high

level of living from use of the land.

Land use and level of living are related, but

neither the one nor the other in itself is a

reliable indicator of the potentiality of the land

to support the population. Frequently, land use

represents only one segment of the regional

economy. So far as the level of living is concerned, land use may be secondary to other

industries. From the land use standpoint, we

have areas of both overproduction and underproduction in relation to local needs. In a

country in which the agrarian economy has

largely given way to industry and commerce,

and where the greater part of the population
resides in urban concentrations, surplus production in some areas is essential to balance

the deficiencies of other areas. Actually, as a

result of the spreading of cosmopolitan tastes

and habits, few corners on the globe have

retained a mode of living in which everything

needed is furnished by the natural environment

of the people.

Adjustment to Physical Conditions

Because of the disparate distribution of natural conditions, resources, and people, the use

of land has acquired the characteristics of a

commercial enterprise. Many crops are grown

entirely as cash crops. Frequently, they are

grown for export as well as for domestic consumption or industrial use. This is true also

of forest products and the products of the

range. With the entrance of land use into the

the commercial production field, it became more

sensitive to the factors that influence prices and

cost of production. Soils, climate, water supply, economic conditions, labor efficiency, increased yields per areal unit, improved quality

of products, location of production areas with

reference to markets, processing methods,

storage and shipping facilities for products,

and market demand, are all aspects of the land

use complex, which in the more advanced countries receive added recognition and attention.

Food and an adequate diet, the most obvious

and in places the most pressing physical needs

of man, are singled out at times as the desired

goal of land use in improving the level of living

of the ^people. A proper diet is an essential

element of human well-being, but in itself it is

hardly sufficient to raise the level of living in

backward countries and regions. In these countries and regions, more than land use must be

taken into account. Raising the productive

capacity of the land is conditioned first on an

increase in the productive capacity of the

people. Workers on the land must be able to

produce more than they need for themselves.

An advancement of the whole economy is

needed to raise the level of living.

Technology and Land Use

With the introduction of mechanized operations in production of food and fiber, the manpower requirements for land use declined.

Many persons released from work on the land

are now free to follow other gainful occupations. Land use itself is now an industry.

Whether we approach the question of standard

of living from the viewpoint of land use or of

industry as a whole, therefore, we are likely to

reach the same conclusion. Production and

organization of all branches of industry are so

closely interwoven that they must be considered

together when improvement in the level of

living is the aim. Translated into terms of

action, this means that all natural resources

must be developed to serve the economy of an

area.

How the economics and production techniques of land use have benefited from association with industry is evident from the

results obtained. In commercial agriculture,

the input-output ratio necessarily receives

considerable attention. The knowledge gained

from special research and investigations in the

physical, biological, social, technical, and economic fields readily finds application in competitive commercial enterprises. Therefore,

wherever the results of research in these fields

are applied to land use, as a rule, man, land,

domestic animals, and plants produce more

efficiently than was true a decade or so ago.

Much has been done to advance human wellbeing by applying constructive knowledge and

skills to use of land. In addition to these

benefits, these accomplishments furnish evidence that progress can be made. They show

the way in which it can be achieved, how some

of the obstacles to better use of the land can

be surmounted, and how production can be

increased on a fixed area of land.

Although in recent years science and technology have established an all-time record of

accomplishment, they have not succeeded in

removing all obstacles to more intensive use of

the land. Higher productive uses are excluded

on much of the land area mainly because of

unfavorable natural conditions. But between

the most favorable setting for cultural use of

the land and extreme instances in which all

major uses are precluded are many intermediate classes with a diversity of complexes, to

which use must be adjusted according to

physical capability and economic feasibility.

Land classes that range from the highest use

capability to those with no productive use

qualifications are found in the United States.

Within the approximately 3 million square

miles of continental United States, physical

conditions vary considerably from region to

region, sometimes even from locality to locality.

This was only imperfectly known at the time

of settlement. In selecting sites for settlement,

the pioneers relied mainly on their own resourcefulness and judgment, and they did not

always locate on adequately productive land.

Adjustment of settlement and land use to the

physical conditions and the need for the products of the land has been going on since the

first settlers arrived.

The United States, which is a comparatively

young country, grew rapidly and is still growing. The chief period of internal growth was

confined to the last 100 years or so. The

population grew from 23 million persons in
1850 to 165 million in 1955. Hand in hand

with the growth in population came development of the country's resources. During the

latter part of the period especially, industrialization left its mark on countryside and people.

Growth and changes in the old order necessarily affected not only the use of the land but

the economic and social status of much of the

population as well. The proportion of urban

to rural population changed. In 1850, as reported by the census, the urban segment of

the 23 million people of the United States was

15 percent. In 1955, more than 64 percent of

the 165 million people were living in cities;

This movement means that more land is needed

for residential and industrial purposes. With

107 million people concentrated in urban areas,

the land requirements for outdoor recreation,

travel, transportation, and communications

have multiplied. Today, lands needed for urban

CHANGES IN THE CROPLAND-POPULATION RATIO

OF THE UNITED STATES, 1880-1955

180 1 1 1

' 1 1 1 1

170

j

160

150 /

140 . /

'\r^^v

/

\^ y

X

ÇI30

^120

O J >y^

.$110

c;

.$100

0

^.AA/ yy/^

5 90

/ >

^'

Cl, 80

7e\

/

/ Vfo^^J^"^

/yr

Jvj

oU J

^

50 yf

/

"CCopland includes: crop/a

fallow

nd liarvi

and idle

?sted, cro/

croplam

3 failure,

i.

30 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

480

460

440

420

400

380 o) I

360=5

340.5

320 5

300 I

280 §^

260

1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950

240

220

200

180

I960

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ïsTEG. 58(5) -2486 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE

FIGURE 1.—This chart shows changes in the relationship between population and cropland from 1880 to 1955. Both

population and acreage of cropland increased steadily until 1920. After 1920, only population continued to

increase. Increase in population, expansion of industries, and scientific and technological advances in crop

production brought about shifts in distribution of cropland and affected the man-land relationship.
settlements, rights-of-way for roads and railroads, airports, parks, and related uses in the

aggregate approximate the area of the State

of Wyoming (165).^

Land use expanded with the westward movement of settlement. Expansion in acreage of

cropland in this direction kept pace with settlement, but the acreage of cropland continued to

increase for about three decades after 1890,

when the western frontier had almost disappeared. Within the last 35 years, however, the

overall proportion of cropland has not changed

greatly, although regional shifts have occurred

(%. 1).

The per capita acreage of cropland in the

United States, which rose from 3.8 acres in

1880 to 4.2 acres in 1900, fell to 3.8 acres in

1920. From then on per capita acreage declined, but despite a population increase of

56 million people, or 53 percent, from 1920 to

1955, we still were able to produce surpluses.

In 1955, the per capita acreage reached a low

of 2.4 acres.

Overall Picture of Land Use

Distribution of major land uses in the United

States is impressive from the viewpoint of

spatial concentration and dispersal characteristics. To these must be added the diversity

in composition of the patterns themselves.

Land use patterns have assumed local as

well as regional characteristics, and these characteristics furnish the background for the

economic structure of rural life. Regional

concentration or sparsity of some uses has

produced contrasts in the pattern of use associations in the national picture. In the main,

this pattern reflects man's reaction to the

advantages and shortcomings of the natural

environment, in that he adjusts his use of the

land to what he perceives to be its economic

use capability.

For a better understanding of the uses made

of our land resources, certain background information is essential. This is true when local

land use patterns are under scrutiny, or when

the distribution of major land uses over the

country are studied. Arrangement of features

in the cultural landscape cannot be explained

successfully without reverting to the history of

settlement, and to the division of the land and

acquisition of title to it by the settlers. Similarly, physical features, such as land relief,

climate, and soils are controlling factors ; they

cannot be ignored in a study and discussion of

land use. Much of the pertinent evidence is

presented in the form of maps and aerial photographs to record the spatial arrangement and

distribution of features.

^ Italic numbers in parentheses refer to Literature

Cited, p. 273.

Most of these maps are included in the

text, but to preserve clarity of expression in

the overall picture, the color map. Major Land

Uses in the United States (pocket), is necessary. Even so, the distinctions must be confined to major uses expressed in significant

combinations.

Such major uses as the use of forest or

woodland for grazing or recreation cannot

receive separate areal recognition on the same

map because they are dual uses. Use of cropland, especially hayland, for grazing during

part of the year is another example. However,

to show how the land is used in different parts

of the country, a generalized presentation, such

as is used in the color map, is necessary.

The land use distinctions represented on the

map are largely associations derived from

natural conditions. Only cropland, which is

responsive to natural and economic advantages

or disadvantages of location, is represented as

a major competitive use. Cropland is not only

widely distributed throughout the country; it

also varies greatly as to the proportion of the

land area it occupies. When minor land divisions, for instance, townships, are taken as a

unit, cropland may comprise anywhere from

0 to 90 percent or more of the total land area.

To visualize these quantitative variations of

cropland distribution on the map in a true areal

relationship, acreages of cropland as reported

by counties were represented by means of

approximately equal-area dots, as determined

by the acreage represented and the scale of

the map.

Irrigated land is treated as a special type of

cropland, in that cropping the land is largely

conditioned on soil moisture derived from

sources other than local precipitation. In this

respect, it is recognized as a distinct category

of cropland. Drained land, which is the opposite of irrigated land, may be considered as

belonging to a similar land use category. When

quantitatively compared, the acreage of land

drained is about four times that of irrigated

land. Draining and clearing have been used

in reclaiming swamp and marsh land for agricultural production, but drainage has been

installed also on cultivated land to improve

yields. In the western irrigation districts,

drainage and irrigation are frequently combined. Because of its widespread application

and its frequently close connection with undrained and irrigated cropland, drainage could

not be incorporated in the map.

Although cropland has its own symbol on

the map, its associations with other major uses

are preserved. In the humid eastern section

of the United States, where all three major

uses are competitive, crop, forest, and pasture

lands are interspersed. As may be observed,
cropland is rather sparsely scattered in manyplaces in the Eastern States.

This can be taken as illustrating distribution

only ; it cannot safely be interpreted as meaning

underdevelopment in all instances. Cropland

is more concentrated in the Central Plains, and

in the originally forested plains of western

Ohio, Indiana, southern Michigan and Wisconsin, the Bluegrass Basin, the Pennyroyal of

Kentucky, and some other areas. But the mam

concentration is found on the treeless prairies

and plains of the Central States. An exception

is the Coastal Prairie of Texas, which has

remained largely grazing ground for cattle.

In the West, aside from the Columbia Plateau,

where dry grain farming is prevalent, cropland

is concentrated in the valleys and basins, and

is frequently supported by irrigation.

In contrast to cropland, of which the bulk is

confined to the eastern two-thirds of the United

States, most of the grazing land is found m

the western third of the country. Grazing land

used here as an overall classification term includes a great range in variables of plant associations and carrying capacity. Because of

these distinctions, two terms are in common

use, and to a certain extent, they have acquired

a regional preference. In the East, with its

more diversified land use patterns, pasture is

the more common term, and in the semiarid and

arid range country of the West, grazing is the

well-established designation. Between these

two preferential use areas, however, there is

no distinct dividing line. The most pronounced

distinction between pasture and grazing is

found in carrying capacity. In the East, farm

pasture usually has a high carrying capacity;

on the Western range, it is very low. Gradations occur, of course; on the Western range,

grazing is associated with type of vegetative

cover. The lowest grazing capacity is connected with the desert shrub type on which up

to 18 acres may be needed to support a cow for

a month. Less than an acre of humid pasture

may be required. Subhumid and semiarid

grassland, open pasture, and forest and woodland grazed are intermediate grazing types.

Regionally, they are associated to some extent

with seasonal grazing use.

Desert as mapped is land that for several

reasons has no productive use. Desert land

may be barren rocky ground; barren saline

playas, like the Black Desert in Nevada or the

Great Salt Lake Desert in Utah; or, as in the

Moj ave Desert, land that produces some forage

plants but cannot be grazed for lack of stock

water.

Swamps and marshes are natural land types.

Both types consist of waterlogged land but the

swamps are wooded and the marshes are chiefly

open grasslands. Land use in these areas is

somewhat incidental. The swamps may furnish

special kinds of lumber from water-loving trees.

In favorable seasons, swamps and marshes may

provide some grazing, but both are favored

areas of wildlife, and if not protected, they

frequently become seasonal hunting grounds.

Hunting and trapping of muskrats as it is done

in the coastal marshes of Louisiana constitutes

a rewarding occupation.

Forest and woodland grazed are areas devoted almost entirely to silviculture. Settlements with acreages of cropland too small to

be segregated on the map are included in

only a few instances. These solid forest areas

occupy chiefly mountains and rough land, or

land with poor soil. Many of them are included

in National and State Forests and Parks. The

most extensive solid area of commercial forest

in private ownership is found in northern

Maine.

Alpine meadows are confined to mountaintops

above the timberline. Some of these areas may

be grazed briefly in summer, but many of them

are only rock outcrop with little or no vegetation. Consequently, they are of little economic

significance.

The information needed for delimitation of

the areas recognized on the map was derived

from many sources. When available, aerial

photography was relied on primarily to supply

the distributional facts. Most of the country

east of the Rockies is covered by aerial photography. But as the difference in scale between

the aerial photographs and the United States

map is considerable, the contents of the photographic images could not be generalized directly

down to the scale of the final map. To do this.

State maps of the' United States Geological

Survey on a scale of 1:1,000,000 served as an

intermediary on which the land use patterns

were developed from the aerial photographs.

Soil, topographic, and geologic maps provided

additional reference material. A set of manuscript maps showing land use in the States east

of the Rockies resulted from this procedure.

These maps provided the principal source for

the areàl delimitation of the land use features

in this part of the country. For the Western

States, aerial photography was used also, but

less coherent coverage exists for these States

than for those in the East. Moreover, the

West ha^ land use distinctions that must be

determined from other sources.

Whether or not desert shrubland or forest

and woodland is grazed is not identifiable on

aerial photographs, except where barren ground

indicates desert conditions. Actually, the boundary between desert and desert shrubland

grazed is often indefinite and oscillating. During winters with some snow cover, sheep can

be grazed farther out in the desert than is

possible when springs and wells must be relied

upon to provide the stockwater. In the delim-
itation of land use areas in the western part of

the United States, material provided by the

Bureau of Land Management and the Geological

Survey of the United States Department of

the Interior, the Forest Service and the Soil

Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, and State publications

that had a bearing on land use were consulted

and utilized. Forest and woodland grazed is

a distinction based mainly on the records of the

Forest Service.

As a generalized graphic presentation of land

use, the map shows the variations in land use

that exist in the United States. From region

to region, differences may be noted in the

intensity with which the land is used, and in

the composition of major land use associations.

In most places, variations of this kind denote

changes in physical conditions. The land use

patterns delimited on the map indicate that

there are great regional differences in the

contributions land can make to the Nation.

Settlement, Division, and Use of Land

In its broadest sense, land utilization may

be defined as the use of land by man. The

cultural landscape and the multiple combinations in the land use pattern are his work, A

number of elements, however, may be discerned

in the spatial order of these land use patterns.

Some of the organizational features that appear

in the design are those devised by individual

users. Others are inherent characteristics of

settlement by ethnic groups or of the institutionalized system of administrative land divisions. Differences of this kind are particularly

noticeable when the areas of colonial settlement

are compared with those of later development.

(Compare, for instance, plates 32 and 38 or

plates 143 and 144. All of them differ from

those usually found in the Old World.) The

historical factor, therefore, has much to do

with land use. If we are to understand the

layout of the patterns of land use, this factor

must be considered.

In the United States, land use has gone

through several stages that do not necessarily

correspond to or coincide in all phases with

those recognized in other parts of the world.

Land use and civilization are closely related. A

chapter on prehistoric land use would probably

be concerned mainly with the hunting and

collecting activities of primitive man. From

these more indirect uses of the land, cultural

uses gradually developed. At first, these cultural uses amounted only to common use of the

land by the members of tribal society but from

this use several types of ownership evolved. In

some places, they were freeholds; in others,

feudal tenure with entailed rights and obligations evolved ; or a mixture of both were found.

The transition from tribal use to individual

ownership is missing in the history of land use

in the United States. As a possible exception,

the division of the land in Indian Reservations

and the transfer of title to individuals could be

cited. But this process did not evolve among

the Indians themselves. There are also instances in which settlers at first used all or part

of their land in common and then divided it

among themselves. In so doing, they followed

a custom they had brought with them from

Europe.

Pre-Columbian Era

The Hunting and Foraging Period

The pre-Columbian history of land use in

what is now continental United States probably

differs very little from the early cultures of

the Old World. From what we know now, these

primitive American cultures appear on the time

scale much earlier than was at first suspected.

Stone artifacts found in interglacial deposits

indicate that man was on this continent during

the latter part of the Pleistocene Epoch. The

actual age of these early American cultures is

as yet a matter of conjecture. According to

one source, however, they date back from 40,000

to 60,000 years {Jf8y p, 53Jf). More recently,

by bringing other evidence to bear on the question, these estimates were extended to more

than double the time during which the American continent may be considered as having been

inhabited {19). More definite dates of site

occupation, which were obtained from organic

remains with the radiocarbon technique (160) ^

have been established for a number of places,

and new ones are added occasionally. So far,

the oldest dates obtained in this way indicate

that man was in the Americas thousands of

years before the dawn of the Christian era.

Only a few examples can be cited.

An archeological site on the alluvial terrace

of the Trinity River near Lewisville in Dentón

County, Tex., probably yielded the oldest direct

evidence of man's presence in America. This

site, which consists of- ancient hearths nearly

20 feet below the surface of the terrace, contained the bones of many food animals, fresh

water clams, and snail shells, in addition to a

flint spear point and charcoal. Radiocarbon

tests on the charcoal indicated that it was more

than 37,000 years old. A hearth near Las

Vegas, Nev., was found to be some 23,000 years

old, and a hearth on Santa Rosa Island about

30,000 years ago (106, 13).

Charcoal and bone from a fireplace 6 to 7 feet

below the accumulations on the floor of Graham

8
Gave, Montgomery County, Mo., registered an

age of nearly 10,000 years (27), Charcoal

remains from a rock shelter on the Illinois side

of the Mississippi River, about 40 miles south

of St. Louis, registered an age of nearly 11,000

years (lOi), A similar age was determined

for the occupation level of Allen Site on the

Republican River Terrace (30). Evidence of

early man's presence on the Pacific mainland is

provided by ''Several pairs of woven rope sandals found in Fort Rock Cave, covered by the

Newberry Er^iption in Oregon," which were

made about 9,000 years ago (i).

The latest discovery of a site occupied by

prehistoric man is reported from Alabama.

Excavations in Russell Cave near Bridgeport,

in the northeast corner of Alabama, of successive layers of 14-foot deposits encountered at

the bottom a hearth, the remains of which

indicated that it had been occupied 8,000 years

ago (105), None of these prehistoric remains

suggests that land was used in these early

periods in any way except as a hunting and

foraging ground. Indications that man had

started to raise crops appear about 5,000 to

6,000 years later.

Beginning of Crop-Growing Era

In the exploration of Bat Cave, Catron

County, N. Mex., in 1948, 766 well-preserved

corncobs were found in the successive strata of

accumulated refuse (85). The corncobs in the

lower layer, however, provided insufficient material for radiocarbon dating, but extrapolation

from the other layers indicates that the corn is

from 3,000 to 3,500 years old, which corresponds to about 1,500 to 1,000 B. C. (i). Charcoal samples from an undisturbed area in this

cave, with which the culture of corn may be

correctable, go back to about 5,000 B. C. (79).

These discoveries indicate that at that time

the land was used for crops. This may postdate

the beginning of agriculture by a lengthy span

of time. The discoveries also record the progress made in improving corn as an agricultural

crop.

The remains of corn in these caveg are significant in other respects. Caves and cave

dwellings are rather numerous in the arid

Southwest. As corn is a cultivated crop, the

implications are that to a considerable extent

these cavedwellers must have been farmers, and

this in a region in which today the natural

conditions are not particularly suited to production of corn, except under irrigation. If the

climate has not changed in the meantime, the

cavedwellers had to grow their corn on favorable spots in the moist bottoms of arroyos, or

they had to divert water from the rivers for

irrigation. Indications are that they did both.

Centuries later, the Indians on the Atlantic

slope of the continent grew corn, beans, melons,

tobacco, and other crops. Special cultural

methods of growing corn, the chief crop, had

been devised, and these were transmitted to

the European settlers. With some tribes, agriculture was more or less a community enterprise. Instances are reported in which Indian

fields contained several hundred acres (SI,

p, 20). But the Indians were also skillful

hunters, and game was plentiful. The number

of Indians was comparatively small in proportion to the territory they occupied. Their

needs were elementary and a desultory type of

farming served to supplement the provisions

acquired through the chase. Hunting, fishing,

and gathering of wild fruits furnished most of

their food. Land use by the Indians was not

exacting or exhausting for either land or people.

It did not change profoundly the natural environment in which the Indians lived, although

some changes in plant cover occurred as a

result of burning and other activities. Pioneer

settlers sometimes found openings in the forest,

mainly near streams, which were abandoned

sites of Indian villages or meadows produced by

burning the forest. It has been estimated that

less than 2 percent of all land in Pennsylvania

was cleared of forest growth in this way before

the settlers arrived (^7, pp. 2, 3Jf).

Apparently, the migratory movement of the

Indians in the eastern forest zone of America

was confined largely to tribal territories or

hunting grounds. To a considerable extent, it

was seasonal. Families congregated in movable

camps and villages, at least for some parts of

the year. Even the primitive type of agriculture practiced by the Indians required some

attention. Protracted hunting expeditions had

to wait for the cooler seasons. But neither

hunting nor agriculture was restricted to individual tracts, for land ownership was unknown

to the Indians.

Tribal hunting districts, however, were well

established and recognized by the Indians.

When traders from the East were admitted to

the Indian country on the western waters of

the Appalachians, a Board of Commissioners,

in agreement with the Indian chiefs, allotted

one trader to a hunting district. Beaver, deer,

and fur skins were the chief articles the Indians

had to offer for barter (lA2y p. 3^).

Hunting districts or grounds were therefore

the spatial limits of tribal authority vested

in the Indian chiefs. Evidently there were

boundaries to define the districts. That these

boundaries were not always definite may be

inferred from the friction among neighboring

tribes. There were instances, however, in

which boundaries were defined by markers.

When d'Iberville and his party ascended the

9
Mississippi River in 1699, they noticed on the

first bluffs a large red pole about 30 feet high,

decorated with bear and fish heads. They

learned that the pole represented a marker to

divide the hunting grounds of the Bayougoula

Indians from those of the Houmas. Among the

Indians, the pole was known as the Istrouma,

or Red Pole, which the French translated into

Baton Rouge. Thus, the approximate site of

the pole is marked, and the French rendition of

the name is preserved in the name of the capital

of Louisiana (96, p, 17).

Farther west on the prairies and plains, most

of the Indians were nomads, who used land only

as an open hunting ground. The grassland was

the natural range of the buffalo, which roamed

over the open country in immense herds. As

game animals, buffaloes were easy to hunt, and

before the white man arrived on the scene, their

reproductive capacity more than satisfied the

needs of the Indians. The chroniclers of

Coronado's expedition (1540-42) reported that

the Indians "in the country where the cows are"

did not plant corn. These writers noted also

that the migratory habits of the Indians were

conditioned by the erratic, and no doubt to

some extent seasonal, movement of the buffaloes. Several tribes, however, had villages on

the Missouri and Platte Rivers and also grew

some crops {102, pp. 608, 622, 870).

Colonial Period

The Spanish Grants

A more effective use of the land on the

Atlantic coast began with the arrival of European colonists, who brought with them their

more advanced knowledge of agricultural skills,

their seeds and implements, and, in addition,

their concepts of property rights and individual

land ownership safeguarded by legal provisions.

Their immediate task was to establish themselves on the land and to improve it so that it

would yield a living for themselves and their

families. In so doing, they opened a new

chapter in the history of land utilization in

America.

Settlement started in Florida in the second

half of the 16th century. Farther north it did

not get underway until a century later. One of

the first acts of the colonists usually was to

locate on the land and acquire title to it,

although the method of acquiring title and the

acreage an individual could claim were not

uniform among the colonial powers.

The Spanish crown, applying the law of the

Indies to Florida, granted land in peonias and

caballerías, that is, the grants were proportionate to the rank of the individual. A peon

or laborer received a lot for a house, enough

land to grow a crop, and pasture and woodland

10

for a given number of livestock; a caballero

received a larger lot and 5 times the acreage of

arable and pasture land received by a peon.

When, in 1763, Spain ceded Florida to Great

Britain, the British Government gave those

who preferred to emigrate 18 months in which

to dispose of their land holdings. Aside from

city lots, nothing remains of these old Spanish

land grants. Some Spanish grants from this

early period have survived in what is now

Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and California,

or the part of the West that was originally

penetrated and settled to some extent by the

Spaniards.

Land grants in Florida that were recognized

by the United States date from the British

occupation, 1763 to 1783, and from the second

Spanish occupation from 1783 until Florida

was ceded to the United States in 1819 (14^1).

Spain made no formal purchases of land

from the Indians. In the English and Dutch

colonies, settlement proceeded along different

lines. The Indians' right to occupancy of the

land was a collective right that was usually

recognized; it was extinguished only through

purchase from the Indians by the Colonial

Government or the settlers.

Settlement by Northern Europeans

Differences in conception of what the Indians'

rights were to land, possession of which was

claimed by European powers upon discovery,

provided a distinctive approach to settlement of

the land. Equally distinct were the policies and

practices pursued in the colonies of conveying

ownership rights of unoccupied land to private

parties. Large grants to proprietary governors

and trading companies which, in addition to

established colonies, functioned under the provisions of their own charters, enabled each to

adopt its own policy for disposal of the land.

These policies usually followed established

European patterns (60, p. 39).

In New England, tracts of land were at first

granted to individuals, but after 1629 more

definite rules of settlement were adopted to

''avoid all contentions twixt the adventurers."

Community settlements prevailed, but before a

plantation or community could be organized,

permission had to be obtained from the General

Court. Grants of land in common for settlement were made to commoners, or proprietors,

as they were called, as the responsible parties

of the community. The boundaries of the

grants were laid out. The land was divided and

allotted to settlers according to rules adopted

by the settlers themselves, which differed from

the policy used with towns. Lots were not

uniform in size. They varied with the personal

worth of individual settlers. As a rule, not all

the land within the townships was alienated at
the same time. Land that was not assigned to

the original settlers was used and held in

common and parcelled out later when the need

arose. Evidently, this was the prevailing procedure, although it was not always strictly

followed. After 1725, sales of land became

more general, and leading settlers were able

to obtain grants of land on which they did

not settle but from which they expected the

economic benefits of development (120, pp,

55-56; 69, p. 26).

Land division and allotment in the township

settlements were controlled by the community,

which comprised an area usually not more than

6 to 7 miles square, and frequently much less.

This type of land alienation produced continuity

of land ownership without overlapping claims

or interspersed gores of "no man's land.'' The

system was not so rigid in its aims or applications as to produce geometric uniformity in

the size and shape of lots, but its inñuence was

felt when the system of land division adopted

for the public domain was shaped (37).

The Dutch along the Hudson River had more

than one form of land tenure. At first, the

West India Company, as the colonizing agency,

promoted a seignorial type of settlement,

which consisted of large estates owned by the

"Patroons." Patroons divided their lands into

farms, erected farm buildings, and provided

implements and livestock for the settlers. The

settlers were tenants. Besides paying rent,

they had also to render certain service to the

patroon. After the exclusive privilege of the

West India Company to deed the land was

revoked in 1638, this was changed. A Dutch

colonist with 5 family members over 15 years

old could then claim 200 acres. Later, under

Stuyvesant, settlement in villages was encouraged. Agricultural land surrounding the villages was laid out. With this land frequently

went pasture rights in the village commons.

A different arrangement in land division was

introduced by the Huguenots, who settled in

the Valley of the Wallkill, where they founded

what is now New Paltz. These settlers had

bought from the Indians a tract of land of about

36,000 acres, title to which was confirmed by

the Governor in 1677. The agricultural land

was subdivided by the settlers into rectangular

lots, but some of the land near the village and

some of the more distant woodland was left in

commons, and for a time it was used in

common. These rectangular divisions of the

land are still in evidence (39), As a type of

land division, this was the forerunner of

a similar system used later in the western

territories.

Indiscriminate Settlement

Another form of settlement, which is sometimes referred to as the indiscriminate type of

settlement, took place in the mid-Atlantic and

southern colonies. Here there was no preconceived method of allocating the land. Settlement in these colonies started on the lands

most accessible from the ocean. These lands

lay along the shores of estuaries and the banks

of larger streams. Plantation owners of the

southern Coastal Plains usually acquired large

estates in these locations, as did the gentry for

their manors in the central colonies. The policy

of the proprietary governors of these colonies

as to the acquisition of large estates, however,

was not uniform. For instance, proportionately there are more manors in Maryland and

Virginia than in Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Large tracts of land were also sold to speculators who resold it to the settlers at a profit.

William Penn, as the proprietor of Pennsylvania and Delaware, was the largest landowner

in the New World. Of necessity, he was at the

same time Governor and sales promoter of his

domain. Land acquired in his colony was

deeded in his name. In 1682, soon after his

arrival in the colony, he established a land

office, which was charged with the sale of land.

According to his instructions, the land was to

be laid out in squares for community settlement.

His commissioners, however, found it easier to

accommodate individual buyers without adhering to a rigid system of land division. Except

for Philadelphia, the streets of which were laid

out by Penn himself, and Germantown, the

system of rectangular land division was not

generally applied in colonial Pennsylvania.

The land oñice functioned for a while, but as

time went on, it could not prevent immigrants

from moving westward and settling without

legal sanction in whatever spot on vacant land

they selected. William Penn's death almost

caused the land office to suspend operations

from 1718 to 1731. During this period, more

squatters than legitimate settlers entered the

back country. They established their claims

and rights to land ownership through occupancy. Some futile attempts were made to

dislodge them but after 1750, they were recognized by the proprietors. More land was sold

when the office resumed proper operations, but

the Revolution ended the disposal of proprietary

land (Í7, pp. 1-32),

Although systematic land division had been

proposed for Carolina and Georgia, preemption

of land in the southern colonies proceeded with

no attempt at conventionalized allocation of

sites. Colonists entered the higher grounds

from the east by following the waters or divides

upstream. Others, who came from the north,

followed the buffalo trails, which in turn became

roads. The Piedmont and the Appalachian

Valley received settlers in this way. Each

settler selected his homesite, which was usually

near a stream and far enough from his nearest

11
K)

From the old house to Abraham Irvin's

south 'Smiles and 312poles; from the samt

place iwrtíi to Hobt.Boyd'/Imiles and /ipoles

iOmi.aixd 6poles total NS

Fron a mile north, of ffie old hause to John. Dobbins

•Smiles and SOpoles; from the same place west

to Alen Alexander = 12 miles IS8poles

*ß '. J<f '. i/^ ^,„ Total ZO mi. ZifSpolas y20mX ZUSDOUS

10 • 12U "

- 8 ■■ 90 '

2 mi. súpoles west ofone mile and /¡poles north ofthe ola house is the center ofthe congnyation

From the 'Meeting House' follow the dotted line north till it

crosses the east-west line,- then follow the west dotted line

two miles and thirty four poles and you arrive at the

center of the congregation.

(At the'MeetingHouse', StatesviZU was located in l790,Jhe Cswt House,

' of IredeU Coun ty. N C.)

TRANSCRIPT OF A

MAP OF FOURTH CREEK CONGREGATION

BY WILLIAM SHARPE.ESQ.

1773

FIGURE 2.—This map shows how settlement and local government organization developed in the Carolina Piedmont. It

illustrates the centrality principle of organization of settlement. The concentric circles drawn around the determined

center of the community are spaced a mile apart. (Made available through the courtesy of Mr. Hugh H. Wooten:)
neighbor so that he would not encroach on his

neighbor's claim.

In obtaining title to the land, the purchaser

received from the Colonial government a warrant of survey for a stated acreage on prevailing terms. The warrant did not specify

location; it could be applied to any vacant,

unappropriated public land in the colony. A

boundary survey of the selected land had to

be made and presented, with the warrant of

survey, to the land office. If no valid protest

was registered within a certain time, the land

office then issued a patent to the land. The

boundaries on these land plats represented

chiefly compass lines run by inexperienced

surveyors. The line description started and

ended at the same point. These so called ''metes

and bounds'' surveys of the colonial period were

not accurate. Conflicting claims resulting from

this type of survey provide a continuing source

of litigation (69, p. 23).

Group settlement developed in places to permit mutual protection and collective counsel

and action. Frequently, more than one branch

of a family were represented in a group. Thus

group coherence was strengthened by ties of

kinship. Later, when local administrative units

were organized, these groups or congregations

served as nuclei for units. The formation and

location of such a group settlement is recorded

in figure 2. This unique document was made

by William Sharpe, an early settler in the

Piedmont, of North Carolina, who was a member of the Fourth Creek congregation. It

illustrates the grouping of the pioneer settlers; their names reveal to some extent their

family coiînections. It is also the first example

found in America of the application of the

centrality principle in organizing a community.

From this community, Iredell County evolved.

Statesville, its county seat, is located where the

old meetinghouse formerly stood.

Appalachians, the Colonial Frontier of Settlement

Settlement in these colonies was restricted to

the eastern slope of the mountains by Royal

Proclamation, but as the proclamation was

ambiguously worded, it was not taken seriously

by either the people or the colonial officials.

Indian traders, hunters, explorers, and adventurers entered the "country upon the western

waters" very early, but after 1774, settlers

arrived in bands and locateâ claims on the land.

Among the settlers were holders of military and

treasury warrants.

The restraining attitude of England toward

the movement of colonists westward across the

Appalachians was not shared by other European powers with colonies in America. Spanish

explorers, missionaries, and settlers coming

from Mexico had entered the Southwest in the

latter part of the 18th century, where they

established missions and settlements and received grants of land in scattered spots ; others

moved eastward into Texas where they established some colonies. Even earlier, Spanish

explorers and adventurers used Florida as a

starting point from which to push northward

and westward in their quest of the treasure

cities. The best known of these expeditions,

of course, is that of De Soto, who advanced

through what is now Georgia and the Carolinas into the Tennessee Valley, and from there

to the Mississippi. Although these Spanish

adventurers claimed for Spain the lands over

which they had traveled, the Spanish Government made no effort to settle and develop the

country.

Settlement Extended to Western Waters

More than a century later, the French, who

had settled on the St. Lawrence River, sent out

expeditions to explore the West. They wanted

especially to discover the transcontinental

waterway which the Indians had told them

existed. They explored the Great Lakes region

and the upper waters of the Mississippi, which

Marquette descended in 1673 to the confluence

of the Arkansas. It was left to LaSalle to

explore the Mississippi River to the Gulf. In

1683, in the name of King Louis XIV, he took

possession of the Mississippi River basin for

France, naming it Louisiana. French settlements grew up slowly near the mouth of the

river. The trading posts established earlier in

the Great Lakes country became colonies to

which others were added along the river and

the lakes. But French settlements were still

widely scattered when, in 1803, Louisiana was

bought by the United States from Napoleon for

$15,000,000.

The Spanish and French chapters in the

history of the United States have left enduring

impressions on land and people. The Spanish

and French names of settlements and natural

features are their legacy ; as are their patterns

of land ownership and land use. With the accession of the land by the United States, valid land

titles were accepted as issued by the former

governments, although as a rule, they do not

extend over large compact areas. In the publicdomain divisions of the land that followed, they

stand out as islands having their own land

divisions, of which the long-lot division is

characteristic of all French settlements (pis. 1

and 137). In themselves, the long-lot divisions

would be sufficient to identify French settlements even though the name has been changed.

An example is a town on Lake Erie in Michigan; it w^,s originally called Frenchtown but

was renamed Monroe in 1815.

471954 0-59-2 13
After the colonies attained their independence and the colonists assumed the responsibilities of government, the land question was

one of the first to need attention. The transAppalachian country west of Virginia to the

Ohio and the Mississippi was claimed by Virginia. Within this vast stretch of country,

even though settlers had established themselves and claims had been laid out, there was

no legal authority to issue valid titles to land

nor could conñicting claims be adjudicated.

To remedy this situation, the Virginia Assembly created the land courts in 1779. The western country was divided into 4 districts. For

each district, 4 commissioners were appointed

who acted as, and performed the duties of, an

ambulating land court. The records of the

land court for Kentucky County, which was

almost coextensive with the present State of

Kentucky, show that the term of the court

was 10 months. Meetings were held in forts,

churches, and meetinghouses; they were required to be advertised 20 days ahead. The

first session was held on October 13, 1779 ; the

last on April 26, 1780. Within this space of

about 6 months, which included time for travel

in a "hard winter,'' 8 sessions, lasting in all 79

days, were held in different parts of the county.

The claims adjudicated by the commissioners

during this time totaled more than 1,400, of

which 1,328, comprising in all 1,334,050 acres,

were allowed and for which certificates were

issued. These preemption claims were granted

as a result of settlement, for which 400 acres'

each were allowed. For improvement, 1,000

additional acres were granted, making 1,400

in all. In addition, other claims based on military warrants, treasury warrants, and other

surveys were located. Altogether, nearly 3.5

million acres, or more than an eighth of the

area of the State of Kentucky, were claimed in

1779 under some form of preemption (159),

The commissioners could not go to individual

settlers and verify the boundaries of their

claims. Adjudication of an average of 17

claims a day precluded such a procedure.

The land in what is now Tennessee was at

first attached to North Carolina. When North

Carolina ceded the western territory to Congress in 1784, and to the Federal Government

in 1790, it did so with the provision that all

land entries and military reservations made

under the authority of North Carolina would

remain valid. Therefore when Tennessee finally emerged as a State in 1796, it inherited

a complexity of land claims and settlement

schemes. Much land had been deeded in large

tracts to influential men and land companies;

North Carolina retained the military reservations and the right to additional land to compensate soldiers of the Revolution in case the

reservations could not accommodate the claims ;

Congress had some land reservations, which

were relinquished in 1823. Finally, Indians

still occupied some of the land and their claims

were not extinguished (1). As may be surmised, the landownership divisions that evolved

from these tangled claims are usually irregular.

Except for Indian lands, which were acquired

and divided later, regularity in lines is confined

to certain localities.

Defects of Colonial Land Surveys

With the advancement of settlement came

also a broadening of the preemption policy.

Sales and grants were extended to include the

headright system. Essentially, the headright

system provided that the head of a family could

claim a certain acreage for himself and, in

addition, a stated acreage for each member of

his family; servants were sometimes included.

The headright system was in operation in all the

seaboard colonies, but its vogue was greatest in

the South Atlantic colonies (60, pp, 19^-236).

All these methods of obtaining title to land

were loosely administered. In colonies in which

the indiscriminate method of settlement was

used, the land surveys were seldom verified in

the field, and conflicting claims to land through

overlapping were not unusual. Deeds to vacant

lands were issued rather freely, although some

colonies were more liberal than others in this

regard. This policy did not change at once

when the colonies attained statehood. Georgia,

in which the headright system was predominantly applied, furnishes an outstanding

example.

Only a belt along the ocean that extended

inland between the Savannah and the Altamaha-Oconee Rivers was occupied during the

colonial period. The counties established within

this belt are usually referred to as headright

counties in contrast to land-lot counties, which

were settled later. In the headright counties,

land was granted according to the size of the

settler's family but the grant could not exceed

1,000 acres. The granting of land with little

restraint in these counties resulted in conflicting claims. After a check of these colonial

grants, the Surveyor-General of Georgia on

June 17, 1839, furnished the State Legislature

with a statement in which he showed that "the

twenty-four counties existing in 1796 contained

actually 8,717,960 acres of land, whereas the

maps and records in the Surveyor-GeneraFs

office show that in these counties there had

been granted 29,097,866 acres'' (88, p. 57). The

report leaves little room for doubt th/it there

were weaknesses in the method of acquiring

title to land.

These brief notes on the prevailing customs

and procedures of acquiring land titles during

the colonial period represent examples selected

14
to illustrate the différent ways in which the

settlers occupied the land and acquired ownership of it. All of them fit into the general

picture of the times. There was a superabundance of vacant land that had little more than

a nominal value. No fixed policy of, or administrative machinery for, settlement existed in

the colonies to guide the settlers or to regulate

allocation of land.

Land titles could be obtained rather easily.

Anyone who was willing to settle in the wilderness and improve the land could obtain a

warrant for so many acres, select the land,

have it recorded, usually without having the

boundaries verified in the field, and pay quitrent. In some instances, even this formality

was ignored. Many settlers claimed the land

on which they had located, by virtue of occupancy and the improvements they had made.

In other instances, individuals and land companies obtained extensive tracts for speculative

purposes. They sold the land, not infrequently

the same land, to different settlers. Insecurity

of title, administrative difficulties, and legal

problems resulted. Boundary litigations were

frequent. When the public lands question was

debated in the House of Representatives of the

First Congress in Philadelphia, December 27,

1790, Elias Boudinot from New Jersey said

(1S3), "more money had been spent at law,

in disputes arising from that mode of settlement, in New Jersey than would have been

necessary to purchase all the land of the State."

Rectangular Land Division System of

the Public Domain

The Ordinance of 1785

The shortcomings of indiscriminate settlement were therefore known to the founding

fathers, who were confronted with a formidable

land question. A proposal that the original

States cede their western land to Congress was

made as early as 1778, 4 years before the provisional treaty of peace was signed. When in

the intervening years, the States ceded the

territory north of the Ohio and west to the

Mississippi to Congress, a system of alienating

public land that would avoid the trouble inherent in indiscriminate settlement became a

necessity. A Congressional Committee of five,

with Thomas Jefferson as chairman, was

charged with the task of preparing a survey

ordinance that would divide the public lands

preparatory to settlement and development. A

draft of the ordinance (3i, p, 178) was reported

from the Committee on May 7, 1784. "This

ordinance required the public land to be divided into 'hundreds' of ten geographical miles

square, and those again to be subdivided into

lots of one mile square each, to be numbered

from 1 to 100, commencing in the northwestern

corner and counting from west to east and

from east to west continuously; . . ." The

ordinance was tabled for a year. Then, after

debate and amendment, it was passed by Congress on May 20, 1785. In the amendment, the

original 10-mile-square ''hundreds'' of the rectangular-land-division system were reduced to

6-mile-square townships.

Surveying began in the same year in Ohio,

where the Ohio River crosses the Pennsylvania

State boundary. From this point, a line was

run westward which served as the northern

limit of the "First Seven Ranges" that were to

be laid out. As a result of difficulties in the

field, the original provision of true alinement

of the division lines in an east-west and northsouth direction was disregarded, and compass

bearings were used instead. Only the exteriors

of the townships were laid out in the field at

first. The subdivisions were drawn in on the

plats ; in the field, they were added later. Ohio

provided the proving ground of the rectangular

system of land division. Tract by tract, as the

land was ceded by the Indians through purchase, it was divided into townships 6 miles

square, and subdivided into sections, although

this was not always strictly in conformity with

the system. In Symmes Purchase between the

Miamis, the land was divided into sections and

townships, but the townships were numbered

from west to east instead of north to south.

Only in the survey of the last tract in northwestern Ohio was the system applied in its

final form.

The Ordinance Modified

The western boundary of Ohio had been surveyed in 1817; it was used as the controlling

or principal meridian for northwestern Ohio.

From the principal meridian, a parallel or base

line was run to the east, thus dividing northwestern Ohio into two tracts in which the

ranges and townships were numbered and identified as located NE or SE with reference to

the principal meridian and base line (110,

p. 288), In a rectangular coordinate system,

the initial point, or the point of origin as it is

now called, is the starting point of the surveys

from which the principal meridian and the base

line are run true io astronomical bearing

north-south and east-west. These lines control

the system. '

Indiana was the first State in which all the

divisions of public land, except the wedgeshaped portion of Congress lands along the

Ohio boundary, were controlled by one principal meridian and one base-line parallel. The

land surveys of the remaining parts of the

Northwest Territory, of Mississippi, Alabama,

and Florida in the South, the land that was

ceded^ to the United States in 1803 in the

Louisiana Purchase, and the later accessions

15
RECTANGULAR COORDINATED LAND DIVISION SYSTEM

T-u TOWNSHIP DIAGRAM

WESTT ^Township

R = Range I

Base

T^N

TIN X0\

^ Line

point

RIE

TIS

T4S

SOUTH

EAST

-22-

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE NEC. 58(5)-2487 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE

FIGURE 3.—The 6-mile-square township as shown here was the standard unit of land division named in the Land

Ordinance of 1785 for the Northwest Territory. It remains the standard unit for accessions to the public

domain. But the intersection of lines may depart from the right angle, and acreages of sections vary. Identification of townships and ranges and numbering of mile-square subdivisions were not always consistent.

of territories across the Rockies to the Pacific

Coast, are controlled by these systems of coordinates. But as these land divisions were

marked on the ground before the land was

settled, these survey districts, to which the

individual sj^stems of coordination apply and

for which they provide the legal identification

of the land divisions, usually are not identified

with States. Some of them embrace several

States. The smallest applied to about 12 survey

townships. A survey township comprises 36

square miles, each of which is numbered as

indicated in figure 3.

In the "Seven Ranges" on the Ohio, where

the land-division surveys started, and in the

district "Between the Miamis," the numeration

of townships and ranges, as well as that of

sections, does not conform to the system as it

developed later. The land-division system, with

its rectangular coordinated township identification and numbering of sections as indicated

in figure 3, reached its final stage in Indiana.

From then on, no further modifications were

introduced. All federal land surveys west

and south of Ohio were executed in harmony

with the principle of the system, although no

uniform standard of accuracy was obtained.

The rectangular system of land division as

used by the General Land Office is confined to

the public domain belonging to the Federal

Government. Because of this, the States that

originated from the public domain are often

referred to as the public-domain States.

Comparison with Roman System

The rectangular coordinated land-division

system used in the United States is essentially

the same as the one used by the Romans in their

colonies more than 2,000 years ago. Size of

unit squares, confinement of rectangular coordination to the area of a colony, and terminology

are the chief differences. To the Romans, the

centuria of 200 jugera (125 acres) was the

coordination unit. In the United States, the

coordination unit is the township of 36 square

miles (23,000 acres). What is now called the

initial point or point of origin of the system

was called the Umbilicus by the Romans. The

axis of ordinates, now known as the principal

meridian, was called by the Romans Cardo

Maximus, and the axis of abscissas, which we

call the base line, was known to the Romans as

the Decumanus Maximus (78).

One advantage of the rectangular landdivision system is that the exact location of a

subdivision tract can be described with a few

symbols. For instance, the only 160-acre tract

of land in the United States that can be identified as the SW Quarter, Sec. 35, T. 11 N, R. 5 E,

of the second principal meridian is the quartersection that forms the southwest corner of

Shelby County, Ind.

The extensive and varied uses of the rectangular land-division system in the United

States are largely responsible for the interest

manifested in the history of the system. A

good many papers have been written on the

16
subject, some with the intention of giving

credit to the inventor of the system. So far,

apparently, none has appeared in which the

whole range of development of the system from

its origin to its present application has received

the attention it deserves. As an institution, it

had an important part in the evolution of

scientific principles and their application in

civilization. In this instance, the evolution of

rectangular coordination, as we know it, is tied

directly to the rectangular land-division system

and consequently is not the invention of one

individual.

An adequate treatment of the history of the

rectangular land-division system—its origin,

evolution, and transmission—^would be beyond

the scope of this publication. Briefly, however,

a rectangular land-division system was used in

China more than 3,000 years ago, and some

centuries later one was used by the Romans.

Evidently, it is the latter that we have inherited. For purposes of colonization, the Romans

divided the land into squares by means of an

institutionalized rectangular coordinated system. Each square was called a centuria, and

land so divided was referred to by the agrimensori as agro centuriatio—land divided into

hundreds. The squares of the land divisions

of some of the colonies founded by the Romans

in the Po Valley in the second century B. C,

notably those near Padua, Cesena, and Lugo,

are to a considerable extent still in use today

The origin of our rectangular land-division

system provided for some time a fertile field

of conjectural writing. No statement of its

ancestry accompanied its introduction. The

connection between the Roman system and ours

may be perceived, however, if we remember

that in 1784, Thomas Jefferson called these

divisions in his draft of the survey ordinance

"hundreds," the Latin centuriae. The deduction based on the etymological relationship of

the two terms receives additional support from

the fact that by that time Latin texts describing

the system were fairly accessible to students.

By the middle of the 18th century, 20 printed

editions of extant parts or whole texts, written

by the Roman land surveyors, were issued in

different cities of Europe (11), This was at a

time when new lands in America were being

opened up and settled, thus providing opportunities for its application. Systems of this

kind were actually propounded by William Penn

for Pennsylvania, John Locke for Carolina, and

Robert Montgomery for Georgia, and all these

proposals were made in Europe.

For the national system, evidence pointing

in the same direction was recently uncovered

through intensive study of historical records.

According to these findings. Dr. Hugh Williamson, who had studied at Utrecht and was the

spokesman of the congressional delegation from

North Carolina, had suggested the application

of rectangular land division to Jefferson. Although this important discovery may not constitute absolute proof of the Roman connection

with our system, it clears up an old and moot

question as to Jefferson's source of information

(97).

Rectangular Land Divisions of NonFederal or Reserved Public Lands

Many of the older States—^the 13 original

States, Maine, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Texas

—had considerable acreages of unsettled and

unappropriated land when they joined the

Union. To avoid the confusion created by

indiscriminate settlement, the national example

was followed and the remaining land was

divided into rectangular tracts or lots. Ohio,

which is usually considered a public domain

State, also has some diverse rectangular divisions. Except possibly for one or two small

areas, however, the rectangular land divisions

laid out by the State governments themselves

or by land companies or Federal agencies did

not conform entirely to the system used by the

General Land Office.

The Northern States

Although these lands were divided into rectangular tracts, the organization of the system

differed between districts. In some instances,

the divisions are similar to those of the national

system. The lands of the Ohio Company were

divided into 6-mile-square townships, but irregular lots are not infrequently found in the

subdivisions. The lands included in the Connecticut Western Reserve and the United States

Military Districts in Ohio were laid out into

5-mile-square townships, quartered, and then

subdivided into mainly rectangular tracts but

without the regularity of the General Land

Office system (110).

The unoccupied land in northwestern Pennsylvania was used largely to compensate the

soldiers of the Pennsylvania line in the Revolution. For this purpose, the land was divided

into rectangular parcels of specified sizes, and

the parcels were numbered to be assigned by

lottery (28).

In New York, large acreages of the western

lands were still unoccupied and in dispute

between Massachusetts and New York at the

end of the Revolution. Commissioners from

these States, who met at Hartford, Conn., on

December 16, 1786, succeeded in reconciling

the claims. It was agreed that New York

would retain jurisdiction over the territory

while the rights to preemption of the land

remained with Massachusetts. Payments on

large tracts of land sold by Massachusetts were

later defaulted, so that much of the land re17
verted to Massachusetts. Eventually, Robert

Morris, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, obtained title to most of the land

through purchase deeds from Massachusetts.

He then employed surveyors to lay out the land

into half-mile-square lots and arrange them in

ranges and towns. Morris sold the land to

persons in New York who acted as trustees of

Amsterdam merchants, usually referred to as

the Holland Land Company, who in turn sold

the land to individual settlers (8, J^S). Only a

part of the State-owned land was subdivided

by the Surveyor General of the State.

In Maine, rectangular land divisions were

used while Maine was still a district of Massachusetts. A few ranges were laid out in the

south-central part of Maine, and the 50 townships in the eastern part were surveyed and

disposed of by Massachusetts by lottery from

1786 to 1788 {98, p. U)>

During the colonial period, settlement in

Maine was largely confined to the southern

part, although some French pioneers had settled

in the bend of the St. John River in the north.

Much of the land was unoccupied when, in 1820,

Maine was admitted to the Union. Although

in the process, Maine as a sovereign State

obtained jurisdictional authority in its domain,

it did not get complete preemption rights over

all public lands in the State. For half of the

unappropriated public land, or somewhat more

than 8 million acres, title remained vested in

the Bay State. Massachusetts offered to sell

the land to Maine for $188,922, or about 4 cents

an acre, but Maine thought the price too high

and declined the offer.

From then on, both States had land for sale

in Maine, but in order to segregate the land

assigned to Massachusetts from the land belonging to Maine, it had to be surveyed. Accordingly, the land was laid out in ranges and

townships chiefly 6 miles square, but no uniform

system was used. For many of the townships,

only the exteriors were surveyed. Lands were

then classified as timber, settling, or waste

lands. Each State had a land agent who supervised the sale of the lands. After 1832, the two

land agents acted jointly in sales of land until

about 1854, when Maine acquired from Massachusetts the remaining share of more than a

million acres. Much of the land was alienated

in large tracts by lumber operators; some was

retained by the State; but most of it has remained forest land. It constitutes one of the

principal forest regions in eastern United

States (162, pp. 4,8-65; 156, pp. 5-13).

The Southern States

In Tennessee and Kentucky, most of the land

was settled indiscriminately, but even after

both territories had become States (Kentucky

in 1792, Tennessee in 1796), tracts of land were

occupied by Indians. All land located between

the Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers and north

of the present Alabama-Tennessee line was still

Indian land. This tract was bought from the

Chickasaw Indians by the Federal Government

in 1818. Andrew Jackson and Governor Shelby

of Kentucky negotiated the purchase as Government agents, and even now this part of Tennessee and Kentucky is sometimes referred to

as the Jackson Purchase. The tract was divided

into ranges and townships governed by principal meridians and base lines. One of these

coordination systems is confined to Kentucky's

part of the purchase, in which most of the

townships are also subdivided into sections as

in the national system. But a good many parcels scattered throughout the area do not form

part of the system, especially in the northern

part of the tract.

In Tennessee, the purchase area was divided

into two belts. Each has a principal meridian

and the southern boundary functioned as the

base line to govern the layout of ranges and

6-mile-square sections, as the townships are

here called. Although parcels of land are

mainly rectangular and are oriented with the

exterior of the sections, they are irregular and

are not derived from a uniform subdivision of

the sections. In southeastern Tennessee, the

area still held by the Cherokees when Tennessee

acquired statehood was later laid out into

ranges and 6-mile-square townships, divided

into mile-square lots. Two systems were used.

In one, the ranges are oriented north to south :

in the other they are alined with the trend of

the mountains in a northeast to southwest

direction {24, 157, 137).

Georgia's colonial charter included the back

country to the Mississippi River. The land that

extended beyond the present western boundary

was ceded to the United States in 1802, and

included in the national public domain. Only

about 23 percent of the present State of Georgia

was settled at the turn of the 18th century. The

rest was still occupied by Indians. From 1802

to 1835, in a number of treaties, the Indians

ceded the rights of occupancy, and the lands

were opened for settlement. In doing this, the

old headright system was displaced by the

lottery system. As a result of this change, the

land had to be surveyed and divided into lots

before a title could be issued. This was done

on the rectangular principle. Land districts

were established by the original counties and

were subdivided into Jots; districts and lots

were numbered. Although these lots were

squares, they were not uniform in size; they

varied with the supposed value of the land. In

the Cherokee Gold Districts, along the foothills

of the mountains, the lots comprised only 40

acres. In other districts, they were squares of

160, 202.5, 250, or, the largest, 490 acres.

18
Although these are the cited acreages, the

squares frequently departed from them by a

few acres more or less. The surveying was not

precise and was done in a comparatively short

time, between 1804 and 1832 (83, 56).

Texas

Texas differs in historical background, methods of settlement, and systems of land division,

from the States on the Atlantic coast. Changes

in its government were rather frequent during

the first half of the last century. Texas was

part of the Spanish province until 1821 when

Mexico gained its independence. After that,

Texas formed part of the State of Coahuila

and Texas, as a State of the Mexican Federal

Republic. At the successful conclusion of the

revolution in 1836, Texas became an independent republic, which was admitted into the

Union in 1845.

Only a few settlers entered Texas under the

Spanish regime. Greater efforts to attract

settlers were made during the Mexican and

independent periods. Empresarios contracted

with the government to colonize assigned areas

in the eastern and southern parts of the State.

The colonists they brought in were mainly

Americans and Germans. When Texas entered

the Union, the treaty agreement specified that

Texas remain responsible for the public debt

incurred by the late republic but retain the

public lands that belonged to the former government. However, a large share of its western

land claim was sold to the Federal Government

in 1850 and thus became part of the national

public domain.

Millions of acres of public lands remained at

the disposal of the Texas legislature ; they were

used freely for the development of the State.

Land was donated to railway companies,

internal-improvement companies, and soldiers

and their families. Large acreages were

granted to educational institutions. The erection of the capitol building was paid for in

public lands, and land scrip was sold by the

Republic and the State. But the land had to

be surveyed before title could be conveyed to

these organizations and the people. Usually,

this was done in blocks, which were subdivided

into mile-square sections. The sections were

numbered for identification (82).

Land ownership maps show that not all the

blocks and their subdivisions have a northsouth to east-west orientation of boundary

lines. Nor is there any sharp line of separation

between the land divided into squares and the

irregular divisions. Tracts with irregular

divisions are scattered among the blocks of

regular divisions, while inversely, tracts of

regular rectangular divisions are found in the

area of the older settlement. This arrangement

of land divisions over much of the older settlement area in Texas showed more order

than is found in some areas of indiscriminate

settlement in the East (119).

Other Areas

In addition to the areas divided by the States

into rectangular divisions, a few tracts of

diverse origin were subdivided in this way.

Two of these tracts are in Florida—one in

Wakulla County and the other in Gadsden

County. They are part of the extensive Forbes'

Purchase. In the rest of this purchase, the

land-office system was expanded. Two more

such tracts are found in Indiana—the Vincennes and Clark's Grants made to soldiers of

the Revolution. Another is the Beaufort district on the coast of South Carolina, which was

divided into land parcels by means of the rectangular coordinate method during the War

Between the States for the United States Direct

Tax Commission for the District of South

Carolina (163, pp, il'J^2)J

The largest numbers of these rectangular

division lines are oriented north-south and

east-west. However, there are exceptions,

some of which have been noted. To permit a

more complete picture, it will be well to review

the situation. In Maine, the lottery land in the

southeastern part of the State, and the towns

in the south-central part of the State, are all

oriented in a northwest-southeast and northeast-southwest direction. This is true also of

the two military grants in Indiana. One of the

land-division systems in southeastern Tennessee

received its orientation from the trend of the

mountains. In Georgia, the land divisions between the Ocmulgee and Oconee Rivers derived

their orientation from the trend of the rivers.

The tract in Wakulla County, Fla., has its divisions oriented by the general direction of the

coast, and the one in Gadsden County by the

direction of the River Hurricane. Land blocks

with boundary lines that deviate from the

north-south and east-west orientation are

found in a number of places in Texas, mainly

scattered among the other blocks of rectangular

division. In the national system, theoretically

at least, all dividing lines are supposed to

be in true north-south and east-west direction, except in eastern Ohio, where magnetic

orientation was substituted for astronomical

determination.

The land ownership patterns found in the

United States are closely related to the period,

and to the prevailing administrative provisions

in the area when settlement took place.

Settlement by townships is confined to New

England. Indiscriminate settlement, in which

selected tracts were deeded to settlers by the

grantees of the crown, the colonial government,

^ A set of the plans of Beaufort District is on file in

the National Archives, Washington, D. C.

19
to

o

LAND DIVISION TYPES

^^^^ Land settled and subdivided by towns

Unregulated land divisions

Section, township and range divisions

as employed by U.S. General Land Office

Various rectangular land division systems

employed by the States and land companies

Without land divisions

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE NEC. 58(5)-2488 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE

FIGURE 4.—The areal spread of the different land-division types is illustrated on the map. To distinguish control areas of particular meridians and base

lines within the national rectangular division system, different directions of the same space ruling are applied.
land companies, or the newly formed States, is

found in eastern United States. The French

and Spanish settlements in Louisiana, Texas,

the Southwestern States and some other scattered places, must be included in this category.

Divisions into rectangular sections, townships and ranges were applied in the Federal

public domain; such land comprises approximately 69 percent of the total area of continental United States. The survey has not yet

been completed. There still are some national

parks and forests, or lands of low grazing

capacity, in which township and section lines

are gradually being added to close the open

gaps and provide land divisions for management purposes. In addition, more than 9 percent of the total land area, mainly in the older

States, has been divided by applying some other

rectangular system of land division.

The areal distinctions in the application of

land divisions are indicated in figure 4.

Acquisition and Disposal of

Public-Domain Lands

With the recognition of the United States as

an autonomous country in 1782, the outlook of

the people changed. Movement across the

mountains and settlement on the ''western

waters'' were encouraged. In fact, soldiers'

claims to land compensations could be satisfied

only beyond the western fringe of settlement.

Most of the States on the Atlantic slope still

had vacant land in the mountains, some of

which was used as bounty land. The TransAppalachian States, which were created from

the territories of Virginia and North Carolina,

had prior commitments to accommodate the

bounty claims of soldiers. Military land reserves also were set aside for that purpose.

Soldier bounty warrants were recognized in

locating on Federal public-domain lands.

Soldiers, however, were only a small fraction

of the many people who started to move to new

land across the mountains. Many settlers from

the East joined the movement to the West.

With the opening of the national public domain

for settlement, the westward movement of

pioneers gained momentum. The increasing

number of immigrants from Europe who came

to America to establish new homes added to it.

The Northwest Territory

The northern section of the national public

domain was at that time known as the Northwest Territory. It consisted of the treaty lands,

which were bounded on the west by the Mississippi, on the south by the Ohio, and on the

north by the Great Lakes. The Eastern States

had conflicting claims to these lands as a result

of inconsistencies in the colonial charters.

These lands were ceded to the Federal Government. Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and a part of Minnesota were organized

from this territory. The southern section of

the Federal public domain comprised Georgia's

claim to the land as far west as the Mississippi,

which also was ceded with a stipulated compensation to the Federal Government. It provided the major part of the land of what is now

Alabama and Mississippi. These territories

and the land belonging to the individual States

—in all some 844,000 square miles—constituted

the original 1783 treaty area of the United

States, which had the Mississippi as its western

boundary.

Later Accessions

The western boundary, demarked by the Mississippi River, did not last long; however, in

1803, France sold the rest of the Mississippi

Basin to the United States (this was the

Louisiana Purchase), which slightly more than

doubled the original land area of the Union.

Within the half-century that followed, a number of other accessions occurred. These accessions included Florida, the Oregon Country, the

Pacific Southwest, and Texas. They ended with

the Gadsden Purchase from Mexico in 1853.

They are summarized and their location and

areal extent is illustrated in figure 5.

There were a number of settlements on land

grants in Florida, Louisiana, New Mexico, and

the Pacific Southwest, but the acreage acquired

by these settlers was comparatively small.

Parts of Texas had been settled and developed

to some extent before it joined the Union, but

in so doing, the State did not relinquish its claim

to the vacant land. Only the land originally

claimed but located outside the present border

of Texas was acquired through purchase by the

Federal Government and included in the public

domain.

Land Disposal

Settlement, development, and disposal of land

in such a vast estate did not follow a preconceived plan or policy that could be applied

consistently throughout the area. Actually, at

the time of acquisition the western country

was not sufficiently well-known to permit the

evolving of a definite policy adapted to the many

different natural conditions to be found there.

The general knowledge of the country was

derived from the reports of parties from this

and other countries who had started to explore

the West from the Pacific or had made their

way by land across the continent (S5). Nor

was there a modern antecedent to serve as an

example and to provide the guiding experience

for formulation of a settlement and development policy that would fit such a vast acreage

of diverse virgin land. Under these circumstances, the initial policy—to dispose of the land

21
ACQUISITION OF THE TERRITORY OF THE UNITED STATES

AND ORIGIN OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN

EXCLUSIVE OF ALASKA»* AND ISLAND POSSESSIONS

TERRITORY OF THE ORIGINAL THIRTEEN STATES

(Treaty of 1783 with Great Britain)

i State cessions to the United States! 1781,1784

(1788), 1785 1786 1787 and 1802

-^^ijvç^i'^ North Carolina cession to the United States, 1790,

te^x^-^u United States cessions to Tennessee, 1806 and 1846

The Original Thirteen States (presentanea) plus the Distr.of Columbia

(Maryland cession to the United States, 1788) and the new

States created out of their territory not ceded to the

United States: Vermont (1791). Kentucky (1792), Maine

(1820), and West Virginia (1863)

TERRITORY OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS

(Annexation of Texas, 1845)

United States purchase from Texas**, 1850

State of Texas, (present area)

The nucleus of

the public domain

* Addition to the

public domain

OTHER ACQUISITIONS BY THE UN TED STATES

Louisiana Purchase from France", 1803

(as delimited in 1819)

'^a'^M'Á Basin of the Red River of the North**

(Historians differ as to date of acquisition)

Treaty with Spain (cession of Florida and adjustment of claims)** 1819

Oregon Compromise with Great Britain** 1846

Cession from Mexico** 1848

Gadsden Purchase from Mexico*tl853

Map BLMW-LR-2

APyhnteff

FIGURE 5.—The land acquired by, and at the disposal of, the Federal Government during the first 70 years of its

existence inclusive of the lands ceded and purchased from the States, is usually referred to as the public

domain. It comprised 2i/4 million square miles of land. Much of it was virgin land for which the tribal use

rights of the Indians had not been extinguished.

for settlement and development through sale—

received its orientation more from the depleted

condition of the United States Treasury in the

early days of the Nation than from any other

consideration.

Although the expected revenue from the sale

of the land did not materialize, the system remained in operation for a long time, but other

systems and policies for disposal of the land

were soon added to permit settlement and development of the country. The cash sale policy for

revenue purposes was modified in 1800 by the

credit system. It was modified still further in

1841, by the preemption law that permitted

settlers to obtain patents to the land by complying with the prescribed length of residence on

it, the cultivation requirements, and payment

of the statutory minimum price for the land.

Paying for the land they had to improve, however, was not popular with the settlers, and the

free homestead law was enacted in 1862. Under

this act, a settler could locate and claim 160

acres of public land and receive a patent to it

by complying with the requirements, which

included the building of a house, living on the

land for 5 years, and cultivating a certain

acreage. In 1910, when homesteading reached

the semiarid country, the original homestead

act was amended by the Enlarged Homestead

Act, which permitted settlers to file a claim and

receive a patent to 360 acres of dry-farming

land. In 1916, the acreage was again increased

in the Stockraising Homestead Act, which allowed 640 acres of desert grazing land to be

patented to a settler.

Somewhat different in aims and requirements

was the Desert Land Act of 1877. Under this

act, desert land capable of irrigation could be

bought at the rate of $1.25 per acre by an

entryman who could demonstrate that he was

able to irrigate and cultivate the land. He was

not required to live on it.

22
These are the principal laws that affected the

settlers directly. The land alienated under

these laws to homesteaders, through sale or

grant, totaled approximately 285 million acres.

This does not include military bounty land and

private land claims, which add to 95 million

acres. Title to an aggregate of 333 million

acres was obtained largely by individuals

under various laws and mainly through sales,

which included preemption sales, scrip location,

sales of townsites and lots, timber and stone

land, timber-culture land, desert land for

irrigation, and so on {127, p, 68).

Land Grants

The public land-disposal policies of the Federal Government, however, were not confined

to conveyance of land titles to individuals. To

e^cpedite and support the development of the

country, considerable acreages were granted

to the States, Territories, arid railroad companies. Land was granted as a subsidy to

public institutions, and as an assistance to

public works. For the common schools in the

Territories and States created from the public

domain, 77 million acres were granted to the

States. All States also received public-domain

land totaling nearly 17 million acres, as a subvention to colleges and other schools ; the school

lands of the Eastern States were necessarily

located in the Western States and Territories,

as no public land was available in the East.

Tracts of public-domain land comprising nearly

65 million acres also were granted to the States

for the building of railroads, wagon roads,

canals, river improvements, and other purposes.

Finally, under the Swamp Land Act of 1849-50,

the transferring of ownership of swamplands

in the central and southern parts of the public

domain to the States began. This act was later

expanded to include swampland in the northern

and western public-domain States. The nearly

65 million acres of land granted to the States

under these acts had to be reclaimed for cultural use. When combined, the land grants to

the States totaled approximately 224 million

acres.

Grants of land were also made directly to

the railroad companies. The lack of transportation facilities in these early days was a handicap to the development of the country. This

was especially true for the West. Months were

required for a train of covered wagons to cross

the country. The situation was somewhat better in the East. Navigable rivers entered many

parts of the country. To these were added a

number of canals. However, large areas were

without access to water transportation. Settlers

had to depend on wagon transport over rough

roads to reach markets. Transportation facilities were a prime necessity for the opening of

the country. As an aid to construction of

railroads, nearly 92 million acres of publicdomain land were granted to the companies

after 1850. This does not include the land

granted that reverted to the Government.

The distribution of this land is illustrated in

figure 6.

Along the Illinois Central, the zone granted

on each side of the road was 6 miles wide,

whereas along the Central and Union Pacific

Railroads, it was 20 miles wide. Along the

Atlantic and Pacific, as well as the Northern

Pacific, the zone extended for 40 miles on each

side of the road. For many of the railroads,

the zones were expanded considerably to provide additional acreage for selection of land in

lieu of occupied tracts within the zone of the

grant {Si, p. 949). Much of the railroad land

has been sold, but the transcontinental railroads

still own a few million acres, which consist

mainly of grazing land.

The Remaining Public Domain

Taken together, title to more than a billion

acres of the original Federal public domain has

either passed into private ownership or has

been granted to the States. This does not

include the Indian reservations. When the

Indians ceded their tribal rights to the land to

the Federal Government, they were not left

homeless. More than 57 million acres, most of

which were part of the national public domain,

were set aside as Indian reservations. A few

small Indian reservations were established in

the Eastern States also.

What remains of the national public domain

is land that is either arid, rough, or mountainous. Little of it is suitable for homesteading

and cultivation. The arid segment consists of

large compact areas which for many years were

used as free open range. Competitive grazing

affected both the ranchers and the land itself.

Through overstocking, the range became severely depleted. The most valuable forage

plants of the range, mainly grasses, are the

first to become scarce or to disappear from the

plant cover altogether. This, in turn, greatly

reduces the grazing capacity of the land (136).

As a conservation measure and to bring order

into use of the public domain as grazing land,

the Taylor Act was passed in 1934 and amended

in 1936. Under its provisions, the remaining

unappropriated and unreserved public-domain

land was withdrawn from homesteading and

sale for purposes of classification, and the

grazing land was organized into grazing districts. These districts comprise roughly 266

million acres, which include 95 million acres

of non-Federal lands administered by agreement or through lease. Permits are required

for grazing in these districts.

Conservation to preserve the use value of

public lands that could not be homesteaded in

23
FEDERAL LAND GRANTS FOR RAILROADS

ACREAGE GRANTED

The shaded areas are in proportion to the

acreage received by the railroads. They

do not ahow the exact location of the granted lands,

vfhich in general formed a checkerboard pattern

Chart BLM'W-LR'ZO

FIGURE 6. The public-domain land granted to the railroads included alternate sections in a zone from 6 to 40

miles wide on both sides of the road. As the land granted to the roads within these zones usually consisted

of the odd-numbered sections of townships, a checkerboard pattern of ownership was produced. Later, the

grants were reduced because the railroads did not meet all statutory requirements.

the interest of public welfare was not new.

Forest land in public ownership had been as

much abused as the open range. To bring these

forests under proper management, legislation

passed in 1891 authorized the setting aside of

public-domain forests as reserves. The authority was later expanded to acquire eastern forest

lands through purchase. Most of these Federal

forest lands are now included in the national

forests and serve multiple purposes. Production of timber on a sustained-yield basis is

frequently not the most important purpose. In

the West, the bulk of the forests are on

mountainous land, which receives the higher

precipitation and furnishes water for the arid

lowland. Protection of watersheds to prevent

erosion is therefore important. Summer grazing is regulated through permits to preserve

the grazing capacity and with it to protect the

functional value as watersheds. Recreation and

wildlife shelter are secondary uses. In round

figures, the Forest Service manages 161 million

acres of national forests, of which 140 million

were reserved from the public domain and the

rest is mainly purchased land. In addition,

nearly 48 million acres of national forests are

administered by other agencies.

National Parks, Monuments, and Wildlife Sanctuaries

Conservation was the leading motive in the

establishment of national parks, monuments,

and wildlife sanctuaries. National parks were

set aside to preserve the scenic values of outstanding natural features for the enjoyment

of citizens and future generations. National

monuments are dedicated to the preservation of

areas having historic or scientific interest. The

preservation of the native fauna and flora of

these park and monument areas is essential

24
in maintaining the use values for which they

were established. Some of the natural wonders

of the world are represented in these reservations. The 4,000- to 5,000-foot chasm known

as the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, Yellowstone Park with its geysers, canyons and waterfalls, the peaks, lakes and glaciers of the

Rockies, the natural bridges of Utah, the 2,000-

to 3,000-year-old Sequoia trees of the Sierra

Nevada, the prehistoric ruins of Pueblo cities

and cliff dwellings of the mesas (pi. 109), and

many others are included. As they were conceived as recreational areas, the parks had to be

developed in that direction and made accessible

to the public. Roads to and within the parks

had to be built and accommodations for visitors

provided. More than 2 million people visit the

nearly 14 million acres of park and monument

reservations yearly.

Wildlife reservations are intended to protect

and preserve the wildlife species of the country. Land utilized for these purposes usually

has little value for other uses. In the eastern

United States, it is chiefly swampland (pi.

156) and in the West, it is of low grazing

value. Migratory bird refuges are frequently

combined with reservoirs (pi. 88) and other

bodies of water, although in some instances,

special water-control structures have been installed (pi. 85). In all, as of 1955, approximately 4 million acres were contained in these

reservations.^

Very little of the Federal public domain is

now unreserved and open for homesteading or

for sale. Other types of Federal reserves have

been set up for national defense, soil conservation, reclamation, mineral reservation, and

other purposes. These reserves are admin^

istered by the different agencies of the Federal

Government in accordance with the purpose

for which they were established. More administrative difficulties are encountered in some

regions than in others.^ These difficulties stem

mainly from the complicated pattern of land

ownership and administrative units that has

evolved in the absence of a * Veil-planned land

policy in keeping with the physical nature of

the different regions'* (29, p, 15). Any revenue

derived from the use of public lands is shared

^ The acreage figures that pertain to the national

public domain and the Federal land reserves are based

mainly on the latest publications of the Bureau of Land

Management, Department of the Interior (127, 107,

108).

MAJOR USES OF FEDERAL RURAL LAND,

BY STATES, 1950

MAJOR LAND USES

Miscellaneous Farming

\ and

^ ^^-^^ ^ grazing

Special

uses

N^Forest

and

woodland

{NOT GRAZED)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE NEG. 58(5)-2496 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE

FIGURE 7.—The pie charts for each State represent the proportion of land in Federal ownership. When the country

as a whole is considered, 23.5 percent of the land is administered by the Federal Government. The combination

of the two major uses of this land—farming and grazing—may be misleading, as the cropland ratio is only

about 1 percent, too small to be represented.

25
proportionately by the States and counties in

which it is collected. The relative distribution

of Federal-owned rural land by States, and its

major uses are illustrated in figure 7.

Most of the federally administered land lies

in the 11 Western States. The proportion is

highest in Nevada, where 84 percent of the land

has remained in Federal ownership. In the

older Eastern States, where title to most of the

land was at first transferred to private owners,

the Federal Government bought the land. It

is now mainly in national forests and parks.

State-Owned Lands

Title to some public land is also vested in

the States, and the land is administered by the

States. The origin of State-owned land can be

traced to several sources. When the colonies

became States, they acquired title to the unappropriated land within their boundaries, and

some of this land has remained in their possession. In the public-domain States, large land

grants were made to the States by the Federal

Government to promote development of transportation and communication facilities and in

support of schools and other institutions. The

swamplands in the public domain were deeded

to the States for reclamation. Much of this

land, particularly in the Western States, has

remained in State ownership. In addition, a

considerable acreage of privately owned land,

mainly cutover land in the Lake States, has

reverted to State ownership through tax foreclosure, and some of the land has been acquired

through purchase for particular purposes. In

1950, the States owned a little more than 80

million acres (29, p. 50).

To some extent, the administration of Stateowned lands is comparable to the national pattern, in which purpose of ownership and use

capability of the land are the deciding factors.

Accordingly, we find State forests. State parks,

recreational areas, fish and game reserves,

grazing areas, militia camps, and so on. Administrative problems occur in connection with

State-owned lands as they do with Federal

lands. They are mainly the result of widely

scattered tracts. In the Western States, where

State-owned land usually is identified with

certain numbered sections in a survey township, the problem stems from the method of

transferring public land to the States, and it is

MAJOR USES OF STATE-OWNED LAND, 1950

MAJOR LAND USES

Miscellaneous Farming

* ^ and

^ ^^ ^ grazing

Foresf

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE NEC. 58(5)-2503 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE

FIGURE 8.—The acreage of State-owned land in this country is a fifth of the acreage federally owned. Pie charts

show distribution by States. Public-domain States have the largest acreages. The importance of cropland is

magnified because it is combined with grazing lands. Of the 80 million State-owned acres, 3 percent is used

for crops, 55 percent for grazing, and 22 percent for forest-woodland. The rest is in other uses.

26
probably more troublesome here than in the

East. As a rule, these sections are neither

large enough nor located favorably enough in

regard to water supply to provide an operational unit in themselves. They can be used

only in conjunction with adjacent land. Distribution of acreage and major uses by States

are represented in figure 8.

Expansion of Settlement and Development in the United States

Geographic location played its part in the

colonization and development of the United

States from the beginning, and it is an important economic factor now. The large and

sheltered harbors on both sides of the North

Atlantic, and the somewhat shorter sailing

distances between them than between South

Atlantic ports were decisive in veering the

stream of settlers from Europe in that direction. The rate of growth of the different

colonies supports this conclusion.

Early Settlements

The first settlement on the Atlantic coast,

made in 1565 by the Spaniards at St. Augustine,

Fla., was also the southernmost colony and the

slowest to grow. The second, made by the

London Company on the James River in Virginia in 1607, which was followed by other

settlements on the shores and tributaries of

Chesapeake Bay, expanded rather slowly.

When the North Atlantic colonies were opened

for settlement shortly thereafter, their growth

was accelerated by the frequent sailings from

Europe to these colonies. These ports functioned as a funnel through which the main

stream of settlers from Europe entered America and from which they spread over the

adjacent country. The population in these

colonies increased rapidly, so that by the end

of the 17th century the population and towns

of the North Atlantic colonies were larger than

those elsewhere on the Atlantic seaboard. Once

this leading position was obtained, it was not

relinquished by these colonies nor by the ensuing States. Nor have more recent developments

changed the situation. The coastal belt between

Boston and Baltimore has developed into the

most densely populated area of its size in the

country.

Comparable figures for equally spaced intervals of the colonial period are not readily available. No census was taken in the colonies.

What we know now of the increase in the

population of the colonies is the result of research and interpretation of material from

many sources (52). The first census of population was taken in 1790, by the United States.

It is only from then on that we can retrace the

progress made from decade to decade in the

settlement of the country.

Westward Thrust

The attraction of the wide empty spaces in

the Central Plains, the frequently not-so-favorable characteristics for arable use of the land

on the eastern slopes of the Appalachians, and

the ever-increasing population, provided a combination of factors that engendered the westward movement of the people. But not all

sections of the older areas of settlement contributed to the movement to the same extent.

Advancing the frontier of settlement westward

was far from a uniform expansion movement,

nor was it a well-organized and directed effort

for the placement of people on the land. The

pioneers usually chose the routes they followed

and the land on which they settled. Exceptions

were largely confined to the older States, where

lotteries were sometimes used to decide land

ownership.

The westward thrust of people was stronger

in the North than in the South. In the northern

sector, the movement received considerable

impetus from the continuous stream of people

arriving from Europe. Most of these immigrants arrived with the intention of joining the

movement to the west in search of land on

which they could establish new homes. Westward expansion of settlement can be taken,

however, only as indicating a general direction.

After the pioneers had crossed the mountain

saddles, they usually followed the rivers and

valleys and spread out in the basins and plains.

Sometimes they left unsettled islands for late

comers. The first settlers preferred river banks

and adjacent uplands. The rivers provided

transportation, and from the trees growing

near them, even in the grassy plains, the settlers

could build their homes and obtain the fuel they

needed. The more fertile prairies of the plains

were occupied by later arrivals.

In the deep South, the movement was inhibited for want of people. In 1790, Georgia was

only partly settled along the eastern border.

Here the frontier moved westward very slowly.

The neighboring State to the west, Alabama,

received its settlers from both north and south.

For years, the largest unsettled island was the

one along the Alabama-Georgia boundary.

Thus some of the more desirable land in the

Coastal Plain of Georgia was settled last. The

land-division surveys in the districts west of

the Flint River were finished in 1827, and the

remaining land was disposed of by lottery in

the same year. This procedure was followed

also in the more hilly and mountainous districts

of northern Georgia in 1832 (56).

Settlement gained momentum when the advance settlers reached the plains. By then,

settlement and development of the newly acquired public domain had formed a realistic

partnership in the minds of the people. Various

activities preceded actual settlement. On the

27
national public domain, and in most parts of

the country where the rectangular land-division

system was used, surveyors usually were there

before the settlers. Hunters, Indian traders,

herdsmen, members of military expeditions, and

explorers, also acted as forerunners and advance guards of the settlers. Like the Indians,

they relied for subsistence chiefly on the natural

resources of the country. On the plains, the

herds of buffalo provided meat for their use

and skins and robes as articles of trade. Later,

buffalo hunting became an organized commercial enterprise of both Indians and whites.

Hunting for meat was degraded into slaughter,

and the extensive herds that roamed the plains

were soon reduced. As settlement advanced,

the buffaloes retreated. Toward the end of the

19th century, when white men had taken possession of the plains, the buffalo, as a free

roaming animal, had disappeared as a scenic

landscape feature. All that is left of the species

are a few individual animals in captivity on

reservations. Without the existence of the

buffalo, development of the Plains would have

been slower (65).

Activities in furtherance of the country's

development were also in evidence behind the

frontier of settlement. The frontier, which was

defined by the census as the population-density

limit of 2 settlers to the square mile, was in its

nature only a conceptional line. If we assume

that the 2 persons belonged to the same homestead, and the preemption right was 160 acres,

it would mean that only a fourth of the land

was actually settled. With this as a premise,

it is reasonably safe to conclude that for some

time settlement behind the frontier was more

active than settlement ahead of the frontier.

Settlement, however, was only the initial step

in development. Settlers who had located on

the land could not remain isolated members of

society. They were followed closely by churches

and schools. Fast-growing cities and towns

sprang up over the country. To bring and keep

the people in contact with each other, and to

make the resources and products of one part

of the country available to others, improved

transportation and communication facilities

were essential. At first, these facilities were

provided by the navigable rivers, wagon

trails, and canals. Railroad construction

started in the East, and in 1830, some lines

were open to traffic. Forty years later, the

first transcontinental railroad was in operation.

Opening of the West

In the Southwest, some land grants and

settlements had been made by Spain. But it

was only after the West became United States

Territory, in 1846 and 1848, that the crosscountry movement of pioneers gained momentum and the economic development of the West

28

began. The Mormons were among the first to

found a colony in Utah in 1847. Shortly after

that, the "Forty-niners'' started their journeys

across the mountains and basins to the Pacific

Coast. The covered wagons in which they

traveled, however, were slow and the way was

hazardous. Travel to the West was greatly

facilitated a few years later when, in 1869, the

central transcontinental railroad was opened.

It was soon followed by other trunklines. These

railroads pierced the frontier and ran ahead of

settlement. Travel facilities accelerated greatly

the westward movement of people, although it

was clear by then that the West could not be

settled and developed as had the East or the

Great Plains.

In pioneer reports from the West, the semiarid high plains and the country between the

Rockies and the Sierra-Cascade Mountains were

frequently cited as the Great American Desert.

Precipitation on the high plains and in the

basins was too low to permit arable use of the

land, and the mountains and ranges were

rugged. Water was scarce ; in its early stages,

settlement depended on a readily available

supply of water for irrigation. Only in the

Pacific Valleys, the Columbia Plateau, and on

some benches and mesas at the foot of the

Rockies is dryland farming possible. Most of

the land in the West can be used only for open

grazing. The grazing capacity of the range

per areal unit was not high in its original state,

and it has since been reduced considerably

through overgrazing. Severe natural restrictions preclude homesteading of the land that

now makes up most of the remaining public

domain (136),

The westward movement of the frontier and

occupation of the land during the first 100

years of existence of the United States was the

prelude to its economic development. Except

for some tardy areas, the frontier disappeared

near the end of the 19th century, although this

did not terminate the westward movement of

people. Strong migratory currents from East

to West, which again originated mainly in the

Northern States, were reported in the early

decades of the 20th century (117). Internal

movements of people in response to areal

changes in economic conditions are still in

evidence. The progress of settlement made

from 1790 to 1890 is illustrated in figure 9.

Natural Environment Changed Through Settlement

The arrival of the settlers also marked the

beginning of changes in the natural environment. Houses were built ; woods were cleared ;

and sod was broken. How these activities were

carried on depended on the individual who

acquired the land and where the homestead was

located. When the land was divided into rectangular sections or lots, these divisions usually
EXPANSION OF SETTLEMENT

The isochronal lines indicare by decades the limits

of settlement with a population density of approximately

two or more persons per square mile.

Based mainly on Report on Population of the United States

Eleventh Census: 1890; Parti. Washington, D.C. 1895.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE NEG. 58(5)-2489 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE

FIGURE 9 —The westward movement of the frontier from 1790 to 1890, when it came to an end, is shown on the map by means of isochronal lines. The

frontier of settlement was not a terminal line, but a ragged fringe. The part of the Great Plains that is now Oklahoma was not opened to settlement

until 1889. In the West, settlement was confined for many years to places where water was readily available.

to
had more than one function in the development

of the country.

The main purpose was to provide a way to

describe and identify land divisions for title

registrations and transfers. As these divisions

were run systematically and regularly, they

had much to do with shaping the landownership

pattern. In defining real property, the rectangular divisions necessarily provided also the

foundation of the land-tax roll for assessors.

On public grazing and forest land, they provided the definitions of site locations in the

administration and management of the land.

The rectangular divisions not only controlled

land ownership ; for a large part of the country

they provided the grid from which the ground

plan of the cultural landscape evolved. In the

Central Plains in particular, where much of the

land is used for crops, the roads on which

farmsteads are located usually follow section

lines. The farms on both sides contributed half

of the rights-of-way of the roads (pis. 38, 51,

62). In agreement with the grid lines, internal

farm divisions follow the same direction. This

has produced a rectangular block design formed

by the spatial arrangement of fields and pastures, in which scattered farmsteads provide

the outstanding features of the landscape. A

scattered type of settlement, in contrast to the

village community type prevalent in other parts

of this country and many parts of the world,

is closely related to the land-division system.

Development of Urban Communities

Rural settlement and cultural use of the land

are not the only features of the landscape that

reflect the original rectangular land-division

system. The system also influenced development of urban communities. Most of the cities

and towns that sprang up on sites on which the

land had been divided into townships and sections have preserved the original divisions.

The grid of the lanjd survey provided the spatial

order from which the ground plan of the city

evolved. Additional streets, parallel to section

lines, were fitted into the land-division system,

and now constitute the city plan. Chicago, as

an example of this type, is used to illustrate

city development on a rectangular ground plan

(fig. 10).

As may be noted, the map of the developed

city is confined to the Loop District of Chicago.

Notwithstanding this limitation, the concentration of houses, streets, railroads and their

terminals, canals, harbor facilities, and the

solidly built-up business district suggest the

size of the city. The accomplishment of a

development of this magnitude within such a

short space of time is necessarily associated

with the growth rate of the city itself. In 1850,

Chicago had a population of almost 30,000

inhabitants. In 1950, the urbanized population

of Greater Chicago within Cook County alone

was close to 4,500,000 people, Because of this

phenomenal rate of growth Chicago is not

typical of other cities in the United States.

Although it is unique in this respect, nevertheless the city is symptomatic of the trend toward

urbanization in the United States.

Although most cities whose streets are laid

out on a rectangular pattern are located on

what was formerly the public domain, they are

not confined exclusively to the public domain.

Some of the eastern cities founded in colonial

times have the same characteristics. As previously mentioned, Philadelphia was one of the

first cities in which the rectangular divisions

were applied. Baltimore and Savannah were

others. But in none of the cities that was laid

out on the rectangular principle have the

builders adhered as closely to the classic model

as in the plan of Washington, D. C. In that

city, the Capitol building marks the point of

origin of the rectangular coordinate system.

The axes intersect each other at right angles

and divide the city into four parts. Identification of streets and numbering of buildings are

controlled by it. In this respect, the capital no

doubt furnished an example for other cities in

which the numbering of buildings follows the

same principle.

Reactions to Land Divisions

An additional function of the rectangular

land-division system takes us into the field of

political geography. Over much of the country

where rectangular divisions are in effect, the

survey lines marked on the ground have furnished the boundary lines of political divisions.

In some instances, even State boundaries are

identified with the system. The boundaries between northwestern Ohio and Indiana, between

South Dakota and Wyoming, and between

Oklahoma and New Mexico, and the northern

boundary of the Texas panhandle are examples

of this kind. These lines were used most extensively, however, in delimiting and organizing

the counties. In some States, county boundaries

and boundaries of minor civil divisions are

based almost exclusively on rectangular land

divisions. This is not true in western Texas.

Because counties in western Texas show considerable regularity as to size and are rectangular with uniform orientation, one may

conclude that county boundaries also are derived from the land divisions. In this instance,

however, the county boundaries and property

lines do not coincide.

The use of the rectangular land-division

system on such an extensive scale, and with the

many functional applications it has found in

the United States, has no parallel in any other

country. To a considerable extent, it controls

the movements of the population. It provides

a frame of reference for orientation and, to

30
Fractional Township 33 North of the base fine Ran^e /4 East of the 3^principal Meridian

Except thafpart ofSection /6, which lies on the left or ¡(Vest side of the Chicaqo river.

B

The notes used- in the construction of this Plat

arc contained in the field books numbered as follotws Viz

of the South Bndy in Book 146.

- • West &NoHhBdy Book 147.

Subdivision and Meanders m

Book N* 781.

none of said notes State at what Variation the Survey»

were executed. Nor do the notes of the Exterior boundaries

refer the Surveys thereof to any principal Meridian.

Book 146 is »without Signature. 147 is not signed, the name üohn Walls'

IS written on the first paffe. Book 781 is sigped John Walls.

The Meanders of Lake Michigan, along fraci Section 10. commenct

at the corner of frac* Stetions 10* 15. and run Thence along th« East Side

of fract Section 10' c I.

North 2 West 14,50

North 4 West 8 29

North SfeWest II. 89

To the mouth of the Chicago River

Thence, across the Mouth of Chicago River'

•North 29tast4 4r

"North 10 East 14.05:

North 4Westl9 00:

• North 14 Weat 1043. To the comer of fracti Sech 3&I0.

The Meanders of the Chicago river, were commençai on -the South Side

of Said river, at its Mouth' (but the note* do not give any other Connection

between Said meanders and the Meander« of the Lake).and were run

'Thence up Said river to the fork,» in Section 29, which according to the rwtea

is'considered as high up as it is navigable' 'Thence across the river due î4orth 2*23'

Thence down the Korth Side of said nver* 'To the nr>outh of Chicago river on the

North Side' but the notes give on connection between the Said Meanders of the

Chicago and the Meanders of the Lake

In the construction of this Plat, and in estimating tt>e areas ofthe fradlof

fraci Section 10, the Meanders of the South bank of the Chicago ai « oonaklered as

having commenced at the point, which (in the Meander» of the Lake) is tailed

the mouth of Chicago river" and the course N.29E.4.47chnf mentioned above

IS supposed to termmate at the upper point of the Mouth of the Chicago and said

termination is taken as the point to which the Meanders of the Horth 3ide of

the Chicago Close, as stated above

As the Meanders of the Chicago are taken on farther then its forks in the

S W. ouarter of Section 29.the area (158 53 acres) set down in said quarter

includes the part thereof which lies North of said river, as well as that

which lies to the South

Suryeyor Office St Louis 4» of May 1836.

The true area of the ¿W fracti % of Sec lO (Sof Chicago river) is 57^fe acre»

the «quantity (7569 acres) formerly set therein being erroneous is this day

crossed over with ink. O fy .^ ñ

^ i

II

f Q p

Scale of40 chains to an Inch

Surveyor Office St Louis 16'^ March /83I.

The oSoi^e /»/s// of fracH Totñfnshio N?33 N.. R. 14 East is conformable to the fie/d no/es (as expiomed in ihe above maroina/remarks) ofth« surveys

afraid Township, contained in field books, numbered respecfively 146-14-1 and 781, on file in fhis office

SurvTofPub Ids

»MS

The

Syrvey'^ Office. \

5f Louis 28i^ May me)

above plat sMemen^ ond certificabas are correctly copied from At^ 47 ofIllinois plats in this Office.

FIGURE 10.—The two plats pictured here represent the same tract of land with a time

lapse of almost 100 years. In the interval, an uninhabited prairie spot was converted

into a metropolis. On the second plat, only the larger engineering structures can be

detected. Section and quarter-section lines were converted into streets; the blocks

formed have the same east-west and north-south orientation as the section lines.

(Plat B from U. S. Geological Survey.)

O «y. ^aunanàen/^
this extent, it has become a part of American

life. Americans are accustomed to the rectangular spatial order, but visitors from abroad

are frequently impressed by it; they regard it

as a distinctly American characteristic.

The system has both excellent qualities and

shortcomings. Its greatest advantage when

properly applied consists of the ease and certitude with which a tract of land can be defined

and identified as to size and location in instruments of land ownership. It has also produced

continuity in land ownership without overlapping claims or interspersed gores of no-man's

land.

In regard to land use, especially when the

land is used for crop production, it cannot be

said that the rectangular land-division system

is uniformly well adapted to all situations.

On level and slightly rolling land, the system

nrovides compact operating units that can

readily be organized into separate fields. On

strongly rolling and hilly grounds, this advantage IS less apparent and there are disadvantages also. In order to conserve the soil, the

farm plan should take into account the lay of

the land. The steepest parts should be left in

woods or pasture. The cultivated fields should

be adjusted to the contour of the slopes and

cultivated accordingly (pis. 48, 55, 57). In

many places, this has not been done and severe

damage from erosion has resulted.

From economic and social viewpoints, the

scattered type of settlement produced by the

division of the land into squares has certain

inherent disadvantages. Economic disadvantages are mainly the result of the inevitable

increase in mileage over which community

service must be furnished to isolated farms.

Mileage of roads, telephone and electric powerlines, mail delivery, and school bus service could

have been reduced by using long-lot rather than

square divisions for farms (6),

The mode of settlement and division of the

land were the first historical events that left a

lasting impression on the land and produced

regional distinctions in land use patterns. Advances in technology and modification of social

and economic conditions have also affected land

use profoundly, particularly the distribution

and extent of land needed for the higher uses.

Changes in land use that have resulted from

these innovations form a part of land use

history. Changes of this kind have affected

both urban and rural land requirements and

land use patterns.

Shifts in Land Use

Shifts in major rural land uses have occurred

since the first settlement of the country, but

only after the West was opened for occupation

did they become of regional significance. Many

settlers first chose sites that were poorly

adapted to agriculture. Later, they moved

to the Central Plains and western valleys.

Within the area of early settlement, particularly in the northeastern mountains, the

many abandoned farm sites have left their

imprint on the present land use pattern. Much

of the former cropland has reverted to woodland or is used only for pasture (pis. 3, 7). A

somewhat similar movement has recently taken

place in parts of the South, where considerable

acreages of cropland have been abandoned.

Dilapidated farmsteads and old fields furnish

mute evidence of the change in the land use

picture (pis. 129, 134).

Although in the East the acreage of cropland

has been greatly reduced, an equally remarkable expansion occurred in the plains and

valleys of the West, largely because of technological implementation and improved management of water. On the semiarid western plains,

an operator could hardly have cultivated enough

land with the old implements to produce an

adequate economic return from small grains.

Cultivation and harvesting with machines have

eliminated this handicap to a large extent,

although occasional crop failures must still be

taken into account. Large fields are the rule

in this part of the country (pis. 62, 63, 65, 74).

In the arid or semiarid valleys of the West,

application of water through irrigation has

changed markedly the land use potentiality and

with it the land use pattern (pis. 79, 82, 84,

88, 106, 107, 108, 124).

At times, changes in land use have been

introduced without proper account taken of the

use potentiality of the land, or of the actual or

future needs of the people. Statistically, these

changes are recorded as shifts in the relative

acreages used as cropland, grazing land, and

forest. For a long time, clearing forested land

for agricultural use exceeded in extent the

commercial cutting of forest for lumber. But

the demand for lumber increased rapidly, and

most of the eastern forest land was cut over

faster than it was taken up by settlers. Actually, a large part of the forest land is physically unsuited to use as cropland. Nonetheless,

our natural timber wealth has been depleted

severely. A similar situation prevailed on the

grazing lands of the West. Much of the western

public domain can be used only for grazing.

It was used in common for that purpose by

competing herdsmen. In this instance, overgrazing reduced the carrying capacity of the

range.

Exploitation of our land resources in crop,

grazing, and forest land was characteristic of

the early stages in national development. To

some extent, it was unavoidable in the process

of opening up the country and settling the

people on the land. In time, however, warning

31
signs of danger ahead appeared. The movement

for conservation resulted. How conservation

has been implemented to some extent through

inclusion of iand in reservations and districts

was mentioned previously.

Inclusion of certain lands in reservations is

an effective device of conservation, but it can

be applied only to publicly owned land. It does

not reach the land that is at the same time the

most valuable and the most vulnerable to destruction—the Cultivated land in farms. Conservation measures to protect the Nation and

its farmers were ultimately extended to cultivated land. In the main, these measures are

designed to combat erosion damage to the

land and thus to conserve its productive

capacity. Use of erosion-control measures is

voluntary. Such preventive cultural practices

as contour plowing, strip cropping, and terracing provide a characteristic distinction in

the land use pattern that is usually associated

with soil-conservation districts (pis. 18, 114,

126, 149, 163).

Changes in the land use pattern are not

confined to rural uses. In more recent times,

impressive changes have occurred in urban

land uses, particularly on the urban fringes of

the larger population centers. With the increase in population and its urbanization, cities

are expanding rapidly. Rural and urban settlements, which in antiquity and the Middle

Ages were separated by walls, are gradually

merging. With modern transportation facilities, feasible commuting distances have increased enough to permit many people to live

in the country and work in the city. As a

result, in most places, no distinct line of separation exists. In the transition zone, urban

and rural land uses are frequently interspersed

(pi. 8). Expansion and improvement of roads

and of air transportation have carried the

urban influence far into rural areas. Frequently, urban elements in the form of nonfarm

residences, factories, and landing fields are

injected into the otherwise rural land use

pattern.

These are the more important historical

events and influences that are expressed in

existing land use associations and patterns.

Others that are not mentioned here may have

produced equally pronounced distinctions. For

instance, reclamation in its two major formsirrigation and drainage—and mineral exploitation, which affects surface use, have their

historical backgrounds. Usually, however, they

are closely allied with other factors. They are

discussed later in this report.

Physical Conditions and Land Use

It is an old and tried dictum that land use

capability for production of food, feed, and

fibei: is closely related to the prevailing physical

conditions of the area. The distributional

characteristics of major land uses in the United

States demonstrate its truth. The higher uses

are usually concentrated in areas in which

natural conditions for cultural use of the land

are most favorable. In other areas, physical

limitations may be so severe as to exclude them

altogether or make them possible only when

human ingenuity can overcome the drawbacks.

Land relief, temperature, precipitation and

water supply, soils, and natural vegetation, each

contribute in varying degree toward shaping

the natural environment, or the so-called biological complex, to which plant and animal life

adjusts itself. That the natural environment

is so complex is due not only to the many

physical factors involved but to the fact that

these factors are causatively related among

themselves. In extensive areas, however, one

or the other of these factors plays a dominant

part and thus eliminates one or more major

uses of land. Although these factors are related, they must be considered separately.

Land Relief

The spatial arrangement of mountains and

plains had its origin in distant geologic ages,

which are usually expressed in millions of

years. During these ea^rlier geologic periods,

the tectonic forces were more active; it was

then that the volcanic activities and crustal

movements produced the highlands from which

rock weathering and solution, runoff, and erosion carved the mountain massifs, chains, and

plateaus that flank the country in the East and

West (fig. 11). In this respect, the alinement

of our mountain systems is distinct from those

of the rest of the world in that their trend is

mainly in a north to south direction. Rainfall,

natural vegetation, and certain soil characteristics derive their orientation largely from the

physiographic background.

Rock Formations Affect Land Use

Aside from the broader aspects of the influence of geology and physiography on the

country as a whole, they are also of local

significance. Landforms, which provide the

background of the more localized activity of

man, frequently show distinctions derived from

the nature of the surface rocks, to which land

use also had to be adjusted. Whether the surface rock is limestone, shale, sandstone, or one

of the igneous or metamorphic rocks is reflected

not only in terms of soil texture but often in

surface configuration as well. In many places,

abrupt changes in rock formations have caused

32
LAND RELIEF or THE UNITED STATES

f| N. - ^

::ííÎ3_-_»1

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE NEG. 55(9) -749 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE

FIGURE 11 In its major aspects of mountains and plains, plateaus and basins, land relief furnishes the key to an understanding of the spatial distribution

of climatic phases, natural vegetation, soils, and tillable land. The mountain ranges on the east and the west and the extensive plains in the center

of the country, where much of the cropland lies, provide the physiographic setting for the use of our land.

CO

CO
almost equally sharp changes in surface conditions, which are also recorded in the use of

the land (pis. 27, 111, 159).

A contact line of different bedrock formations

may also mark a change in the slope gradient

of the surface configuration. In these instances,

rock outcrop and slope are related, but slope is

frequently a more effective agent than the

underlying geologic formation, either in adding

to or in detracting from the desirability of the

land for arable use. Actually, slope may be the

chief factor in determining the use capability

of the land. In their extremes of occurrence,

slope characteristics are frequently strong

enough to preclude cropland use altogether, or

at least until corrective measures have been

applied. Drainage improvements may need to

be installed on level land, and terracing and

contouring may be required on strongly sloping

land to prevent soil depletion through erosion.

Frequently, on steeply sloping land the soil

mantle is too thin and rocky for cultural use.

All of these slope features are sometimes closely

associated in the natural environment, and to a

considerable extent, they determine the land

use patterns. Some reaction of land use to

slope conditions can be detected on most of the

aerial photographs included. (See especially

pis. 9, 10, 13, 15, 16, 23, 28, 29, 34, 35, 43, 44,

48, 53, 56, 90, 92, 106, 115, 123, 130, 131, 139,

141, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 158, 161, 164.)

Location of minerals is closely associated

with the geologic background of an area, but

only when they are known and exploited do

these deposits affect the surface use of the

land. This is true particularly when the deposits are near the surface and are mined in

open-pit operations, as is done in strip coal

mining or the mining of pumice in New Mexico

and Oregon, and as was done in placer mining

operations in California. Strip mining usually

prevents further use of the land for cultivated

crops (pi. 17). The total acreage affected by

strip coal mining, as compared with the total

acreage of cropland in the United States, is

relatively sfnall, but it increases at the rate of

10,000 to 15,000 acres each year. Because of

its exploitive nature, strip mining frequently

affects the economy of the community (lí9).

Oil and gas fields and other mining operations,

although not so destructive as strip mining,

interfere with the use of the land for other

purposes and reduce its productivity while they

are in operation (pi. 14).

Glaciation

The relation of preglacial geology to physiography has been explored and described by

many authors (il, il, Jf5, 80). The case is

somewhat different for the Glacial or Pleistocene period, which comprises the events of an

estimated million years, according to some

geologists, and up to 2 million years according

to others (i8, p. 1; 6U, p. 16), The forces that

were active during this period, and that, so to

speak, put the finishing touches on the major

topographic features, have been the subject of

intensive research and study only in comparatively recent years. The facts that have come

to light are fascinating. But as a rule, the

geomorphic features of the landscape whose

origin can be traced back to the glacial period

do not have the overall implications for land

use capability that the mountains and plains

have. In some regions, however, these features

have not been negligible in shaping the

conditions for cultural use of the land.

The glaciated area extends over much of the

North American continent. Virtually all of

Canada, but only about 700,000 square miles,

or 24 percent, of the land area of continental

United States, is included in the area. Obliteration and modification of old landforms and

formation of new ones, however, are not confined to the glaciated area. Glaciation itself

was the result of climatic changes that must

have produced reactions over the entire earth,

but which were most effective in a broad belt

adjacent to the drift border, the periglacial

zone. The repeated accumulation and recession

of immense ice masses near the poles also

caused an oscillation of the land and sea level

with a corresponding advancing and retreating

of the shorelines along the Atlantic and Gulf

coasts. Quaternary marine deposits indicate

the extent to which these lowlands were submerged at times. In the glaciated region, the

periglacial zone and the submerged coastal

belts are soil and topographic features attributed to glacial, wind, and water action during

this period that either improved or reduced the

use capability of the land. The extent to which

the land was glaciated and the area that was

submerged for a considerable time are shown

in figure 12.

The Glaciated Region

Modifications of the preglacial topography in

the glaciated areas are due mainly to the action

of the glaciers themselves. The abrasive and

grinding force of these slowly moving ice

masses, which were estimated to have had

thicknesses in places of more than 2,000 feet,

must have been enormous. This is evident

from the rounded mountain slopes in New

England, and the striae (grooves) engraved on

the rocks. In the plains, the deposit of drift

material, in the form of boulders, gravel, sand,

and clay, obliterated the old topography in

many places by filling in established drainage

channels. Some of the main streams were

obstructed and diverted so that they had to cut

the new channels (pi. 74).

34
CO

en

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE NEC. 58(5)-2490 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE

FIGURE 12.—Broadly speaking, the Ohio and Missouri Rivers are frequently considered as forming the southern limits of ice invasion. Outside the glacial

limits extensive lakes, of which only small remnants remain, formed during pluvial periods. Pleistocene marine deposits along the Atlantic and Gulf

coasts reveal that the sea level fluctuated considerably with the advancement and retreat of the ice sheets.
Accumulations of drift material, frequently

of considerable thickness, were left by retreating glaciers over most of the glaciated plains.

Where the extensive glacial lakes had formed,

these deposits were partly reworked and lake

deposits were added (pi. 40). As ground

moraines arid lake plains usually have smooth

surfaces with inadequate drainage, large areas

had to be drained. The larger part of the land

improved by artificial drainage lies in the glaciated region (pis. 45, 54). But not all wet

lands can be drained economically. Over much

of the younger drift plains, the dissected

stream-erosion type of topography has not yet

developed. The surface is billowy and there

are shallow depressions. On the open plains

are areas with many such depressions, or kettleholes. These kettleholes resulted from the melting of imbedded ice blocks left by the retreating

glaciers in the drift, or were produced as pools

in shallow runoff channels made by the waters

of the melting glaciers (pi. 71). In themselves,

the kettleholes may not be large but because of

their numbers, they reduce the cultivable acreage materially. Also, because of their irregular

distribution, they are a serious obstacle to field

operations. This again reduces the acreage

available for cropping. In the Great Lakes

forest region, where rainfall is fairly heavy,

development of drainage was retarded because

of glaciation, and many lakes and swamps are

found there.

Glaciers also produced landforms that protrude above the general level of the country and

thereby affect the use of the land. Terminal

moraines in the form of low ridge belts are

accumulations of drift and till along the convex

edge of the glaciers. The surface configuration

of these moraine belts consists of a random

arrangement of knolls with more or less sharply

defined depressions interspersed. Terminal

moraines may be so rough that the land cannot

be used for cultivated crops. In more moderate

instances, only the scattered smoother portions

can be so used (pi. 69). Eskers are curved,

low, narrow ridges composed of stratified drift

deposited by water within steeply walled channels or tunnels in the ice. More prevalent than

eskers are drumlins, which are low, oval-shaped

hillocks more or less densely arranged over

broad fields. As a rule, drumlins are about 60

to 100 feet high and up to a mile or more long ;

they were shaped by the moving ice with the

major axis in the direction of the flow. Slope

and elevation in these areas usually are not

sufficiently prominent to act as a detriment to

use of the land for cultivated crops, but fields

must be adjusted to the trend of the drumlins

(pi. 47). In less developed areas, fields are

scattered among the drumlins.

Outwash plains and glacial lakebeds are also

associated with glaciation. Outwash plains and

deltas consist of stratified sediments deposited

by waters that issued from melting glaciers.

Most of these deposits comprise the coarser

particles of drift, which sometimes approach

pure sand. In these instances, the land is not

suited to cropping (pi. 49). Glacial lakebeds,

as a rule, have heavier soils and smoother surfaces, and consequently a higher use value. In

places along the beachlines of these lakes, cultivated fields are adjusted to the orientation of

the beaches (pi. 70).

Land Use Affected by Glaciation

Distinctive landforms and soils are the main

surface features of the glaciated area that have

affected land use to a considerable extent. In

distribution and spatial arrangement, these two

distinctions may be closely associated within

restricted areas, or in extensive tracts one or

the other may determine the land use capability.

Land use necessarily shows man's reaction to

these conditions and this has produced diversity

and contrasts in land use patterns.

Immature relief and drainage development

on late till and morainic deposits are the order

over extensive areas. What the relief would be

without glaciation can be perceived when the

driftless area in southwestern Wisconsin is

considered. The driftless area appears as an

island in the glaciated region, although it was

never entirely surrounded by ice. As the area

was not glaciated, the old relief features that

developed from sedimentary rock formations

exposed to protracted erosion were not obliterated by till, nor was the process of erosion

interrupted by ice. The tilted and dissected

plain was preserved (pi. 48). In contrast to

the old erosion surface, the proximate areas of

late till and morainic deposits present a chaotic

assortment of hillocks and depressions with no

well-developed drainage system (pi. 46). In

both instances, the land use pattern reflects

adjustment to these features.

The soils of the glaciated region, perhaps

more so than the landforms, have had both

beneficial and restrictive influences on land

use. The millions of acres of waterlogged and

swampy lowland composed of large tracts and

small depressions have an organic soil cover,

mainly peat. In their natural state, these lands

support some tree growth. Where the peat is

deep, however, even the trees are stunted (pi.

50). Reclamation foi^ agricultural use is feasible for some areas but not for others. Also

prevalent over extensive areas are the rocky

and stony soils that restrict land use to forestry,

recreation, and support of wildlife (pis. 3, 5, 6,

41 ). Almost equally detrimental to agricultural

use of the land are the extensive sandy plains

already mentioned. At opposite extremes are

the drift plains and glacial lakebeds on which

36
some of our most productive soils developed

(pis. 12, 40, 51, 37, 42, 45).

In the mechanical processes of grinding,

mixing, sorting, transporting, and redeposing

surface minerals, the action of ice and water

during the glacial period produced a series of

land characteristics that have affected the economic use potentiality of the land. The spatial

arrangement of these features, however, is far

from uniform. Large land areas were improved by these redistributional processes ; the

productive capacities of others were depleted

or impaired. In the glaciated region, these

dissimilarities in surface conditions, together

with differences in climate, account for the

diversity in the physical adaptability of the land

to cultural uses. This diversity has found

expression in regional and local land use

patterns.

The Periglacial Zone

Although ice and water brought about superficial changes in the glaciated area, no less

important surface modifications were produced

through the operation of climatic forces in the

adjacent belt, which is usually referred to as

the periglacial zone. The periglacial zone was

defined by Zeuner in 1945 as "that zone surrounding an ice sheet, in which the cooling

effect of the ice produced frost climate*' {101 y

p. lJf67). Temperature, however, was not the

only climatic agent during the Pleistocene

Epoch that affected conditions of life and

changed the surface of the land outside the

glaciated area. Air-mass movements caused by

changes in temperature distribution, combined

with pluvial and dry periods, were even more

effective than temperature in shaping some of

the surface features that condition land use

today. Evidence of their activity during the

Pleistocene Epoch can be found as far south

as the Mexican border or the South Atlantic

Coastal Plain. For our purpose, therefore, the

whole of the United States outside the glaciated

region is considered as located in the periglacial

zone.

The periodic changes in temperature that

accompanied the repeated advancing and retreating of the ice sheets had their counterpart

in pluvial and dry periods attended by strong

air-mass currents. Wind and water were the

primary agents that modified soil and topographic features in the periglacial zone, while

the floral and faunal associations adjusted

themselves in response to periodic changes in

temperature and moisture conditions. Only in

terms of climatic changes can the occurrence

and distribution of some of the surface features

and fossil remains of plant and animal life be

explained.

Pluvial and Dry Periods

That pluvial periods alternated with drier

periods is evident from the beachline records

that reveal the geologic history of the intermountain lakes (If,8y pp. 469-J^76), Lakes

Bonneville and Lahontan, the two great lake

systems in the intermountain basin-and-range

region, covered a number of adjacent basins

during the pluvial periods of the Pleistocene

Epoch. The high-water level of Lake Bonneville, on the eastern side of the intermountain

region, was more than 1,000 feet above the

present level of the Great Salt Lake. At that

time, it covered an area of more than 19,780

square miles. At its highest stage. Lake

Lahontan in western Nevada, which extended

into some basins of Oregon and California,

covered an area of 8,422 square miles and had

a maximum depth of more than 500 feet.

Pyramid, Winnemucca, and Walker Lakes are

existing remnants of Lake Lahontan, and there

were other Pleistocene lakes in the intermountain basins. In most instances, they are now

playas ; their shorelines provide mute evidence

that at one time they were lakes.

These high beachlines indicate that precipitation was higher and evaporation lower than

they are at present. The delta deposits covered

by lake deposits and shorelines on intermediate

levels support the conclusion that these variations occurred in cycles. In their present state,

these old lakebeds have their own land use

characteristics in that the lowest parts of the

basins are practically desert. Longtime flooding of these closed basins and leaching of the

soils and surface rocks of the easily soluble

salts they contained concentrated the saline

contents through evaporation at the bottom of

the lakes. Because of the toxicity of these

salts, most plant growth is eliminated from

these now dry lake bottoms. The Black Rock

Desert in Nevada and the Great Salt Lake

Desert in Utah are the two largest and best

known.

. The pluvial periods also find expression in

the stream-erosion topography of the periglacial zone. A marked distinction in topography occurs between the younger drift plains

(pi. 36) and the unglaciated plains (pi. 35).

In much of the younger drift plains, drainage

is not fully developed. In the unglaciated plains,

stream erosion has been active longer and has

dissected the plains more thoroughly. The

topography of the badlands in the Dakotas and

Montana could hardly have resulted from the

present low rainfall in these areas. It suggests

that the origin of these lands is associated with

the pluvial periods of the glacial epoch. Because

of the dissected surface, much of the land in

this region is not suited to arable use (pis. 68,

72).

37
Farther south, in Texas and New Mexico,

"the surface features of the High Plains as well

as the development or at least the extensive

modification of the larger canyons, and the

bounding escarpment are the result of quaternary erosion and deposition'' {Jf2y p, ÍS5). The

High Plains, especially the Llano Estacado, are

not as incisively dissected by streams as is the

country below the escarpment to the east. Only

shallow draws that carry water intermittently

have formed on the plateau. There is little

runoff. Most of the precipitation that falls is

absorbed by the soil and the sand dunes, or it

is caught and retained in the many shallow

depressions and playas that dot the surface.

Subsidence or slumping in some of the older

rocks beneath the ^smaller basins and deñation

through wind action during arid stages, with

solution as a contributory factor, explain the

origin of these basins (pis. 119, 120).

The Alluvial Valley of the Mississippi

Erosion induced by running water was not

confined to uplands. The waters of the rivers,

which were charged with the sands and gravels

washed out upstream, were effective in their

scouring actions. In places, they cut deep

trenches. The canyon of the Canadian River,

which divides the Texas High Plains, and other

canyons farther north, such as the canyon of

the Cimarrón River, are of this type (pi. 113).

A more voluminous job was done by the

Mississippi River.

According to the latest investigations, the

Alluvial Valley of the Lower Mississippi River

contains the buried river system that was in

operatian at the late stage of glaciation (4^6).

At a time when the water level of the gulf, as

compared with the elevations of the land, was

much lower than it is today, the Mississippi

River excavated a valley that was a great deal

deeper than the present valley. At the upper

end, near Cairo, the main channel was approximately 100 feet above the present sea level, or

about 200 feet below the present valley floor.

Near the gulf coast, these channels were more

than 350 feet below the present sea level, or

about that much lower than they are now. The

gradient of the 600 miles of the Lower Mississippi had therefore about 150 feet more descent

than it has today. The river was straighter,

and sediment could be carried farther and in

greater volume. It has been estimated that at

that time about 1,500 cubic miles of sediment

were removed from the lower valley and transported by the river into the Gulf of Mexico.

This figure does not include the sediment

brought into the valley by tributary streams

U6,p.ll).

With the melting of the ice sheets and the

attendant rising of the gulf's water level, the

streams that had excavated the valley began

to fill it up again. Aggradation was accomplished in several ways. The master stream

periodically flooded the valley and dropped its

load of gravel, sand, and silt, while the tributaries built alluvial fans where they entered

the^ flood plain. With construction of the flood

plain went also modification of river channels.

With the decrease in the slope of the valley, the

Mississippi River developed meander loops,

built natural levees, and shifted its channel

frequently. It has not changed greatly since.

*'With its diversion through Thebes Gap the

Mississippi River established for the first time

a comparatively deep-water channel from the

head of its alluvial valley to the Gulf of Mexico.

From the standpoint of flood control and navigation, this channel is the best that has existed

in the history of the alluvial valley'' U6, p. 55)\

The reconstruction of the Mississippi flood

plain therefore is in the main glacial with

surface deposits that consist of recent alluvium.

In elevation, the present flood plain has not

attained the old level. Some remnants of the

old plain have elevations that place them above

the flood level (pi. 133). In all, the Alluvial

Valley of the Lower Mississippi comprises

about 50,000 square miles, the delta included.

This total consists of about 35,000 square miles

of flood plains and about 15,000 square miles of

old plain terraces in the northern and central

part of the valley.

Flood Control and Drainage,—From the land

use viewpoint, the structural history of the

Alluvial Valley of the Lower Mississippi is

significant in that it is reflected in the land use

pattern. Ever since white men settled in these

extensive flood plains, they have struggled to

control the river. The soils of these plains are

inherently productive, but in its natural state

very little of the land could be used for crops

with safety. Only the higher portions, which

consisted of natural levees built up by the

larger streams, were sufficiently well drained to

permit cultivation, and even these were subject

to occasional flooding when the river reached

high-water stages (pis. 132, 135, 137, 140).

The Mississippi River still floods the valley

periodically. These floods are not only damaging; they are sometimes disastrous. Local

and State efforts to control them were formerly

of little or no avail. Not until the Federal

Government developed a comprehensive floodcontrol program, built levees, and set aside

bypasses, was the threat of damaging floods

materially reduced. Flood protection is the

chief safety measure needed by the inhabitants,

but it is not sufficient for a fuller development

of the valley (61), A rather high annual precipitation, which increases from an average of

40 inches in the north to 60 inches in the south,

keeps much of the lowland wet and swampy

(pi. 135). Artificial drainage has been installed

38
to some extent, but more can be done to expand

the agricultural use of the land. The Alluvial

Valley of the Lower Mississippi has undeveloped potentialities. Not all the land can be

reclaimed for crop production, but the proportion used for the purpose is comparatively

small. Of the 42,000 square miles, crops were

harvested from only about 14,000 acres in

1954. Most of the reclaimed land lies at the

upper end of the valley and in the Yazoo Delta.

Wind Reactions

As a modifying agent of surface conditions

in the periglacial zone, wind has either improved or reduced the use capability of large

acreages. Pluvial periods during the Pleistocene Epoch alternated with periods of aridity,

which were accompanied by heavy sand and

dust storms. Evidence of these storms is found

across the country. Aeolian rock sculpture and

rock polish commonly occur in the arid region.

They indicate that the winds of the Pleistocene

Epoch were stronger and more prevalent than

are winds today. This supposition is supported

by the observations of investigators, who report

that the rocks polished by these sandblasts are

now losing their polish through exfoliation

(66), The arrangement and location of sand

dunes and the occurrence of loess shows that

the predominant direction of these strong winds

was from west to east.

Aeolian sorting, transport, and deposition of

sand and silt (113) in the Pleistocene Epoch,

and more recently, have affected extensive

areas, particularly in the Columbia and Snake

River Basins and the Central Plains. In all

of these areas, agricultural use of the land is

involved.

The Columbia Basin

In the Columbia Basin, most of the uplands

and plateaus are covered by a disjointed mantle

of loess from a few to 250 feet thick, from

which the soils developed. That the loess

mantle of the Palouse country, as the loesscovered eastern plateaus of the Columbia are

frequently called, is older than the last stage

of glaciation is evident from the channeled

scabland tracts that cross the westward sloping

plateau. During the Wisconsin stage of glaciation, the escape waters of the glacier, which

had advanced to the northern rim, ran across

the plateau and washed out these braided

channels through the loess down to bedrock

(1Í), Much of the plateau was made useless

for crops. Scabland can best be used for pasture. Similar loess deposits have accumulated

on the high benches on the eastern side of the

Snake River Basin. As in the Palouse country,

they are used for production of small grains.

The loess on the plateaus consists of the windsorted-out silt from the lower parts of the

basins. Sands and sandy soils are prevalent on

the lower levels and silt is characteristic of the

plateaus (pis. 90, 91, 92, 93).

A similar sorting action by winds occurred in

the Great Plains, though on a larger scale.

This, at least, is the explanation advanced for

the existence of the extensive areas of sand and

loess in this part of the country.

Sand and Loess Deposits in Plains

The largest of the sand areas, known as the

Sand Hills of Nebraska, occupies an area of

about 18,000 square miles in north-central

Nebraska, or about one-fourth the area of the

State. The sandhills are arranged in duneridge formation, although not all of them are

made up entirely of sand. Some of the larger

ridges, especially, contain a hard core of

tertiary material in places. Apparently the

wind started to work on the tertiary deposits in

the early stages of the Pleistocene Epoch. The

sandhills probably started as blowouts and

coalesced later. In the process the lighter

materials—the silt and clay particles—were

ripped out and transported eastward by the

winds, at times for hundreds of miles, before

they were deposited as loess (pi. 59). As the

coarser sand grains could not travel far, they

were left behind (pi. 66).

The Sand Hills of Nebraska, as well as the

smaller sandhill areas south of the Platte River

and those in eastern Colorado and other places,

must be regarded, therefore, as source areas of

the loess mantle that covers the land to the

east. In addition, the Box Butte tableland west

of the sandhills, the plains of Wyoming, and

other parts of the Great Plains are still making

noticeable contributions to these loess deposits.

From an experimental 8 days' collection of dust

in Lincoln, Nebr., following the duststorm of

March 20 to 22, 1935, it was calculated that at

that time the deposit was 4,800 pounds per

acre (81, pp, 156-167; 158),

Loess deposits in the Central Plains reach a

thickness of more than 200 feet in places. They

cover extensive areas in eastern Nebraska,

northern and western Kansas, practically the

entire area of pre-Wisconsin glaciation, and

bluffs, especially those on the east, along the

Alluvial Valley of the Lower Mississippi. Because the loess deposits usually are deepest on

the valley slopes near the main rivers, it has

been thought that the alluvium of these valleys

was the main source of the loess. But apparently this supposition is not supported by the

findings of recent investigations, at least not

for the Missouri and Upper Mississippi Valleys.

To what extent the broad loess belt along the

eastern side of the Alluvial Valley of the Lower

Mississippi obtained its silt from the Great

Plains or the alluvial valley is still undecided.

39
Considered from the viewpoint of land use,

the action of the wind has changed the use

capability of vast stretches of land. Most of

the sandhill country in the Great Plains can

be used only for grazing. The cropland found

in these areas consists mainly of shallow depressions within the ridges, in which the soil

is loamy and more retentive of moisture. Some

cultivated crops are grown in these depressions.

The main crop, however, is hay from native

grasses, which grow luxuriantly in these moist

places. The hay is used for winter feeding.

As a rule, the soils that developed from loess

are very productive, but they erode easily and

must be cultivated with care. Because of this,

the steeper slopes cannot be used for crops

(pi. 139).

The Llano Estacado,—How wind action has

affected land use in a more restricted area may

be observed with reference to cultivated land

on the Llano Estacado, the southern part of the

Texas High Plains. That winds have helped

to shape ground conditions may be deduced

from the presence of sand dunes and their

distributional arrangement.

The Llano Estacado is a tilted tableland. It

rises from 3,000 feet along its southeastern

escarpment to 5,000 feet at the northwestern

promontory. (See figure 20.) Consequently,

it is exposed to winds. It is defined by bounding escarpments, except at its southward extension, where it merges into the Edwards Plateau.

The eastern escarpments are about twice as

high as the western. Differences in elevation

between the Pecos River Plains and the Llano

Estacado marked by the escarpments are usually only about 100 to 200 feet, but they serve

to control the movement of the drifting sands.

Sandstorms that originate in the Pecos Valley

have lodged the sands in dune formation at the

foot of the escarpments, and only where the

escarpment is broken have the sands drifted

onto the tableland.

Two distinct traverse dune belts were formed

in this way. The northern belt has an average

width of less than 10 miles, but it is more than

100 miles long and traverses 4 predominantly

agricultural counties. The southern dune belt

traverses chiefly grazing land. It is not quite

as wide as the northern belt and is only about

70 miles long. Traverse dune belts whose formation was controlled by gaps in the surface

obstruction are unusual. The only other dune

belt of this type in the United States is in

Wyoming. This belt has its inception on the

flats of the Big Sandy River in the Bridger

Basin, crosses the Continental Divide north of

the Leucite Hills, and thence enters the Red

Desert. It is from 1 to 2 miles wide and about

50 miles long. But as it is located in open

range country, this dune belt affects land use

less than do the traverse dunes on the Llano

Estacado.

On the Llano Estacado, sand dunes are not

the only modification of surface conditions that

can be attributed to wind action and that affect

the use capability of the land. Larger tracts of

land than the sand dunes cover either received

a surface layer of light sand or were subjected

to wind erosion and deprived of most of the

topsoil. Because of this, most of the land in

the more exposed counties next to the southwestern border of the tableland is suitable only

for grazing. In Andrews, Karnes, and Yoakum

Counties, Tex., and the eastern part of Lea

County, N. Mex., the greater part of the land

is covered by light sand. In Lea County, however, the tableland next to the Mescalero Escarpment has a shallow rocky soil. A similar

situation prevails farther south over much of

the land in Ector, Upton, Reagan and Glasscock

Counties, where the soil either is shallow, gravelly and rocky, or has a heavy silty clay surface

soil {21), Land used for crops in this broad

range belt on the tableland is confined to scattered areas in which the soil is deep enough and

retains enough moisture to permit its use for

that purpose.

In the transition zone, from the range belt

in the southwest to the agricultural section at

the northern end of the Llano Estacado, a

number of large playa basins show evidence of

wind action. These basins are much larger

than the many saucerlike depressions that dot

the plateau. Saline lakes or playas that contain water during most of the year occupy

the lowest parts of the basin floor. Subsidence

may account for some of these basins, but the

more directly observable evidence is deflation

through wind action. The eastern sides of

most of these playas contain dune ridges that

parallel the shoreline. This is evidence that

wind was at work {i2, p, JÍ88),

Not all of the observable ground features

that are the characteristic result of wind action

can be thought of entirely as finished products

of the Pleistocene Epoch. We know that dramatic wind action did not cease with the retreat

of the last glacier. But usually it is conceded

that the strong winds that produced these

modifying surface features occurred in cycles

during the Pleistocene Epoch. Deductive evidence that during periods of relative aridity

in that epoch, air currents were more powerful and persistent than they are today is

provided by the playa dunes. These playa dunes

have now entered a stage in which degradation through water erosion is more effective

than the building-up process through aeolian

deposition (pi. 120).

Although wind deposits and denudation on

the Llano Estacado demonstrate the effect of

wind on the use of the land for crops, equally

40
large accumulations of sand are found in other

parts of the West. In most instances, these

sandhills and dunes occur in arid and semiarid

country. Therefore, they are not controlling

factors in cropland use. In some instances,

these dunes are almost sterile of vegetation and

thus exclude productive surface use. These

sandhills are found in the valleys and plains

of New Mexico, the San Luis Valley in Colorado

(pi. 81), the Imperial Valley of California, and

many other places. Aeolian accumulations of

sand are found also in the more humid part of

the country, particularly along streams and

on the southeastern and eastern shores of Lake

Michigan. As these last are in the glaciated

region, they probably postdate glacial drift.

All these inland deposits, however, have one

characteristic in common; all are found on

the eastern side of the valley or basin in which

they occur. In this respect, loess and sand

dunes furnish corroborative evidence that the

strong winds that built up these deposits were

predominantly westerly winds.

The Coastal Belts of Pleistocene Marine Submergence

The lowland margins of the Coastal Plains

along the South Atlantic and Gulf Coasts,

although they may be considered as lying in the

periglacial zone, have their own Pleistocene

history, which differs markedly from that of

the rest of the country. The difference in the

geologic history between these lowland belts

and the rest of the Coastal Plains consists of

the repeated submergence by and emergence

from the waters of the ocean during Pleistocene

time. Low and higli sea levels were the companion events of the respective glacial and

interglacial stages. Vast quantities of water

were locked up in the polar icecaps during the

glacial stages and released when the glaciers

melted and wasted away. At its highest stage,

the sea flooded the land to an elevation of about

270 feet, and at its lower level, the shoreline

receded on the Continental Shelf. Findings at

the mouth of the Mississippi River indicate that

the sea level was more than 350 feet lower than

it is today. The extent to which crustal movements may have contributed to the oscillation

of the ocean level is an open question.

Although we have no definite time scale to

show the duration of glacial and interglacial

stages, there are indications that the warmer

intervals may have been the longer ones. Judging from the accumulations of marine deposits,

they must certainly have lasted for thousands

of years. The first submergence evidently was

the highest; each succeeding one flooded a

correspondingly smaller margin of the lowland.

Evidence of the repeated flooding of the lowland is preserved in the marine deposits of

clay, sand and gravel, and in the old beachlines

that separate the lowland terraces along the

lower Coastal Plains (pi. 161).

Surface erosion is not very active on these

terraces. Natural drainage channels have not

been cut back far enough to dissect the interstream flats. Thus much of the land is inadequately drained. The best drainage usually is

found in the interior belt and on rising ground

next to the bottom lands of the larger creeks

and rivers (pi. 168). Deficient drainage has

impeded economic development over much of

these coastal belts. One requisite for further

economic development of these areas, therefore, is drainage improvement, although conditions are not the same everywhere. The

eastern lowlands differ markedly from those

west of the Mississippi, as is evident from the

present stage of development. Aside from

surface configuration, soils and climate have

much to do with this distinction.

In the western section of the Gulf Coast

lowland, much of the land that rises above the

tidal marshes that fringe the coast is used for

crops. The rice-growing area of Louisiana and

Texas lies in this lowland belt. The central

part of the Gulf Coast Prairie in Texas is used

largely for grazing, although the soil is fertile

and with proper drainage much of it could be

used for crops.

Toward the southwest, soils and climate

change. The soil becomes more sandy and some

dunes appear (pi. 125). Rainfall decreases to

the extent that irrigation is needed to grow

crops on the better land. The acreage of cropland might be expanded within this part of the

Coastal Belt, but improvements in drainage

would be needed (pi. 127). Most of the lowland

north of the Delta is in forest, but with improved drainage, more of this land could be

used for crops.

On the Atlantic side, the Coastal belt, which

was submerged during the Pleistocene Epoch,

stretches from the southern tip of Florida to

Sandy Hook, N.J., although the submerged

area is not equally well defined everywhere.

The Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain from New

Jersey south to North Carolina is deeply incised

by estuaries that reach up to the Fall Line.

Over most of the area, differences in elevation

from divide to tidewater are sufficient to facilitate drainage and induce erosion. Back of the

tidal marshes lie some areas in which improvement in drainage is necessary for cropland use,

but on the whole drainage is not the problem

that it is farther south. In this part of the

Coastal Plain, geologists are not in full accord

as to the upper limit of Pleistocene marine

submergence U9), As presented on the map,

it IS a generalized interpretation of various

sources.

Pocosins and Bays,—A different situation

prevails in the South Atlantic belt from Vir41
ginia to Florida. The Dismal Swamp on the

Virginia-North Carolina boundary in the north,

and the Okefenokee Swamp on the GeorgiaFlorida boundary in the south (pi. 156) may be

considered as significant terminals of this

coastal belt. In this part of the country, where

wet lands and sv^amps are outstanding characteristics, '^swamp'' is a general term for

waterlogged land. Locally, especially in the

Carolinas, these swamps and wet depressions

are usually referred to as pocosins and bays.

Pocosin, as a generic name of wet land, is

derived from the Indians and is usually translated as ''dismal.'' The bays probably received

their names from the bay trees and bushes

that grow in these swampy depressions. For

purposes of discussion, bays and pocosins must

be considered as distinct entities, although in

some instances they are interrelated. The chief

distinction between the two lies in their distribution, size, and form. Bays consist of

elliptic depressions of various sizes with or

without sandy rims. They occur on the upper

and lower parts of the submerged belts.

Pocosins are the large irregular bodies of

waterlogged land that occupy the interstream

fiats on the lower terraces.

From the beginning of settlement, these

upland swamps and depressions have impeded

extension of cultural use of the land. During

the early stages of settlement, landowners tried

to reclaim parts of these large swamps, mainly

with negative results. The fact that similar

projects have been proposed in more recent

times is an indication that the nature of these

swamps is not yet fully appreciated.

Of the two types of wet land, the bays are

the more remarkable. Most of them have a

symmetrical oval form, which is smooth in

outline and sharp in definition. With exceptions, they have a fairly uniform northwestsoutheast orientation. So far, these terrestrial

surface features have been reported in no other

part of the world (pis. 162 and 167).

In the Carolinas, these oval depressions

number around 3,000. As they have a clustered

distribution, in some localities they occupy

much of the land. In the aggregate, pocosins

comprise an even larger acreage than bays.

In a few instances, however, bay formations

have been engulfed by pocosins, and in these

instances the two are merged. In connection

with land use, bays and pocosins, as the major

drawback to the development of the region,

are of more than theoretical interest.

These depressions in the Coastal Plains of

the Carolinas were reported by the early

explorers, but it was only after aerial photography came into wider use that the elliptical

shape of the bays was fully exposed. Aerial

photography supplied the first documentary

evidence of the characteristics of form that

aroused interest from which studies of their

origin were started. Studies having as their

objective the genesis of these swampy areas

are preponderantly centered on the oval bays.

How widespread public and scientific interest

in these unique surface features is may^ be

judged from the many articles on the subject

that have appeared. Meteoritic scars were the

first suggested explanation of their origin. This

was followed by several others, so that the

origin of the Carolina Bays has become a controversial question. Not all the papers on the

subject have been examined by this writer, and

no review or appraisal of the different hypotheses advanced can be attempted here. But

judging from what earlier and later papers

had to say on the subject, apparently no attempt

had been made so far to correlate the occurrence

of bays with the geologic formations of the

Coastal Plain or with the findings of related

fields of inquiry. When this was done, it led

inevitably to conclusions that differ from the

ones currently propounded.

Distribution of bays usually is described as

confined to the Coastal Plain and extending

northward to the Virginia boundary and

southward into Georgia. To obtain a more

definite concept and picture of the distributional characteristics of the bays, the aerial

index photographs were used as source material

and their location was plotted on a small-scale

map (fig. 13). Although the map shows only

the larger bays, it discloses the distributional

limits, the clustered concentrations in some

places, and the open scattered occurrence in

others. Both the limit of occurrence and the

distributional pattern indicate that development of bays presupposed propitious ground

conditions.

That ground conditions are involved is evident from the restricted distribution of bays.

Bays are not casually scattered over the entire

Coastal Plain; they are confined to the quaternary or marine deposits of the Pleistocene

Epoch. Even within this belt, the clustered

concentrations, or the widely scattered occurrence or absence, of bays indicate that not all

sites were equally favorable to their development. In general, however, bays are more

numerous in the upper half of the belt than in

the lower half near the coast.

With occurrence of bays confined to the

marine deposits of the Pleistocene Epoch, their

inception is automatically restricted to the later

stages of that period. This conclusion is supported by the findings of direct investigations.

Moreover, the distributional characteristics indicate that more or less favorable sites existed

for their development, although so far no field

investigations have been undertaken to establish the relationship. In the absence of more

specific information as to how the bays orig42
CAROLINA BAYS

DISTRIBUTION m RELATION TO

QUATERNARY AND TERTIARY DEPOSITS

•Jlj*'^ '• Carolina BayS; only the larger ones are shown.

-rail Line; upper limit of Tertiary and Cretaceous formations.

^^^Upper limit of Quaternary deposits.

Fall Lint and upper limit of Quaternary deposits in

North Carolina according to LW.Stephenson;in South Carolina

and Georgia according to C.WytheQ>oke.

Bay locations are spotted from aerial photographs.

03

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE NEG. 58(5)-2491 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE

FIGURE 13.—The Carolina Bays consist of smoothly outlined, shallow, oval depressions, with major axes alined in the slope

direction of the Coastal Plain. They are usually found on undrained interfluvial tracts. Not all of them could be

represented on a map of such small scale. However, the clustered distribution pattern and the upper limit of

occurrence may be seen. Bays are swampy, semiswampy, or lakes.
inated, the findings of geologists can be

used only as a premise for the formulation

of a working hypothesis in which subsurface

conditions receive consideration.

Obviously, subsurface conditions cannot fully

explain the formation of bays, but they hold the

key to the spatial distribution and sites that

have, the structural requirements for their

formation. If, for instance, bays are considered

akin to sinkholes produced through solution,

one of the more soluble minerals, either limestone or marl, would need to be present in the

substratum. Marls are known to occur in the

Coastal Plain from Virginia south into Florida

and west along the gulf, but they are not continuous in the Carolinas. Consequently, when

an attempt is made to correlate occurrence of

bays with marlbeds, no consistent relationship

can be found. Bays occur over and outside

marlbeds, which indicates that formation of

bays does not depend on the lithologie nature

of the deposits; it also eliminates solution as

the chief bay-producing process.

Although solution cannot be adduced as the

chief agent in formation of bays, it is a potent

factor in shaping surface conditions throughout

BAY IN THE GREAT DOVER SWAMP

0.5 ONE MILE '=^^=^:i-=-l^ "—=r

U.S DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

NEC 58(5) -2492 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE

FIGURE 14.—Bay rim remains are found at the western

end of Great Dover Swamp in James County, N. C.

The bay is about 2 miles long and more than a mile

wide within the outer rim. Its position and elongated

shape indicate that Dover Sw^amp with its bay developed over the preglacial channel of the Neuse River.

The bay lies within the bend of the river and is

oriented in line with the river above the bend.

extensive areas in the Coastal Plain. In the

northern part, particularly in the Great Dover

Swamp and White Oak and Lake Pocosins,

where remnants of rims of exceptionally large

bays are found, sometimes with eccentric

smaller ones inside the larger ones, indications

are that solution was active also. The bays

evidently formed first and were enlarged

through solution into pocosins. The bay in

Dover Swamp is shown in figure 14.

In southern Georgia and over much of Florida, where marl and limestone formations are

extensive, solution depressions, in the form of

either swamps or lakes, are numerous (pis. 154,

157, 158). Usually these depressions are more

irregular in outline than bays, but some are

oval and have acquired some of the bay features. This is true even of those that are

outside the belt of Pleistocene marine deposits.

Big Dukes Pond in Jenkins County, Ga. (pi.

160), is an example (50). In this part of the

Coastal Plain, however, bays are not the typical

bays of the Carolinas. Therefore, there is a

zone of transition from the solution type of

depression and the area of real bays. As some

solution depressions have acquired the outward

appearance of bays, it is clear that more than

one agent was active in the formation of bays.

Development of Bays.—Surface observations

in themselves cannot account fully for tïïe

operation of bay-forming processes. All the

factors that have a bearing on the problem and

that may have contributed to the formation of

bays must be examined. They include surface

and subsurface conditions. If the pertinent

factors known to exist in the area are correlated, new exterior forces are not needed

for a satisfactory, though still provisional,

explanation of the origin of the bays.

Subsurface conditions that may help to throw

some light on the development of bays must be

sought in the upper strata of the deposits.

These stratified deposits mark periods of uplift

and subsidence, of submergence and emergence,

which induced the alternating processes of

deposition and erosion. The mantle of Pleistocene marine deposits that was laid down in this

way is comparatively thin. Apparently, in

many places, it was deposited on a channeled

surface. These channels were probably first

noticed and described nearly a century ago by

Emmons (íO), who investigated the marlbeds

of eastern North Carolina to establish the value

of marl as fertilizer. During his examinations,

he noticed a deposit that he believed might be

used in certain instances as a soil amendment.

These deposits were associated with the marl.

He writes: 'The circumstances attending its

deposition were peculiar. It appears to have

been deposited immediately after a period of

denudation, as it rests not only upon the marl,

but extends into, and fills deep channels which

44
had been cut out of the marl during the period

alluded to. Hence, it appears to send down

long tapering columns which extend sometimes

to a point near the bottom of the bed. This

formation, however, was formed from quiet

waters, as there is no evidence of a rush or

violent flow of waters, by the presence of larger

rocks or even coarse pebbles.'' Since then other

geologists have reported on these channels.

Channeling of the erosion contacts of the

Tertiary with the overlying Quaternary deposits evidently was involved in the formation of

bays in that it provided internal drainage channels where no surface drainage had developed.

With some variations, these channels corresponded roughly to the slope of the plain, as do

the major axes of the bays.

That development of bays had its inception

during the later part of the Pleistocene Epoch

was confirmed by the pollen investigation of

Jerome Bog and Singletary Lake, both of which

are in the cluster of bays that extends through

Bladen County, N. C. Associations of pollen

fossils in the successive levels of deposits provide a record of the adjustment of vegetation

to changes in climate. The pine-fir-spruce level

indicates the coldest stage ; it is identified with

the Wisconsin glaciation period. To supplement

the pollen record, organic layers of Singletary

Lake were used to determine age by means of

the radiocarbon technique. It was found that

the zone of maximum pollen concentration provided by the hemlock-beech-hickory-oak association, which is near the top of the sediments

and indicates a moderate postglacial climate,

had an approximate age of 10,000 years. The

radiocarbon data indicate that the middle

organic layers are more than 38,000 years old

(15, 51, 103), But if a uniform rate of sedimentation is assumed, the lowest layers of bay

sediments are estimated to be anywhere from

40,000 to 100,000 years old.

More important than changes in temperature

during the Pleistocene Epoch in any attempt

to explain the formation of bays were the

changes in precipitation and wind velocity.

Sufficient evidence has accumulated to indicate

that mechanical rather than chemical processes

were active in the surface layers, and that they

were supplied primarily by the precipitation

and winds of Pleistocene time.

Pluvial and dry periods have left incontestable marks of their occurrence, but there is no

evidence to permit comparison of intensity with

present conditions. Indirect evidence, derived

mainly from biogeographical records, and the

assumed reaction of the air-mass movement to

the extension of northern ice sheets provide

an idea of the amount of precipitation that fell

during the later part of the Pleistocene Epoch.

A map of North America, indicating the

''Hypothetical mean annual rainfall at the

maximum of the Wisconsin glaciation,'' in

comparison with the present mean annual rainfall, has been worked out on this basis {33),

As represented on this map, precipitation in the

southern Coastal Plain was heavier during the

Wisconsin glaciation than it is now. Even

currently, this area receives a rather heavy

precipitation (fig. 15). The annual average

ranges from 45 to more than 50 inches, a good

proportion of which falls in heavy downpours.

Frequent heavy drenching of nearly level or

slightly undulating land, in which much of the

moisture is absorbed by the soil, sets in motion

the internal sorting action of the particles that

comprise the soil. In the process of infiltration,

the percolating water washes the finer particles

of soil down from the upper levels, and they are

precipitated in the lower levels. How effective

this process is in dislodging the finer particles

of soil may be judged from the results of an

experiment conducted at the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. The experiment

extended throughout a year in which total

precipitation at the station was recorded at 45

inches, about normal, but with a heavy concentration of rainfall in the early part of the

growing season. From measured spot results

of the experiment, it was calculated that of the

finer particles of soil, more than 800 pounds per

acre had been washed down from the upper

plow-depth level into the subsoil, some of them

to a depth of 20 to 30 inches. Consequently, the

pores of the subsoil became clogged, internal

drainage was impaired, and damage to the crop

resulted (P5, p, 13),

During the pluvial periods of the Pleistocene

Epoch, where surface drainage was inadequate

most of the water infiltrated the soil, but eluviation or leaching did not always stop at the

subsoil level. Apparently over channeled contacts the downward moving water gravitated

toward the subterranean drainage channels.

Protracted washing dislodged the finer particles

of the sediments and flushed them down into

the underground channels. In time, this, combined in some instances with solution, reduced

the overburden and brought about slumping

over the underground outlets. The shallow

depressions thus formed must have been filled

with water repeatedly. The action of waves

evidently helped both to smooth the shorelines

of the bays and to build the rims. Sand left

on the surface was exposed to the action of the

wind during dry stages. Wind action no doubt

accounts for the broad spoilrims on the eastern

quadrant of some of the larger bays.

Evidently, the process of eluviation continued

intermittently for some time. Gradually, it

silted up the underground channels. The channel fillings discovered and described by Emmons

no) may have been of this type. The progressive clogging up of the pore spaces in the

471954 0-59-4 45
Channels retarded the movement of water. The

water was held in the depressions long enough

so that the sediments brought in by wind and

the percolating water had time to precipitate

at the bottom. Accumulation of sediments in

the bays was slow. In Singletary Lake, the

rate of accumulation has been calculated at 1

inch for each 730 years. The shallow waters

and wet bottoms of the depressions were favorable for establishment of the swampland

vegetation that produced the accumulation of

organic deposits, which are more or less

prevalent in the bays.

For the time being, the genesis of the Carolina Bays can be presented only as an inference

of the available evidence. But interior limits of

bay occurrence, and their age, distributional

characteristics, and orientation, all point toward the premise that the underlying geologic

structure provided locally a favorable ground

condition, and that the waters and winds of

Pleistocene time were the forces that produced

the bays. Not all the premises on which the

conclusions are based can be verified. Others

that might be verified have not yet been investigated as, for instance, the relationship of bays

to subsurface channels. Until these points are

cleared up, the conclusions reached remain

hypothetical.

Other Wet Lands,—Wet lands, swamps, pocosins, and bays are the predominating physiographic features of the landscape in the lower

Coastal Plains. Very little pocosin or swamp

land has been reclaimed. Much of this land is

not suitable for reclamation through drainage.

The extensive peat deposits in these swamps

would not provide a desirable soil for the usual

types of farming. Consequently, these lands

would be better left in forest to serve as wildlife

refuges (pi. 156). A number of the smaller

bays on higher ground, for which drainage did

not involve elaborate engineering, have been

reclaimed and the land is now used for crops

(pi. 162). Aside from the comparatively small

reclaimed areas in these parts of the Coastal

Plain, cropland is closely adjusted to drainage.

Usually, cropland is found in belts along the

swampy bottoms of rivers and creeks, where

drainage is better or can be improved through

ditching (pi. 168), and along the old shorelines

of Pleistocene time, which are usually a few

feet higher than the surface of the interstream

flats (pi. 161).

The bays and pocosins of the Carolinas, however, are not the only basins found in the

Coastal Plain. Clustered or scattered shallow

depressions occur on the Delmarva Peninsula,

as far north as Townsend, Del., and over much

of southern New Jersey. Although these basins

are thought to be related to the Carolina Bays,

they lack the most impressive characteristic of

the bays, the prevailing elliptical shape with

major axes oriented in a southeast-northwest

direction. They have other characteristics in

common. All the basins are associated with

poorly drained land and consequently produce

the same economic reaction. As a rule, they

have retarded conversion of the land to primary production, and as they depend largely on

interior drainage, they are instrumental in

helping to recharge the ground water supply

(161, 100).

The agricultural use potentiality of the land

in the lower Coastal Plain is not necessarily

restricted to the land now used for crops. A

more diversified type of farming, featuring

more livestock, might be introduced. Crop specialties for which the climate is favorable could

be grown also. Growing of these specialties,

however, usually requires heavy applications of

fertilizer, as soil leaching is more active here

than in other parts of the country. In either

case, expansion of agriculture would need to

include reclamation. Aside from the extensive

swamps, a considerable acreage of wet land

with fairly good soil would require clearing

and community drainage for agricultural use.

In most instances, the natural obstacles cannot

be removed by individual eflfort. Because public

aid would be required, the public at large would

need a fuller understanding of these obstacles.

Influence of Climate on Land Use

It is evident that climate controls the use of

the land to a certain extent. Because of this,

climate deserves more than casual recognition

by those who use the land, especially those who

live in transition zones where the hazards of

weather are greatest. Precipitation, temperature, sunshine, and wind operate in conjunction

and in varying degree affect the use capability

of the land. Variations in climate and their

spatial distribution are largely the result of

differences in latitude, along with modifications

produced by the arrangement of land and water

bodies and the location of mountains and plains

with reference to prevailing winds.

Precipitation

In the lower and middle latitudes, the amount

of precipitation permits or restricts the number

of alternative major uses that can be made of

the land. The three major land uses—crops,

grazing, and forests—are possible as alternative uses with adequate precipitation during the

growing season. With a decrease in precipitation, the number of alternative uses is reduced.

Forest use is eliminated first, and finally only

grazing remains. With increasing aridity, even

grazing becomes impossible.

In the United States, the use capability of

large areas is affected by insufficient precipitation. In general, precipitation decreases from

east to west but no uniform precipitation re46
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE NEC. 58(5)-2501 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE

FIGURE 15.—From this map, the overall distribution of precipitation can be visualized. Averages were derived from records that have varied widely over

the years. They do not indicate what may be expected in any one year at any particular place. Distance from the ocean and arrangement of

mountams and plams with reference to the prevailing direction of the wind affect the amount and distribution of precipitation
quirement can be cited as constituting the

lower limit to cropland use. In the South,

which has a higher evaporation and transpiration ratio, more is needed than farther north.

In this connection, average annual precipitation

is frequently cited as indicating such limits.

Admittedly, average annual precipitation is

useful in illustrating general conditions, but it

is not a reliable index of what may be expected,

nor does it reflect the prevalent seasonal distribution of precipitation within a region throughout the year (fig. 15). The seasonal distribution

of precipitation is important in some regions

and for certain crops. In the semiarid Great

Plains, rainfall is particularly appreciated after

a prolonged dry spell in spring or summer at a

time when crop failure can be averted {139).

In the arid fringe, departures from the mean

annual precipitation are sometimes pronounced.

In this belt, deficient precipitation is a hazard

that is recorded not only in low yields or crop

failures but in higher crop-insurance rates,

which increase proportionately with the risk

involved.

Occasionally, there are significant departures

from what may be considered normal amounts

of precipitation. Moreover, average annual

precipitation is not a true indication of the

moisture supply available for crops. Seasonal

distribution of precipitation and temperature,

and length of growing season have much to do

with the effectiveness of the moisture supply

that is derived from precipitation.

Departures from the annual mean precipitation are significant even in the humid eastern

part of the United States {77), but as a rule

they are of little consequence. Crop yields are

affected by too much or too little rain, but they

are seldom damaged to the extent of approaching total failure. The risk from too much

precipitation is not so much the result of seasonal variation as it is of intensity of rainfall.

Torrential rains are rather frequent in some

sections of the Southern States {HUy 166).

The heaviest concentration of rainfall is found

along the gulf coast from Louisiana east to and

including northern Florida, where annual precipitation is heavy. On inadequately drained

land, the soil remains waterlogged for some

time after such rains, and this is a drawback

to agricultural use of the land. On well-drained

rolling-to-hilly country, these torrential rainstorms, with their sudden increase in runoflf,

produce damaging floods and accelerate erosion.

The other extreme on the precipitation scale

is reached in the western high plains and the

intermountain basins and valleys. Aside from

the mountains and plateaus, precipitation here

is so low that the land can be used only for

grazing. If crops are grown, irrigation is

required. Some years ago, the Bureau of

Reclamation estimated that about 240,000

square miles received less than 10 inches of

precipitation annually. Within this area, a

good proportion receives even less than 5 inches

of annual rainfall, and although this amount

may be suflScient to sustain some pasture plants

in places, the absence of stock water precludes

use of this land for pasture most of the time.

Only during the occasional winters in which

snow falls and stays on the ground can sheep

be driven in to pasture such land.

Changes in precipitation usually pass through

a gradual transition, although exceptions to

this rule occur. In the western mountains,

strong contrasts in relief have produced equally

strong contrasts in precipitation within short

distances. The strongest contrasts are found

near the Pacific coast. Humid onshore winds

from the ocean discharge much of their moisture in their ascent over the Coastal Range and

the higher Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains, while the valleys behind these mountains

receive little. In this way, Mt. Olympus in

Washington receives the highest precipitation

in the United States. According to some publications, it may exceed 140 inches, although no

station records apply to the higher levels.

Northeast of the mountain on Puget Sound,

some 30 miles from the crest, the annual mean

precipitation decreases to less than 20 inches.

A similar contrast exists farther south between

the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, where

annual precipitation is about 50 inches, and

Death Valley, 40 miles to the east, where it

falls to about an inch, the lowest in the United

States. Land use must be adjusted to these

conditions. The humid western slopes of the

mountains support a heavy forest growth,

whereas the drier valleys—those between the

coastal ranges and the Sierra-Cascade Mountains—have developed into the most diversified

agricultural land use areas we have. Where

rainfall is too low for the most eflFective agricultural use of the land, it is supplemented by

irrigation. Water is supplied by the runoff

from the bordering mountains.

Precipitation differentials between the higher

and lower places in the Rocky Mountains are

marked, as is effectively recorded by the vegetation. Changes in vegetation from lower to

higher elevations indicate that in the mountains

more moisture is available for plant growth as

a result of higher precipitation and a lower

evaporation-transpiration ratio. Tree growth

and forest use of the land are therefore confined

to the mountains. The lower limit of tree

growth, however, is not uniform; it is higher

in the south and lower in the north, and it

varies also with exposure. In these mountains,

forests occupy an elevation belt. The upper

limits of the belt are defined largely by temperature, while the lower limits are chiefly a

matter of precipitation. Of the two, the lower

48
limit is frequently more sharply defined than

the upper (pi. 81).

Temperature

The inñuence of temperature on land use in

middle latitudes is not as closely related to

major uses as is precipitation, but its restrictive

power increases with advancing latitude and

higher elevation (pi. 11). When the prevailing

temperature is so low that frost may occur m

any month, use of the land for crops other than

hay is almost excluded. The length of the

frost-free period and temperatures during the

growing season have much to do with the kind

of crops that are grown in a region (pi. 4).

Within the humid eastern half of the United

States, the crop belts known as the Cotton,

Corn, and Dairy Belts, are largely the result

of temperature. That modifications in temperature through elevation and land relief are

involved in delimiting these belts may be observed on the northern boundary of the Cotton

Belt. The northern cotton limit skirts the

Southern Appalachians and Ozark Mountains,

but in the Mississippi Valley, it extends as far

north as Cairo at the southern tip of Illinois.

Elevation

The following example illustrates how differences in elevation modify climate and with it

affect the agricultural use of the land. Apparently, Johnson Mesa in northern New Mexico is

the highest place in the United States where

crops, aside from hay, are grown. On this

mesa, wheat, oats, and barley, in addition to

hay, are grown at an elevation of 8,200 feet.

The frost-free season averages about 110 days

(pi. 112). At the other extreme is the Imperial

Valley in southern California, the lowest spot

in the United States at which crops are grown.

Here most of the cultivated land is from zero

to 200 feet below sea level (Saltón Sea is -240

feet) and the valley has an average of more

than 300 days without frost, or practically a

year-round growing season. In some years,

there is no frost. Subtropical fruits and vegetables for the market are grown in winter (pi.

107). The latitudes of these two areas—

Johnson Mesa and Imperial Valley—are only

4 degrees apart.

Winds

Wind makes the headlines more often as a

result of its violent temper and destructive

propensities than in recognition of its more

gentle moods and beneficial functions as a

distributor of temperature and moisture over

the earth's surface.

The free motion of the atmosphere provides

a many-sided topic for discussion. Early

Renaissance cartographers decorated the margins of their maps with wind faces in all

quadrants, that is, wind blew from all four

corners at the same time. This is about the

impression that a casual observer may get at

times. So many contingencies affect the movement of air that apparently no order of any

kind exists. In reality, air mass drifts follow

prevalent directions in response to several

factors. In this instance, the cause and effect

relationship stems from the heating of the air

in lower levels and latitudes, and the cooling

off in higher elevations and near the poles.

The air movement itself derives direction from

the rotation of the earth, the distribution of

land and water bodies, and the arrangement of

relief features on the land. Not all these factors are constants. The seasonal rhythm of

climate usually induces changes in wind direction. In so doing, it may have a compensatory

effect on the distribution of precipitation. Some

regions are so constituted that no benefits

accrue from these changes. As an example,

the arid intermountain basins and valleys of

the West are parapeted by mountain ranges

to the east and west, and little moisture can

reach them from either the gulf or the Pacific

Ocean.

In some regions, the prevailing winds have

produced distinct landscape features. Trees

that bend picturesquely indicate the prevailing

direction of the wind. In the Western Plains,

where there are no obstacles to break the force

of the wind, field operations frequently take

account of the force and direction of the wind

to prevent soil erosion. Stripcropping is often

resorted to, and the strips are cut diametrically

across the wind direction. The result is a

striking land use pattern characteristic of these

areas (pis. 65, 73, 74). Shelterbelts are also

a form of wind protection in some parts of the

Plains. On the eastern prairies, where some

trees can be grown, they are planted in protective belts on the windward side of the farmsteads. These windbreaks are an outstanding

feature of the landscape in otherwise treeless

plains (pis. 54, 62, 67, 70).

Adjustment to Climate

That land use must harmonize with climate

is usually recognized, but the hazards involved

are not always appreciated. No area is entirely

free from these hazards, but in one form or

another certain areas are more exposed to them

than others. In subtropical areas, an occasional heavy winter frost may damage citrus

fruit. Late spring frosts are a hazard to

deciduous fruits. Damage from drought and

hail is more frequent and severe in the semiarid

belt. Tornadoes are usually confined to the

Southern and Eastern States, but heavy rainstorms that cause floods may be expected to

occur anywhere within the humid and subhumid zones. In summer and fall when the

weather is dry, protection from forest fires is

most needed. Heavy snow endangers livestock

49
and wildlife on the open range. These are a

few examples of climatic hazards in the United

States that are related to use of the land.

The connection between climate and the capabilities of land use, particularly for agriculture,

became apparent with the settlement and development of the country. The land became

drier and the vegetation sparser as the settlers

moved farther west. They called the semiarid

plains the "Great American Desert," an indication that reliable information as to weather

was needed for development of the country.

Agriculture still has particular need for it.

Most crops have their own range of climatic

conditions under which their growth is most

successful. It was obvious that climatic reports

and records from stations scattered over the

country were needed. The United States

Weather Bureau had its inception in 1870, in

the Signal Service of the United States Army.

Some two decades later, it was transferred to

the United States Department of Agriculture,

and it was later moved to the United States

Department of Commerce. Its functions and

the number of reporting stations have expanded

steadily. In 1955,there were more than 10,000

reporting stations, of which only about a third

were staffed with paid personnel. The rest

were operated by unpaid cooperative observers.

The literature on weather, climatology, and

meteorology is voluminous. Only a few of the

publications that present the subject comprehensively with a land use orientation can be

cited here (7^; 118; 135, IHl; 1Í6).

Soils in Relation to Land Use

Use of land for primary production is in

reality mainly concerned with the use of the

soil mantle. Thus, the importance of the soil in

relation to land use is highlighted, as not all

soils are equally well adapted to specific uses.

The economic significance of the many recognizable properties of soil increases when these

properties pertain to arable land. Whether the

land can be used successfully for production of

cultivated crops depends, in many instances, on

the nature of the soil. How the soil must be

managed to produce the best yields year after

year is again related to its characteristics.

Soil characteristics may be thought of as the

marks of distinction that evolved in the process

of soil development. Usually, they are referred

to in terms of soil profile. Fully developed soils

consist of a vertical succession of layers, which

soil scientists call horizons. These layers may

differ in texture, structure, color, and chemical

composition. In their stratified sequence from

the surface down to the parent material, they

compose the profile of the soil. Many factors

have contributed to the morphological characteristics of the soil profile. Some of these

influences vary with location in the local environment; others are identified with natural

conditions of regional extent.

Parent Materials

To begin with, the parent material of the

soil has certain characteristics of its own, which

to some extent are transmitted to the soil. The

parent material may consist of the accumulated

debris produced by weathering and disintegration of the underlying rock. In these instances,

the rock may be limestone, sandstone, slate, or

granite, to cite only a few pétrographie distinctions, so that the soil-developing processes

had to act on minerals of differing textures and

chemical compositions. As a result, the soil

develops characteristics, which in popular parlance are frequently identified with the rocks

from which the parent material was derived.

This is true also when the parent material

consists of unconsolidated glacial, fluvial, marine, lake, or wind deposits. Most of the

characteristics inherited from the parent material are recorded in the texture and chemical

composition of the soil. Extensive and compact

areas can be identified as having soils developed

from parent material, which are derived from

the same or similar geologic formation. In

other areas, the geologic background is more

complex; it is this complexity that is usually

responsible for a number of soil types in any

locality.

Climate as It Affects Soil

Among the soil-developing ' agents, climate

ranks highest in that it affects the soils both

directly and indirectly in more than one direction. The direct action of weather is both

mechanical and.chemical; soils are aflfected by

precipitation, temperature, wind, and running

water. Indirectly, climate operates through

the intermediary of vegetation and animal life

in that their contributions to soil building are

already adjusted to climatic factors.

Two major soil groups, those well leached

and those incompletely leached, are produced

by humid climates as opposed to those produced

under subhumid and arid conditions. All of

the incompletely leached dryland soils have one

characteristic in common : All have a calcareous

zone in the lower part of the profile that rises

gradually to the surface with advancing aridity.

A gradation of soils brought about by the differentials of temperature, which affect the color

of the soil, is particularly noticeable in the

forested humid part of the country. When

compared with northern soils, well-drained

southern soils are more colorful, especially in

the subsurface horizons. The latter range from

pale yellow to dark red. The former are usually

grayish or brownish. The processes that produced these distinctions in color are known as

50
podzolization for the gray-brown soil and

laterization for the yellow-red soils.

There are many transitional phases. Soils

in the podzolic soil group frequently encroach

on the lateritic soils. Podzolization is mainly

a process of leaching in a cool to temperate

climate under forest cover. Laterization is

characterized by the presence of iron oxides

and hydroxides of aluminum; it occurs commonly in humid tropical regions. In the United

States, only weak stages of laterization have

developed. The yellow and red soils of the

South fall into this class. Red pebble land,

which contains pebbles of iron concretions,

furnishes the best example.

Effect of Natural Vegetation on Soil

Natural vegetation, which is related to climate, has also contributed toward development

of the soils. In so doing, it has produced its

own marks of distinction. Soils that developed

under a grass cover are easily distinguished

from those that developed under a forest vegetation. Forests do not produce humus in the

upper mineral horizon of the soil as do grasses.

The humus produced by the northern forests

carpets the forest floor ; when dissolved, it is

leached to a lower horizon. In southern forests,

very little organic matter accumulates. In the

warmer climate, decomposition is speeded up

to a point at which little organic matter is left

from one year to the next.

In contrast to the forests, a grass-type vegetation produces humus in the upper layer of

the soil through root decay, which gives these

soils their black or dark brown color. Black

earth, or Chernozem, is usually cited as representative of this kind of soil. Chernozem, a

soil group developed under grass cover in a

subhumid climate, is almost black. At a depth

of about 3 feet, it has a zone of calcium accumulation. The prairie soils of Iowa, central

Illinois, southern Minnesota, and northern Missouri represent a predominantly American kind

of soil development, which has much in common

with the Chernozems, but which, because they

are leached, lack the calcareous zone. In the

opposite direction, with the transition from the

tall to the short grasses of the steppe type of

vegetation, the humus content of the soil decreases and the color changes to brown. Finally,

when the grasses give way to desert shrubs, the

humus content of the soils becomes so negligible

that the soil loses much of its color. Arid soils

are ordinarily a light gray.

Animal life both within the earth and on its

surface has also contributed to development of

soils, but as its action is desultory, it is not

discussed here.

Soils Affected by Land Relief

Differences in land relief also produce differences in soils. These differences are due largely

to the reaction of the processes of soil development to drainage. For normal development of

soil, well-drained but not excessively drained

land is needed. On steeply sloping land, erosion

is likely to be too active to allow sufficient time

for proper development of the soil profile. Soils

of the steeper mountain slopes, therefore, are

mainly shallow and rocky. On rugged mountainsites, the rate of erosion may even exceed

that of rock weathering and the rocks may

remain barren.

Low gradients and level surfaces produce soil

profiles of their own as a result of inadequate

drainage. The precipitation that falls on such

land drains off slowly. It is largely dissipated

through evaporation, transpiration, or infiltration into the soil itself. In these instances, the

internal movement of water in the soil carries

with it the finer particles from the upper

horizon and deposits them in a lower horizon.

This results in formation of hard or clay pans,

which in turn impede internal drainage of the

soil. The process is known as eluviation.

In shallow depressions of the humid region,

in which water moves only sluggishly or remains standing most of the time, swampland

vegetation usually takes possession of the area.

Over the years, it builds up an organic soil,

which consists of layers of peat and muck. As

we now know, the extensive peat bogs in the

eastern half of the United States were thousands of years in the making and have their

own land use implications (pis. 50, 156).

Development of Soils Affected by Other Factors

The major factors of soil development have

been mentioned. Other factors are more restricted in their fields of operation, but within

these limits they are just as effective as the

major factors in determining land use capability. The playas of the arid West are examples of this kind. When these basin floors were

flooded by the runoff from the tributary watershed, they also received the salts leached out

from the rocks and soils of the area. When

the water evaporated, the salts remained. In

places, these saline accumulations are so concentrated and toxic as to prevent plant growth

altogether. In these instances, soil salinity

accounts for the desert condition. The Black

Rock Desert in Nevada and the Great Salt Lake

Desert in Utah are the largest deserts of this

type in the country.

Wind as a disturbing element in soil development is most active in the subhumid-semiarid

belt. The use capability of extensive areas has

been reduced by the action of the wind. The

Sand Hills of Nebraska is such an area; it

forms a compact area of 19,000 square miles

north of the Platte River within the subhumid

zone. Here, the sorting action of the wind has

carried off the finer particles of the soil but

51
has left the ridges of sand. In contrast to the

adjacent country to the north and south, where

much of the undissected plain is used for cultivated crops, the Sand Hills can be used only for

grazing (pi. 66). The cropland scattered over

the Sand Hills lies in the moist depressions,

where native grasses are cut for hay to supplement livestock feed in winter. Smaller areas of

sandy land in the subhumid belt, in which land

use is confined to grazing, are located on the

High Plains and the Coastal Plain farther south

(pi. 125).

Wind action is no doubt responsible for another type of soil development on the Llano

Estacado, which has brought about a similar

reduction in land use capability. Rainfall over

much of the southern end of the Llano Estacado

is sufficient to permit production of cotton, and

it is grown in a number of places where the soil

is suited to the purpose. In extensive areas,

however, the surface soil is sand that was blown

in from the Pecos Plains to the west. In other

areas, the topsoil is shallow because part of it

has been removed by the wind (pi. 120). The

largest area with a sandy topsoil abuts the

wide breach in the western escarpment south

of the Mescalero Rim. The two transverse

sand-dune belts formed in the same way are

even more impressive in the restrictions they

impose on land use. (See figure 20.) In these

instances, the best use that can be made of the

land is grazing.

Use Capability Affected

Light sandy soils in the humid eastern half

of the country have decreased the utilitarian

value of land in several instances. The outwash

plains in northwestern and central Wisconsin

and the north-central part of the southern

peninsula of Michigan seem destined to remain

in forests almost exclusively. Outside the glaciated region, well-known parts of the country

fall into the same category. The Pine Barrens

of southern New Jersey, and the Sand Hills

below the Fall Line in the Carolinas and

Georgia, are the larger areas for which recreation and forests are the best uses that can be

made of most of the land.

Shallow and rocky soils have also eliminated

alternative land use possibilities over considerable areas. Rough topography and rocky,

shallow soils have made the mountains a stronghold of forests. But there are other areas, like

the Superior Upland in Minnesota, tracts in

northern Wisconsin and Michigan (pi. 41), and

New England (pis. 2, 6), which are not mountainous but which have rocky soils that are a

serious obstacle to cultivation. Because of this,

forest combined with recreation is the prevailing land use. Outside the forested region,

the only major land use left in such instances

is grazing. In the Great Plains, the Flint Hills

of Kansas furnish an illustration. In the Flint

Hills, extensive tracts of grassland dominate

the landscape. Cherty soils, frequently shallow,

developed from the residuum of limestone, explain the predominantly grazing use of the land

in the Flint Hills (pi. 61). The lava flows in

the Snake River Plain are similar land use

controlling features (pi. 89).

Land use is not always so positive in its

reaction to soil distinctions as to eliminate one

or the other of the major uses altogether. In

a good many instances, land is in a marginal

class for certain uses because of the soils,

especially when crop production is involved.

Handicaps imposed by soils can be overcome

to a considerable extent through skillful management, use of soil-improvement practices and

soil amendments, and selection of crops best

suited to the soil. In the South, soils of comparatively low natural fertility, that would not

qualify for common field crops, are in some

instances used successfully to grow winter vegetables. Whether or not land is marginal is

therefore not entirely a matter of soil and other

physical conditions. The human factor also

enters into the equation. Use of the land may

revolve around questions of land ownership and

tenure as well as market demands and prices of

crops and products. Areas with soils in the

lower productivity brackets, however, are more

sensitive to these socio-economic influences. As

a result, they show the greatest shifts in major

land uses. In New England and the South,

where much of the land falls into this class,

these shifts are pronounced.

Man's dependence on the products of the soil

leads inevitably to the conclusion that the soil

should be regarded as a permanent resource

base of organic production. As the needs of

the country are rising, the preservation and

improvement of the soil are essential to ensure

not only sustained but increased production.

From the national viewpoint, soil conservation

is a social obligation that will benefit not only

individual landowners but also the community

and the Nation as a whole.

Pioneers Exploited Land

Soils have not always been considered in the

light of future needs. Conservation as a concept did not disturb the pioneer settlers. They

had to wrest a living from the land with simple

implements by dint of hard labor. Their

knowledge and experience of the destructive

forces of nature were slight. The cultural

practices they followed were in keeping with

their meager resources. Usually they were

calculated to satisfy immediate needs. Although

the pioneers usually selected the smoother land

for arable use because of its natural advantages

and their own physical limitations, they seldom

took into account these advantages or limitations when it came to field operations. The

52
usual procedure was to lay out the land in tracts

that might be oriented by property lines or

might follow the trend of the topography, but

in cultivating the land, slope or contour was not

followed. All too frequently, continued cultivation in this way induced erosion that not onîy

depleted the soil but in many instances madv

the land useless for further crop production.

Induced erosion is closely associated with

steepness of slope, characteristics of precipitation, erosiveness of the soil, and the cultural

practices followed. The most severe erosion

damage is found on rolling to hilly land in the

humid and subhumid parts of the country. In

extreme instances, cropland has been gullied

to the extent of eliminating arable use from

further consideration. Abandonment results,

and the land usually reverts to brush and forest.

There are exceptions to the rule. Erosion in

the humid grassland soils of the Rendzina group

is likely to reduce their use capability from

arable to pastoral. The Black Prairie Belt soils

of Alabama and Mississippi and the soils of

the Black Prairie in Texas belong in this group.

These soils developed on soft chalky limestone

under grass vegetation. Originally, they were

rich in humus and lime, almost black, and very

productive. Continuous cropping to cotton and

corn, both row crops that induce erosion easily

with indifferent methods of cultivation, has

greatly depleted the soils. With the removal

of much of the humus layer, the soils have

become heavier. This retards cultivation in

spring. As a result, cotton has become more

susceptible to boll weevil attacks. Changed

soil and biological conditions have also brought

about a change in use of the land. The Black

Belt of Alabama and Mississippi, which at one

time was the leading cotton-producing district

of the South, is now a livestock area. Most of

the former cottonland is now in grass, to which

the calcareous soil is well adapted, and is used

for pasture and production of hay (pi. 150).

A somewhat similar trend is noticeable in

the Black Prairie of Texas, especially in the

southern part (pi. 116).

Soil jerosion is not always the result of the

action of water. On the High Plains, where

rainfall is scanty, wind erosion is likely to be

just as active during protracted dry periods,

and as damaging to soils as water erosion

(pi. 63). Abandonment of cropland has resulted from it in a number of places. With

use as cropland eliminated, only pastoral use

remains.

Soil erosion from both water and wind has

caused p3rmanent loss of soil over much of the

country. It has reduced the productive capacity

of the land, and in many instances it has damaged the land to the extent of making further

use as cropland impossible. Damage incident

to erosion is not confined to land from which

the soil has eroded. The silt and sand washed

from the slopes are carried by creeks and

streams to lower levels and deposited in ñood

plains and stream channels. Eroded, unprotected upland accelerates runoff, and clogged-up

water channels slow down streamflow and

increase the danger of floods. Reservoirs

located on the streams are silted up, their

water-storing capacity is progressively reduced,

and their span of usefulness is shortened proportionally. Accelerated runoff and increasing

damage from erosion led finally to the extension

of conservation measures to the soils, which in

many parts of the country have produced their

own cultural landscape features.

Conservation measures extend to all major

land uses, including use for recreation and

preservation of wildlife. On the western open

range, it means controlled grazing as provided

by grazing districts, and improvement of the

forage plant cover. In forested areas, conservation is concerned with the proper management of forests to obtain higher and more

sustained yields of wood products, and at the

same time to preserve the forests, including the

natural fauna and flora they shelter. Fire

protection, restocking of denuded areas, and

watershed protection are some of the measures

that lerve these purposes. A number of areas

have been set aside as reservations to conserve

the scenic values of the landscape as historical

monuments, areas for preservation of wildlife,

or catchment areas to obtain a dependable

supply of pure water. In agricultural regions,

conservation efforts are directed primarily

toward soil conservation. Contour plowing,

terracing, stripcropping, and keeping the land

under protective cover are practices followed

to prevent erosion. Stripcropping is also resorted to in the Western Plains to minimize

wind erosion. Wherever soil conservation

practices are followed, they produce a new and

impressive land use pattern (pis. 13, 18, 53,

65, 73, 74, 114, 121, 126, 143, 149, 151, 163).

The soil regions mentioned in the text can

be identified readily in figure 16.

Aside from having acquired local site characteristics, soils also show regional affinities

that may be derived from land relief, geologic

formation, climate, natural vegetation, drainage, or a combination of these factors. Only

the regional associations can be shown in a

strongly generalized representation to illustrate

occurrence and distribution of different soils on

a small-scale map, such as this one.

The map shown in figure 16 and its legend

were prepared more than 25 years ago. Thus

they do not reflect all the latest concepts in

soil classification. They are in general agreement with the soil map in the 1938 Yearbook

of Agriculture. The soil regions, as delimited

on the map shown here, readily permit tracing

53
Cl

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE NEG. 58 (5)-2500 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE

FIGURE 16.—Map showing soil regions. (Prepared in the former Bureau of Chemistry and Soils.)
en

Legend for Map

Podzols.—The profile consists of a thin organic

layer above a gray leached layer which rests on

a dark-brown or coffee-brown horizon. The Podzol

is developed usually under a coniferous forest in

a cool, moist climate. Its inherent productivity

for crop plants is low. The figures below refer

to area numbers on the map.

1. Rough stony land, including areas of shallow Podzols.

2. Chiefly loams and silt loams, developed from

sandstones and shales of the plateau and

mountain uplands.

3. Dominantly sands and loamy sands, developed on glacial drift.

4. Dominantly loams and clay loams, developed on glacial drift.

Gray-Brown Podzolic Soils.—The profile has a

rather thin organic layer over grayish-brown

leached soils which overlies a brown horizon. The

soils are generally acid, at least in the surface.

These soils develop in a moist and cool-temperate

climate under a deciduous forest and are inherently more productive than the Podzols.

5. Dominantly loams and silt loams, developed

on calcareous glacial drift.

6. Brownish-yellow silty loams or stony loams

with hilly relief developed on sandstones

and shales.

7. Loams and silt loams, developed on acid

glacial drift and composed of sandstones

and shale material. Some of these soils

are imperfectly drained.

8. Dominantly stony and gravelly loams, developed on glacial drift.

9. Loams and silt loams, developed mainly on

the crystalline rocks of the northern

Piedmont.

10. Largely sandy loams developed on the sands

and clays of the northern Coastal Plain.

11. Chiefly brown silt loams, developed on

limestone.

12. Shallow soils developed on interbedded

limestone and calcareous shales.

13. Loams and stony loams from granitic material with hilly to mountainous relief.

14. Silt loams with heavy clay subsoils, developed on Illinoian glacial till.

15. Silt loams developed largely from loess.

16. Imperfectly drained grayish silt loams with

silty clay loam subsoils, developed from

acid glacial drift.

17. Largely loams and silt loaips with yellowish

subsoils, developed from sandstones and

shales.

18. Grayish-yellow to reddish silt loams and

cherty sil tloams, developed from cherty

limestones.

Red and Yellow Soils.—This group of soils

consists of two general types of profiles that are

intimately associated. Both have thin organic

layers. The profile of the red soil is a yellowishbrown leached layer over a red horizon while the

profile of the yellow soil is a grayish-yellow

leached layer over a yellow horizon. Both developed under the forest in a moist warm-temperate

climate. Generally, the yellow profile is more

pronounced under the coniferous forest and the

red under the deciduous forest. The inherent

fertility of the yellow soils is relatively low and

that of the red soils medium.

19. Dominantly brownish-red clay loams and

gray sandy loams, developed largely from

crystalline rocks of the southern Piedmont.

20. Yellow to light brown silt loams, developed

on loess.

21. Dominantly gray to yellow sandy and fine

sandy loams with some sands and fine

sands, developed from Coastal Plain

materials.

22. Largely brownish-red to red silt loams and

clay loams, developed from limestone.

23. Grayish-yellow to light brown sands and

fine sands of the Coastal Plain.

24. Grayish fine sandy loams, with some gray

or black loams, developed in the flatwoods

area of the Coastal Plain. Includes areas

underlain by coralline limestone.

25. Grayish-yellow to reddish fine sandy loams

and silt loams, developed from sandstones

and shales. A considerable portion is

hilly and stony.

26. Red soils of the north Pacific slopes.

Prairie Soils.—The profile of the Prairie soil

grades from a very dark brown or dark grayishbrown surface through brown to lighter colored

parent material at a depth of 2 to 5 feet. It is

developed in a moist temperate climate under a

tall-grass prairie. Inherent fertility for crop

plants is high.

27. Reddish-brown soils of variable texture,

developed on sandstones, shales, clays,

and sands.

28. Dark brown silt loams with yellowishbrown subsoils, developed on glacial drift

and loess.

29. Dark brown to reddish-brown silt loams

and clay loams, developed from limestone

and calcareous shales.

30. Dark brown or grayish-brown silt loams,

having heavy subsoils or claypans.

Northern Chernozem.—The profile has a black

or dark grayish-brown surface soil grading below

into light-colored material that is calcareous at

2 to 6 feet. It is developed in a temperate to cool

subhumid climate under tall and mixed grasses.

Inherent productivity is high.

31. Black, silt, and clay loams, developed on

calcareous glacial drift and associated

lacustrine deposits.

32. Dark grayish-brown loams and silt loams,

developed from loess.

33. Dark grayish-brown silt loams with claypans developed from loess.

Southern Chernozem—Dark Brown Soils.—The

profiles have dark brown to reddish-brown surface

soils underlain by brown or red horizons, grading

below into light-colored material that is calcareous

at 3 to 6 feet. These soils develop in a warm,

subhumid to semiarid climate under a mixed talland short-grass prairie.

34. Heavy or moderately heavy dark brown

soils, developed from calcareous materials,

35. Predominantly red and brown sandy loams

and sands, developed largely from unconsolidated calcareous sands, silts, and

sandy clays.

Northern Dark Brown (Chestnut) Soils.—The

profile grades from a dark brown surface soil

into a whitish calcareous horizon at a depth of

l^i to 3 feet. These soils develop under mixed

tall and short grasses in a temperate to cool semiarid climate.

36. Dark brown soils developed on unconsolidated, calcareous sands, silts, and clays.

37. Dark brown soils, developed on heterogeneous material associated with mountainous and plateau terrain.

Brown Soils.—A brown surface soil grading at

a depth ranging from 1 to 2 feet into a whitish

calcareous horizon. The profile is developed in a

temperate to cool, semiarid climate under short

grasses, bunch grasses, and shrubs.

38. Northern—chiefly brown loams, developed

largely on unconsolidated sands, silts,

and clays.

39. Southern—chiefly light brown to gray fine

sandy loams to silty clay loams of smooth

relief, developed largely on limestone or

unconsolidated sands, silts, and clays.

Sierozem and Desert Soils.—Grayish and reddish soils, closely underlain by calcareous material. These soils develop in an arid climate under

short grass and desert plants.

40. Northern—gray and grayish-brown soils

of variable texture, developed largely on

loess and alluvial fan material.

41. Southern—gray, brown, and reddish soils

of variable texture, developed largely on

alluvial fans.

Soils of the Pacific Valleys.—42. Includes a

number of variable zonal, azonal, and intrazonal

soils that are too intimately associated to separate on a schematic map. These soils developed

under a range of climatic and geological conditions.

Intrazonal and Azonal Soils.—These soils may

possess one of the two general types of profile:

(a) The profile may express a local condition

as drainage or parent material rather than the

zonal profile of the region; (b) the profile may be

too immature to express a zonal type.

43. Rough and mountainous (azonal).

44. Largely azonal sands, some of which are

associated with bogs.

45. Black (or brown) friable soil underlain by

whitish material excessively high in calcium carbonate. These soils developed

under a prairie vegetation and are known

as Rendzinas (intrazonal).

46. Shallow stony soils from limestone

(azonal).

47. Marsh, swamp, and bog (intrazonal).

48. Soils largely intrazonal, developed on lake

plains.

49. Alluvial soils (azonal).

50. Rough broken land.
the influence of soils on land use on a regional

basis.

For more localized information, the soil

surveys can be consulted. Soil characteristics

are mapped by counties with considerable

detail. Much of the country is now covered

by soil surveys, and the relationship of soil

types to land use is discussed in each soil survey

report.

The literature on soils is voluminous. A

listing of county and areal surveys alone would

fill pages. Only a few of the principal publications issued by the Department of Agriculture

on the broader aspects of soil development, soil

characteristics, and soil distribution can be

cited here (86; 73; 135, 1938; 128; 10).

— Natural Vegetation and Land Use

The term "natural vegetation'' is sometimes

thought to refer to the original vegetative types,

which in America belong to pre-Columbian

times. However, very little of our present

vegetative cover belongs to these types. Some

small remnants of them remain, but with the

use of the land by civilized man, most of the

original plant associations were modified to a

greater or lesser extent. For the natural vegetation with which we are here concerned, a

somewhat broader concept is implied ; in addition to the occasional remnants of the original

vegetation, all vegetative types that grow

without cultivation are included.

Natural vegetation is one of the chief assets

in the economy of the country. Natural vegetation provides the only means of using land

that cannot be used or is not needed for cultivated crop production, building sites, service

areas, and so on. How significant a part the

natural vegetation plays in the national economy may be perceived by comparing the acreages in major uses. In 1954, cultivated crops

were grown on about 380 million acres, or 20

percent of the total land area of the United

States, while on about 1,314 million acres,

or 69 percent of the land area, natural vegetation was used. The rest is made up of urban

areas, parks, service areas, desert, swamp, and

wasteland. Thus natural vegetation on more

than two-thirds of the land contributes to the

national economy. This contribution is invaluable to the national economy, as some of our

more important industries—the animal industry, the lumber and wood-working industries,

the naval store, paper, printing, artificial fiber

and leather industries, among others—largely

or wholly depend upon it, either directly or

indirectly. To the economic contributions made

by the natural vegetation should be added the

values imparted to the countryside by the

voluntary growth of trees, shrubs, and grasses

(fig. 17).

To a large extent, the three major types of

vegetation indicate the potential use capability

of the land. If forest land is well drained, has

a smooth, not too strongly rolling, hilly or

mountainous surface and a good soil, it can

either be left in forest or, when cleared, used

for cropland or pasture. Grassland may be

used for either cropland or pasture. The only

economic use that can be made of arid desert

shrub land without irrigation is grazing.

The natural vegetation is a permanent asset

to the Nation. However, neither the yields nor

the composition of the natural plant cover remains the same with use or even with time.

Modifications occur when man takes possession

of the land or when the climate and other biological factors change. For instance, the native

chestnut, which formerly was commonly found

in eastern forests, has almost disappeared as a

result of the chestnut blight. In both the North

and the South, a number of exotics have been

added to the list of trees.

Natural Vegetation Changed by Land Use

Changes in the composition of the original

vegetation that were brought about through

man's use were usually accompanied by a decline in productive capacity. Clearing and use

of the land for crops, especially in the eastern

half of the country, greatly reduced the extent

of native vegetation. In addition, the productive capacity per areal unit of the remaining

natural vegetation was lowered. This was true

of all major vegetative types—forests, prairies,

and desert shrubs. Usually the natural vegetation was one of the resources that was first

exploited. In the early stages of settlement,

the native vegetative cover was used without a

proper understanding of the need to safeguard

its reproductive ability in order to retain its

functional value in protecting the land and the

water supply, and its enduring value as a

basic economic resource. The result was an

increasing deterioration, which makes proper

management essential when natural vegetation

provides the principal means of using the land.

Forest—Originally, forests occupied a rather

compact zone in the eastern part of the United

States. Some prairie areas were interspersed,

for instance, the Black Prairie of Alabama

(pi. 150), the prairie areas of Texas (pis. 127

and 128), and some smaller ones in the Alluvial

Valley of the Mississippi (pi. 133). There were

also the open areas of Indian origin previously

discussed. Aside from these occasional breaks,

the forests stretched across hills and valleys

without interruption to a park-like fringe (pi.

52), where they gave way to the prairies. In

contrast to the East, the forests of the West

were confined mainly to the mountains. They

did not reach as far as the valley floors (pi. 81).

They are identified largely with the central and

northern Rockies, and the Sierra-Cascade and

56
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE NEG. 58(5)-2499 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE

FIGURE 17. What is now regarded as natural vegetation is the successor to the native vegetation found by the colonists and pioneer settlers of the

country. The vegetative cover represents an adaptation to the physical environment and consequently mirrors the prevailing natural conditions.

The distribution of forest, grassland, and desert shrub is controlled largely by climate.

en
Pacific coastal ranges. Included are a number

of the higher disconnected mountains, mesas,

and ranges that have forest cover. Forest

growth on many of these mountains and mesas

is rather sparse and open. On the lower elevations, it gives way to arid woodland of the

pinon-juniper and chaparral types (pis. 83 and

84). On others, particularly the western

slopes of the Pacific coastal and Sierra-Cascade

ranges, which are exposed to the moistureladen winds from the Pacific, forest growth is

heavier than elsewhere on the North American

Continent (pis. 95 and 99).

As the country developed, inroads were made

into the more than 900 million acres of original

forest and woodland. In the East, nearly half

the original forest has been cleared to make

room for cropland, pastures, cities, roads, and

so on, but shifts from forest to cropland and

reversions of cleared land to brush and forest

are still going on. Proportionately less extensive is the clearing of forest land in the West.

Much of the virgin forest has been cut over by

now, some was destroyed by fire, and most of

the rest is in the western forests. Restocking

of depleted forests to restore the former stands

and provide for future needs has not always

progressed satisfactorily. Profound changes

in the original forest cover have been brought

about by man's activities. One of these is the

reduction in areal extent with its distributional

adjustment to the economic use capability of

the land. The other is the frequent modification of the density and composition of tree

associations in the second growth (5^).

Grassland und Arid Shrubland.—The natural

grasslands of the Central and Western Plains

have experienced an even greater transformation than the forests. Of the more than 500

million acres of the original prairie and plains

grassland, about half is tilled and used as

cropland. If the appraisal is confined to prairies, the proportion is higher. Most of the

subhumid or humid undulating prairie land

that is not needed for other special uses has

been converted to cropland, although grasses

still play an important part in the rotation

systems of farmers (pis. 45, 51, 54, 60, 64).

The one-time prairies make up the largest and

most compact crop-producing farming region

in the United States. Less extensive and

coherent in its spread is the conversion of the

virgin sod into tilled land on the short-grass

plains (pis. 68, 73, 80, 111, 113, 120). Severe

restrictions are imposed by soil, climate, and

physiographic features. Most of the land can

be used for grazing only, and this must be

supplemented by winter feeding. The feed used

for this purpose is largely wild hay cut from

native grass meadows. Much of the 14 million

acres of native grass meadows reported for the

United States is in this region. Overgrazing

had lowered the carrying capacity of, the

range but it is now improving in response to

management.

The desert shrub vegetation, plus Pacific

bunch grassland, desert grassland, and savanna,

is confined to the arid and semiarid West (pis.

67, 77, 78, 86, 98, and 100). These are types of

vegetation on which the encroachment of cultivated cropland is least in evidence, except where

irrigation is carried on. Either precipitation is

inadequate, or the surface is too rough or the

soil too shallow to make the land suitable for

tillage (pi. 76). Outside the irrigated land,

only grazing remains as a possible use, and

even grazing is precluded on extensive tracts

in the Mojave-Colorado Desert because no water

is available for livestock. Although the area

occupied by the desert shrub-grass vegetation

comprises in all about 300 million acres, its

grazing capacity per areal unit is low when

compared with eastern pasture. The natural

productivity was further lowered during the

half-century in which the semiarid and arid

parts of the country were used by herdsmen as

free open range. Unregulated use resulted in

overgrazing, which not only depleted the forage

but deteriorated the range. The best and

more palatable forage plants, particularly the

grasses, almost disappeared and were replaced

by plants less desirable or worthless for pasture

use. As a result of these changes, the carrying

capacity of the western range area was reduced

by about half. A turn for the better in the

management and improvement of western

pasture set in with adoption of the Taylor

Grazing Act in 1934. Under this act, about

half of the public domain was included in

grazing districts, within which grazing is

regulated (16^, 136).

A different transformation of the range

occurred with use in the desert grassland and

savanna country, which is confined chiefly to

the southern range. When white men arrived

in this part of the country, they found open

prairies with occasional clumps of mesquite,

live oak, cedar, and other woody plants. At

that time, grasses were the dominant vegetation. Today, brush frequently dominates the

landscape. No doubt several contributory factors facilitated invasion of grassland by noxious

brush, but the chief factor was man himself.

Overgrazing destroyed the grass turf that protected the soil and made the spread of brush

vegetation possible. The invasion of brush has

materially reduced the carrying capacity of the

range, and has made control of brush a major

problem of these areas (pis. 117, 118, 123)

(167, 53).

Vegetation Still Adjusting

Although the natural vegetation has been

disturbed by man, adjustment of plant associations to soils, climate, and ground moisture is

58
still in evidence. There are exceptions, some of

which go as far back as the pre-Columbian era.

The extension of the prairies into the humid

zone of the United States is cited as an outstanding example. Several reasons have been

advanced to explain the extension of grassland

into the forest area. Repeated burning is one.

A temporary eastward extension of a warmer

and drier climate in postglacial time is another.

Probably both fire and fluctuations in climate

occurred before the advent of European settlement, and contributed their share to produce

what appears to be an anomalistic distribution

pattern of vegetation. But there are also indications that climate as now constituted may tip

the scale in favor of grasses. So long as average annual precipitation alone is considered the

controlling factor, we find that the prairies of

the Central States are located in the humid zone.

This conclusion is supported by the absence

of the calcareous horizon in the lower part of

the soil profile. The climatic aspect changes

somewhat when precipitation is considered in

relation to evaporation.

As Albrecht puts it, "When precipitation is

put against evaporation as ratios according to

Professor Transeau, there are suggestions for

the prairie conditions in the central states far

east of the commonly considered prairie areas

of the low rainfair' (S). The relationship between climate and plant distribution is illustrated on the map "Climatic Provinces and

Plant Growth Regions of the United States,"

by C. W. Thornthwaite and F. L. Mulford

(118), A similar conclusion may be drawn

from a study of climatic fluctuations. In yearby-year fluctuations, as worked out by Thornthwaite for 40 consecutive years, the moist

subhumid type occurs sufficiently frequently

eastward to make it the normal type for the

prairie part of the Central States. It may well

be, therefore, that these drier years constitute

the critical climatic element in the prairie extension (118), That the controlling forces of

prairie and forest distribution have not always

been in perfect equilibrium is evident from

shifts of the prairie-forest boundary, which

occurred before settlers appeared on the scene

and which are recorded in soil characteristics.

Much of what was formerly the Big Woods in

southern Minnesota must have been prairie at

one time. To some extent, the soils still show

prairie characteristics, but they are changing

to the gray-brown podzolic forest soils (86,

p, 63).

Even in its modified forms, natural vegetation responds to the forces of nature. In its

distributional pattern, it reflects adjustment to

climate, physiography, and soils. Changes in

these conditions are sometimes sharply defined.

To this extent, they also aflfect land use, which

may mean a sharp transition from dual-use

capability to unilateral uses or vice versa,

depending on the viewpoint from which the

subject is approached. The Sand Hills of

Nebraska, the Flint Hills of Kansas, and the

southern part of the Llano Estacado in Texas

and New Mexico have been pointed out as

examples in which the soil restricts land use to

grazing. In several areas in the humid zone,

and especially in the Coastal Plains, the very

light or very heavy soils favor forestry as

permanent use. A reaction to soils in another

direction is noticeable in the semiarid part of

the upper Deschutes Basin in Oregon. The

eastward extension of the pine forest is almost

coextensive with the volcanic pumice deposits

of this area. Pumice has a high water-holding

capacity, and this may have been a factor in

the eastward extension of the forest.

As a rule, land relief and climate favor forest

vegetation for mountains but there are exceptions. In the intermountain region of the West,

where the amount of precipitation is near the

lower limit for forest growth, frequently only

the northern and eastern slopes of the mountains are forest clad while the southern and

western slopes are covered with grasses and

shrubs (pi. 75). Sharp distinctions of this

kind are due to a modification of the local climate, The evaporation ratio on the southern

and western slopes is higher than that on the

eastern and northern slopes. As a consequence,

the moisture requirements of trees are not met.

A distinction of a similar order, which is caused

by diminished rainfall, exists on a larger scale

between the eastern and western slopes of the

Cascade Mountains. On the western slopes,

which receive a heavy precipitation brought

in by the onshore winds from the Pacific Ocean,

the forest cover is so dense that undergrowth

is suppressed and grazing is eliminated (pi.

95). The forest use is the best use that can

be made of these western slopes. On the

eastern slopes, which are in the rain^ shadow,

precipitation is lower, the tree stand is comparatively sparse and open, and plenty of room

is left for grasses to grow (pi. 94). In this

instance, land use is a combination of grazing

and forestry.

Effective Use of Range

When the natural vegetation provides the

only opportunity of using the land, obviously

land use must be adjusted to the capabilities

of the vegetative cover. This is particularly

true when grazing is the major use. In this

respect, semiarid and arid vegetations have

their own use limitations, which are usually

low carrying capacities with restriction to certain months of the year. These limitations are

again subject to the cycle of precipitation. To

use the range effectively, seasonal shifts of

livestock are necessary, and they have developed into a migratory movement of livestock

59
SEASONAL USE OF WESTERN RANGE, 1947

Summer range

Mostly spring-summer-fall range

Mostly fall-winter-spring range

Mostly winter range

Yearlong range

Mostly ungrazed land

Irrigated land

Eastern limit

of range territory

IN COOPERATION WITH THE U. S. FOREST SERVICE

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE NEG. 58(5)-2502 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE

FIGURE 18.—In our western mountains and basins, grazing depends upon the seasonal movement of livestock. On

the higher levels, pasture is available only during the warmer season. On the intermediate levels, the range

is used mainly in spring and fall. In the basins and valleys, it is used during the winter and is frequently

supplemented by winter feeding. Summer and winter ranges are often more than 100 miles apart.

60
that is repeated each year. The movement,

which is frequently referred to as transhumance, follows a natural trend. It is not

unique to the United States. In middle latitudes, where grazing is available in the mountains, livestock is kept through the winter on

lower levels, moves with the advancement of

spring to higher grounds, and in summer is

grazed in the mountains. At the end of the

summer season, a reverse movement sets in,

which ends in the valleys. Seasonal migration

of livestock occurs in most of the western mountains and basins, where yearlong grazing is

not feasible. Summer and winter grazing

grounds are often far apart so that livestock,

and particularly sheep, may have to travel

considerable distances, most of which is done

by trailing. Motortrucks and railroads are also

used to some extent (63). National forests

provide about 8 million animal-unit months of

grazing in summer. On the winter range,

grazing often must be supplemented by feeding,

which is done chiefly with forage produced on

irrigated land (fig. 18).

In the East, only the Cumberland Plateau

is large enough to deserve mention in this connection. The vegetation of the Cumberland

Plateau is that of a cutover forest, which is

used by the few farmers on the plateau as an

open range. Some of the valley farmers drive

their livestock to the plateau where it grazes

for about 6 months in summer (89), At lower

levels, grazing in the forest is still practiced

to a considerable extent throughout the South

(US), In recent years, however, with the

intensification of forest growth over much of

the higher ground, the forest range has been

reduced. As of 1958, it is confined mainly to

the Coastal Plain.

Use for Recreation

Natural vegetation has so far been considered

primarily as an economic asset in the light of

the uses made of it. From this viewpoint alone,

the improvement and proper management of

the natural plant cover assumes paramount

importance. Economic uses of the natural

vegetation, however, are not the only uses that

are vital to the welfare of the people. There

are functional uses which, in some instances,

transcend in importance the benefits of economic use. With the congregation of people in

urban centers, outdoor recreation in scenic

places offers its own compensation. Its benefits

to society have been recognized by Federal,

State, and community governments, which have

set aside park areas totaling about 19 million

acres for recreational use. Wildlife, too, depends chiefly on natural vegetation for food

and shelter. To preserve the species, refuge

areas, in which the natural vegetation is usually

preserved, have been established in different

parts of the country. Together, these areas

comprise about 8 million acres. But over much

of the land the chief function of the natural

vegetation is the conservation of soil and water,

which can be accomplished only if the perennial

plant cover itself is conserved. Economic and

functional uses of the natural vegetation can

be combined in most instances, but proper

safeguards are essential to preserve its use

potentiality in both directions.

The accumulated literature on the natural

vegetation, its uses, and its abuses, reflects the

importance of the subject in connection with

national welfare and development. Only a few

publications of national scope can be cited here

(109; 135, 1948, 19i9)*

Water Management and Land Use

Broadly speaking, the use of land cannot be

divorced from the use of water. Water is the

complement to land, on which plant, animal,

and human life depend. Because of this relationship of water to land, water is a main factor

in determining the use capability of the land

itself. As recorded in the amounts of precipitation received in various parts of the country, water is unequally distributed in space and

frequently in time. Much of the land receives

very little ; other areas receive a large amount.

By force of necessity, the early settlers recognized these conditions. Where water is scarce,

settlement is sparse. Conversely, wet and

swampy land was avoided also.

Natural Distribution of Water

That to a certain extent the natural distribution of water can be controlled and improved

471954 0-59-5

was discovered in the early stages of civilization ; some of the old cultural centers developed

as a result. The Indians diverted water for

irrigation. Along with the settlement of the

country went the development of its resources,

water included. Old drainage ditches, dams,

and mill ponds are evidence of regulation and

use of water with the meager equipment the

settlers had at hand. Management of water has

become an integral part of the development of

the country. In its advanced stage, water

management cannot be regarded as exclusively

concerned with the regulation of the water

supply on land used for agricultural production.

Management of water is essential to obtain a

reliable supply for our urban and industrial

concentrations so that the health and welfare

of the people can be safeguarded. Development

of hydraulic energy is frequently included in

61
the water-management projects that serve

multiple purposes. But from whatever angle

the management of water is approached, the

land and its use are involved in one way or

another.

As nature's way of distributing water leaves

much to be desired so far as human needs are

concerned, man has had to improve the distribution pattern. Rainmaking was part of the

religious ritual of the Indians, but we have little

evidence by which to judge its efficacy. Of

late, rainmaking by scientific methods has

shown some promise, but whether man can

succeed in distributing rain at will where it is

most needed and prevent it from falling where

it is damaging is debatable. The processes used

in desalting salt water for desert irrigation

have received attention recently. Research is

making progress in reducing the cost of desalting sea and brackish water, but these processes

are still in the laboratory stage. Except for

such places as Kuwait on the Persian Gulf

where conditions for application of one of these

processes are exceptionaly favorable, they have

not been perfected to the point of making their

more universal use economically feasible.

For the time being, we must depend on the

available supply of moisture, and efforts toward

water management are directed chiefly toward

modifying the distribution of water after it has

reached the ground. This may be done by

either holding water where it is needed or

bringing it there, by preventing undesirable

accumulation of water, or by checking too rapid

runoff and flow. Frequently, the chief function

of a water-management project is expressed in

its name. Irrigation, drainage, soil conservation, flood protection, use of inland waterways

for navigation, city water supply, ground water

use and control, water storage, pollution abatement, and hydroelectric power development are

the main objectives of water management.

Many of these objectives may constitute individual projects, but more often related objectives are combined in multiple-purpose projects,

or all of them may form part of a river-basin

development plan.

Water Management

River watersheds are the accepted units of

water management. If they had been strictly

adhered to, that is, if water use and control had

always been confined to the available water

within drainage-basin divides, the growth of

some of our largest cities would have been

inhibited by water shortages. Gravitational

flow has always been the chief means of water

distribution, but modern techniques now permit

the lifting of volumes of water through pumping from one basin into another. This technique

is used successfully in some water-utilization

projects.

An example is New York. Although the city

is on the Hudson River and is partly surrounded

by the waters of Hudson Bay, it went to the

Catskill Mountains for a desirable source of

water. It supplemented this supply by tapping

the headwaters of the Delaware.

Denver, which is in a semiarid region, grew

until a shortage in the water supplied by the

runoff from the eastern slopes of the Rockies

began to be felt. To avert a drought in city

water, Denver diverted some of the runoff from

the Pacific slope of the Rockies through the

Moffat Tunnel to the Atlantic slope.

Los Angeles probably had the most serious

problem of water supply of any large city.

Because of its rapid growth, this city soon

reached the limits of the supply of water available from the surface and subsurface of the

basin in which it is located. To augment its

supply, Los Angeles brought water by means

of an aqueduct from the Owens River 250 miles

to the north and across the mountains. From

a purely technical angle, the replenishment of

water in the Los Angeles Basin froni such a

distance was a remarkable accomplishment,

but there were legal complications also. Before

the city appropriated the water of Owens River,

it had been used by settlers in the Owens Valley

for irrigated farming. With the acquisition of

the water and land of Owens Valley by the city,

the settlers were deprived of their use, and the

valley reverted to arid grazing. Meanwhile,

Los Angeles and its adjacent communities continued to grow and soon needed even more

water. The nearest supply was on the Colorado

River. Bringing water from that river to the

Los Angeles area required the building of an

aqueduct 240 miles long. The water had to be

lifted in stages for more than 1,600 feet across

the intervening mountains {129).

These are three examples of large cities that

have solved their water problems by drawing

on the resources of additional drainage basins.

Not all cities, however, have the same problem.

Chicago, for instance, lies on the divide between

two large drainage systems, that of the St.

Lawrence River and that of the Mississippi

River. The city water is taken from Lake

Michigan on the St. Lawrence side, and discharged into the Illinois River, a tributary of

the Mississippi ; in this instance, a considerable

volume of water is diverted from one basin into

the other.

Diverting water by lifting it across a divide

is not reserved exclusively to cities. It is used

to some extent in irrigation projects. The Big

Thompson project in Colorado operates on this

principle, as does the Grand Coulee project in

Washington. An inverse procedure is followed

in the Central Valley of California. Water of

the Sacramento River is not distributed by

gravity alone. After it reaches the lower end

62
of the Sacramento Valley, the surplus not used

in the valley is lifted again by pumps into the

San Joaquin Valley where it is used largely

for irrigation (129). All these are multiplepurpose projects, in which storage of water,

control of floods, generation of power, and use

of water are integrated.

River basins as units of water management

are affected by the physical and economic conditions characteristic of the area. Also, as

they frequently comprise extensive areas, they

are composed of political divisions under different jurisdictions. All the larger river basins

include parts of a number of States, which

sometimes have conflicting interests in waterresource development that must be adjudicated

before a project can be undertaken. Rivers that

cross or form part of the international boundary, like the Rio Grande, the Colorado, the

Columbia, and the St. Lawrence, pose problems

on the international level. Distribution of

water and development of power are involved

in all these problems. Added to the St. Lawrence River problem is inland navigation.

Agreements with Canada and Mexico are essential to the working out of equitable solutions to

conflicting claims and the preservation of

friendly relations with our neighbors.

Water management is essential in most parts

of the country where agricultural use of the

land is concerned, but it is particularly so where

water is scarce and thus becomes the controlling

factor in the development of the area.

In the arid West, where production of crops

usually depends on irrigation, the valley dwellers should be directly concerned with the management of their water supply. Management

of water must start at the source of the water

in the mountains, which constitute the main

catchment areas of precipitation. Storm or

snow water that runs off too fast is likely to

do more damage than good. To hold the water

in the mountains so it can be delivered steadily

when needed is a part of management. This

is the function of the vegetative cover. Vegetation retards runoff on slopes and gives water

time to infiltrate the soil. Protection of the

vegetative cover of the mountains from misuse

and depletion is a sound water-management

measure. It is needed also to maintain the use

capability of the mountains as summer grazing

grounds or for production of timber.

As elsewhere, precipitation in the mountains

varies considerably over the years, and this

variation affects use of water in the valleys.

Much of the precipitation falls in the form

of snow, which accumulates in winter, melts

during spring and early summer, and thus

furnishes the irrigation water needed in the

valleys. So that operations in the valleys may

be adjusted, forecasts of the quantity of water

that will become available from accumulated

snow are now made successfully froifi snow

surveys. On about 1,000 snow-survey courses

laid out over the western mountains the snow

is measured monthly in the latter part of the

winter. The results obtained provide the basic

data for the forecasts (87).

Storage Reservoirs

A dependable water supply cannot be obtained in most instances without storage reservoirs from which the water can be released as

needed. The larger irrigation districts, which

include much of the nearly 25 million acres of

irrigated land in the West, could not have been

established without provision for storing a

reliable supply of water. (For irrigated land,

see colored map in pocket, and plates 79, 82,

84, 87, 88, 98, 101, 102, 103, 104, 106, 107, 108,

110, 122, 124.) A similar need exists for

perennial hydroelectric power generation. Hydroelectric powerplants on rivers with uncontrolled flow frequently have steam plants as

standby units for emergency use. To a considerable extent, flood control must rely on

reservoirs to detain the waters. Catchment

basins have been acquired and set aside by some

urban centers. The water is stored in reservoirs for the needs of the cities. Water stored

or retained in reservoirs, therefore, serves

many purposes.

In 1948, nearly 1,000 reservoirs of more than

500-acre-feet storage capacity were in operation

(58). Almost 200 more have been constructed

since then, and others are under construction.

These reservoirs cover more than 8 million

acres. This does not include natural bodies of

water in which control dams have been installed. Most reservoirs submerge the land

permanently, and to this extent, they reduce

the area of land. Some of the submerged land

was good farmland in operation. In such

instances, construction of reservoirs meant

removal of the farmers from their lands.

Reservoirs of a type about which little information is available cannot be included in any

areal or numerical estimates. These are the

small artificial lakes or ponds that serve mainly

private interests. These homemade bodies of

water may serve as fishponds, swimming pools,

or basins to hold stock water. No complete

count has been made of these ponds, nor is the

acreage they cover known. But they are numerous, and more of them are found in the

subhumid and semiarid parts of the country

than in either the humid or arid regions. Furthermore, their number is increasing rapidly

with the expansion of conservation programs.

In the subhumid and semiarid regions, where

precipitation is not plentiful but gully erosion

is severe, the dams constructed frequently serve

a dual purpose. Erosion control comes first and

storage of water second. As of 1949, about

40,000 dams of this type had been constructed

63
(14^0). As an illustration of farm-pond construction in a subhumid region, Lincoln Township in Comanche County, Okla., may be cited.

Within this township, which contains 36 square

miles, 89 ponds were counted, an average of

about 1 per farm (138). Not all of these

ponds hold water the year round, but they serve

their purpose for most of the year.

Soil conservation revolves around water management, particularly when water erosion is the

issue. Control of runoff to check its erosive

force and to retain water on the land where it

is needed is the chief objective of water management in this instance. Not only is the soil

conserved in this way, but the productivity of

the land is improved at the same time. Grass

cover is one of the most effective erosioncontrol measures but it cannot always be

applied. Such mechanical practices as contour

plowing, terracing, installation of grassed or

rubbled water runways, construction of dams

to control gully formation, or establishing an

erosion-resisting vegetative cover on badly

damaged slopes must be resorted to frequently

if the desired result is to be obtained. All these

measures are designed primarily to conserve

the soil. However, by controlling runoff, they

also help to prevent floods through retention

of water on the land so it can replenish the

subsurface water supply that nourishes our

springs and streams.

Drainage Installations

Checking the speed of running water and

storing and distributing it where it is needed

make up a side of water management that has

its counterpart in measures designed to accelerate the movement of water and to protect or

relieve places that receive an excess of water.

Projects of this kind are better known as

drainage and flood-protection enterprises.

Distribution of precipitation governs the

location of most of the land that usually receives

an abundant supply of water. Of the total land

area of the United States, about 45 percent

receives an annual average of more than 30

inches of precipitation. Aside from the western

mountains, most of this land is in the eastern

half of the country. Because of slight slope or

a combination of slight relief and heavy soils,

extensive tracts in the Coastal and Inland

Plains have or have had inadequate natural

drainage for the best use of the land. To these

must be added the relatively broad flood plains

of the larger rivers that traverse the Coastal

Plains. In contrast to the East, drainage needs

in the West are associated not with high

rainfall but with irrigation.

Drainage installations may be divided into

two categories according to whether they can

be or have been accomplished by individual

action of a landowner or operator, or whether

community action is or was essential. Only

small-scale drainage works can be undertaken

by individual users, and then only when drainage outlets are available. By far the largest

acreage of drainable land requires community

action for drainage installations. Community

organization may take the form of drainage

districts. These districts may extend across

county boundaries, in which case they have a

legal standing of their own, or they may be

functionally integrated with the county government. How these drainage enterprises operate

depends, therefore, on legal authorization by

the States in which they are located. According to the 1950 census, drainage in 10 States is

organized and managed by counties and in 30

States by districts (fig. 19).

Most of the land in drainage enterprises is

on the till plains and glacial lakebeds of the

North Central States. In many of these areas,

drainage is not of the reclamation type because

much of the land was used for crops before

artificial drainage was installed (pis. 37, 42,

45). Surface and internal soil drainage were

deficient, however, and to produce the best

yields and reclaim wet spots required drainage

improvements. Reclamation was the more

prevalent objective of the drainage districts in

the South. In most instances, the wet and

swampy land required not only drainage improvements but clearing of the forest vegetation as well. In the Mississippi flood plains

(61), drainage and clearing were supplemented

by levees to protect the land from frequent

overflow (pis. 12, 20, 21, 24, 25, 34, 39, 40, 45,

50, 51, 54, 97, 132, 135, 136, 140, 141, 142, 150,

155, 162, 168).

Reclamation and land improvement are the

chief objectives of drainage enterprises in the

East. In the West, drainage has acquired a

third function in connection with irrigation.

Seepage from upper irrigation ditches frequently produces alkaline accumulations on the

lower levels. To prevent or relieve these areas

from the toxic concentrations of salt in the

soil requires drainage installations on the irrigated land. In these instances, irrigation and

drainage are interdependent (pi. 103).

About 100 million acres of wet and swampy

land are to be found in the United States. Most

of these lands are along the South Atlantic and

Gulf coasts and the Alluvial Valley of the

Mississippi River. Although the acreage in

drainage districts is expanding—it has now

passed the 100-million-acre mark—not all the

wet lands and swamps can be reclaimed economically. A considerable part of these lands

can be reclaimed, however, when more agricultural land is needed. Some of them are

already included in drainage districts, but they

have not yet been developed. For the larger

swamps, with soils not well adapted to agricul64
AGRICULTURAL LAND IN DRAINAGE ENTERPRISES

ACREAGE,,JANUARY 1,1950

UNITED STATES TOTAL

102,688,331

U.S.DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

I DOT= 10,000 ACRES

(COUNTY UNIT BASIS)

MAP NO. V50-053 BUREAU OF THE CENSUS

FIGURE 19.—Coastal lowlands, interior plains, and humid climate account for the concentration of wet and swampy lands in the East. Reclamation

through drainage was started along the Atlantic Coast in Colonial times but little was accomplished. Organized community drainage enterprises are

S to be found in the Central States, the Alluvial Valley of the Mississippi River, the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, and southern Florida.
tural production, forests and wildlife refuges

probably will remain the best use capability

(pi. 156).

Ground Water

Water management as discussed here is

concerned primarily with the regulation and

distribution of surface water. With the development of the country, however, it was found

that in certain areas and localities, ground

water was as much of an economic resource as

surface water. TJierefore, it has been drawn

upon to supplement the scanty surface supply.

Some cities rely almost exclusively on the supply of ground water to operate their water

systems. On farms, the domestic water supply

may be obtained from flowing springs, or it

may be rainwater collected in cisterns. More

frequently, it is derived from wells that tap

the ground water. On extensive tracts of

western rangeland, grazing would be restricted

were it not possible to obtain stock water

through pumping from below the ground. The

use of ground water for irrigation purposes

has also expanded. Ground water is now used

more extensively than in the past. As a result, warning signs in the form of lowered

ground-water tables are frequent.

The case of the Los Angeles Basin, where

the fresh water taken from the ground was

replaced by salt water, requires no elaboration.

Some years ago, a noticeable lowering of the

ground-water table in the Central Valley of

California was reported. Ground water collects

naturally in valley bottoms and on basin floors

and it is in these locations that prospects of

finding sufficient quantities for community use

are best. By way of contrast, the most recent

large-scale development of ground-water use

for irrigation occurred not in a valley or basin,

but on the southern part of the High Plains of

Texas and New Mexico, the Llano Estacado.

The Llano Estacado is unique in this respect,

in that it can be classed more nearly as a broad

plateau or tableland some 30,000 square miles

in area, which slopes gently toward the southeast. From an elevation of 5,000 feet in the

northwestern corner, it descends at an average

rate of about 11 feet per mile to 3,000 feet at

the southeastern rim. Distribution of rainfall

follows an inverse order, that is, it decreases

with the increase in elevation. Mean annual

rainfall decreases about 7 inches, or from about

21 inches in the east to about 14 inches in

the west. As these figures indicate, rainfall is

not plentiful. What the figures do not reveal

is that rainfall is distributed irregularly over

the seasons and occurs erratically within seasons and from year to year. As a rule, most

of the rain falls during the warm season,

although usually it is not heavy enough to

produce runoif from the tableland. Only occasionally are rainstorms heavy enough to produce running water in otherwise dry drainage

channels. When this happens, the water may

be discharged into three different river systems,

those of the Red, Brazos, and Colorado Rivers.

These three rivers have the upper ends of their

drainage basins on the Llano Estacado, and

no outstanding divides separate them (fig. 20).

As a result of the arrangement of escarpments in the plain across the prevailing wind

direction during the Pleistocene, the soils of

large areas on the tableland were also modified

to the extent of changing the use capability of

the land. Cropland is confined to isolated areas

in the southwestern counties on the tableland.

The reason for this sparsity of cropland is to

be found in the soil. Back of the bluffs, the

soil is mainly shallow and rocky. Sand drifting

onto the tableland through the gaps of the

escarpment produced the long traverse dunes

and the large tracts of sandy soil in the southern counties. The land can be used only for

grazing. In the northern counties, where the

soil is deeper and heavier, the land is used more

extensively for crops.

Crops have been grown on the Llano Estacado for decades with dry-farming methods.

But the low and fluctuating precipitation has

made crop yields uncertain. Pump irrigation

as a supplement to rainfall is a comparatively

recent innovation; it has spread rapidly and

has greatly increased yields and production.

Withdrawal of ground water, however, has

exceeded the rate of recharge. As a result,

the ground-water table has been lowered.

For the last half-century, land use on the

Llano Estacado has been divided between grazing and crop production. As about 75 percent

of the annual precipitation falls during the

growing seas'on, dryland farming is possible

with a number of crops, such as wheat in the

northern higher belt, cotton in the southern

division, and sorghums for the entire area.

Comparatively mild winters permit grazing the

year round, but stock water for the animals

had to be obtained largely from wells by pumping, with the pumps operated by windmills.

Water for domestic use of the farms and in the

towns was also obtained mainly from the supply

of ground water. The proved availability of

ground water led to its use for irrigation as

early as 1911, but it was not until 1935, when

more efficient pumps were installed, that its

potentialities were fully realized. This realization ushered in a period of rapid expansion.

The greatest expansion in pump irrigation has

occurred since World War II. As reported by

the census, in 1944 less than 400,000 acres were

irrigated on the Llano Estacado, whereas in

1949 more than 1,600,000 acres were irrigated.

This was an increase of more than 300 percent

in 5 years.

66
•" - I LAND USE ON THE

n LLANO ESTACADO

I Mostly cropland, non-irrigated

^zz:':- Grazing and cropland, non-irrigated

^ Irrigated from stream by gravity

^» Sand dunes and flats, grazed

A/most all the other land is grazed

Contour interval 500 feet

J. Isohyets indicate, mean annual precipitation

! 9 'P 2.0 30 40 '^ 50 60 Mi. ,

^ . ' ' ' ' (9^91

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

NEC. 58(5)-2493 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE

FIGURE 20.—The Llano Estacado consists of the southern part of the Texas High Plains. The Canadian River

Canyon separates it from the northern part. It is a slightly tilted tableland defined on three SML by aí

escarpment and connected on the south with the Edwards Plateau. The eastern rim drops for more than

500 feet m places. On the west, the escarpment is usually less than 200 feet high and is broken at some

67
Changes of this magnitude are certain to be

felt in the economy of the region. Not only

have yields risen to an all-time high, but crops

that require more water have also come into

the picture. The grain sorghum, corn, alfalfa,

and other crops now grown on the Llano

Estacado could not be grown without irrigation.

How irrigation has affected production may be

illustrated by cotton. For 1944, the census reported 555,000 bales of cotton harvested in the

counties on the Llano Estacado. In 1949, the

harvest had risen to 1,649,000 bales. To produce this crop required, in 1948, an estimated

withdrawal of 1.2 million acre-feet of ground

water for irrigation, which was about 97 percent of all ground water lifted to the surface

in that year. For 1954, the census reported

an increase in irrigated cropland of 2.9 million

acres, but production of cotton declined to 1.3

million bales.

Withdrawal of ground water to irrigate such

an acreage exceeds the rate of recharge from

infiltrating precipitation and affects the level

of the ground-water table. From 1938 to 1949,

the ground-water table was lowered up to 50

feet in places. The greatest recession of the.

water table occurred in areas of heavy withdrawal by closely spaced pumps. However,

the number of wells is increasing. As reported

for 1950, 14,000 wells supplied the water to

irrigate 1,860,000 acres on the Texas side of

the Llano Estacado alone. The pumps were

operated by either electric motors or combustion engines using butane, gasoline, or natural

gas (pis. 119, A and B) (7, 84).

The lowering of the water table is a sign

that withdrawal and recharge are out of balance. It indicates that more difficult times are

likely to be ahead. A lowered water table

reduces the availability of water to the pumps

and increases the cost of pumping. Use of

ground water for irrigation has economic as

well as physical limitations, and these limitations may become effective before the supply

of ground water is exhausted. Although the

supply of ground water can be replenished, a

steady supply can be assured only when withdrawals do not exceed the recharge capacity.

To accomplish this, control and management

are as essential for ground as for surface water.

The use of ground and surface water for

irrigation is no longer confined to the West.

In recent decades, irrigation has expanded in

most of the Eastern States. The increase in

irrigated acreage in the rice-growing areas

corresponds closely to the expansion in rice

culture. In other parts of the humid belt, irrigation is applied mainly during dry spells, when

the evaporation-transpiration rate rises above

the rate at which precipitation provides the

moisture required for optimum plant growth.

Irrigation is particularly successful in areas

of intensive crop production, for instance, in

fruit- and vegetable-growing districts (pi. 19).

To cite an example reported by the census,

Florida expanded its irrigated acreage from

126,000 acres in 1939 to 485,000 acres in 1954.

Deficient soil moisture in these areas may

be supplemented through subirrigation or ditch

irrigation, or with sprinkler systems.

Aside from the objectives of water management that are directly related to land use and

domestic and industrial supplies of water,

others only indirectly connected with land use

usually form an integral part of the larger

water-management projects. Inland waterways

for navigation and prevention of pollution are

of this kind. In either instance, maintenance

of sufficient flow and depth are necessary for

the purpose.

Next to cities, rural land use is the chief

beneficiary of water management, which has

many facets. Only the main ones are mentioned here. Frequently, in its operations, technical, scientific, economic, social, and legal

questions are closely related. Technology has

now advanced to a point at which great physical obstacles can be surmounted. However, the

large projects have many aspects other than

technical. Although a project may be possible

technically, the feasibility of undertaking it

may hinge on questions of cost, economic and

social benefits, or the possibility of clearing the

legal hurdles involved. Needless to say, these

questions should receive prior consideration

because of their far-reaching implications and

consequences.

Effects of Industrialization on Land Use and Rural Life

Rural Life Before Industrialization

There was a time when most people lived

directly on and from the land. Food was provided by crops and domestic animals; home

industries converted the fibers and lumber into

clothing, buildings, and furniture. Only a comparatively small proportion of the crops and

animals or animal products were available for

disposal to townspeople, and only a few essential articles were purchased. This picture of

American rural life describes living conditions

of pioneer settlers only a little more than a

century ago. This type of self-sufficing economy did not apply with equal force to the

southern plantations or northern manors that

were organized primarily for cash production.

68
During the early periods of settlement, the

needs of the people were relatively rudimentary.

Human labor and animal energy were the forces

that cleared and cultivated the land. The implements used and the tillage operations were

simple. Nonetheless, the settlers relied on the

land to produce a living, although they knew

little of the productive capacity of the virgin

soil. Nor were they able always to appraise

correctly the advantages and drawbacks of the

natural environment in which they built their

homes. Land was settled where it was unoccupied, and where the settlers thought they could

make a living. Some of them expected to find

a means of livelihood in the mountains almost

as readily as could others in the valleys or

plains. Site location was not considered of

paramount importance or relevance to the use

of the land, nor was it evident that physical

factors were endowed with economic and social

attributes as later turned out to be the case.

In many places in the northern and southern

Appalachian Mountains, land that would now

be considered submarginal for agricultural

production was settled and cleared. The

standard of living did not concern the population then to the extent that it does today. But

the pioneers cherished the tenets of freedom

and the opportunity to establish homes.

Industrialization of the Country

The old American way of living changed

markedly with the westward movement of

settlement and the industrialization of the

country. Agriculture as the major industry

using the land was profoundly affected by these

two developments. Settlers who moved to the

prairies and plains found the physical conditions for agricultural production more favorable than in parts of the East. Extensive tracts

of land with smooth undulating surfaces and

fertile dark soils were ready for the plough.

On most 160-acre homesteads, much or all of

the land was tillable. The settlers were able

to produce a great deal more than they could

use. The surplus was disposed of on the domestic and foreign markets. Inland waterways at

first provided the main shipping facilities.

They were soon supplemented and later almost

superseded by railroads and highways as

connecting links between farms and markets.

With the settlement and development of the

Central Plains, a new spatial order in the economic structure of the country emerged. Agriculture, which had been the main occupation

of the people, moved westward and established

its gravitational center in midcontinent, while

manufacturing, service, and mining became the

dominant industries in the more populous East.

With the opening and development of the West,

additional shifts in agriculture and industry

occurred though not to the extent of revising

completely the outstanding distributional characteristics of these industries. The agricultural

character of the Great Plains is evident from

the use made of the land. Measured in terms

of proportion of land used for crops, the Central

Plains contain the largest and most homogeneous area of the country in which crop production is preponderant. The concentration of

industries and principal markets is reflected

by the urban aggregations of population in the

East.

Expansion of settlement and industrialization of production began to transform the

country immediately after the Revolution.

These two forces operated in the direction of

developing resources and improving standards

of living. The introduction of labor-saving

machinery is largely responsible for development of the manufacturing industries and for

the commercialization of agriculture. Although

their application was not restricted, not all

parts of the country could benefit from these

innovations to the same extent. Advantages

or shortcomings of location prevented uniform development, and regional differences in

economic and social conditions resulted.

To provide a more effective exposition of

the disparate distribution of agricultural production and market centers, two maps were

prepared. Figure 21 illustrates the relative

proportion of land used for crops in different

parts of the country. Figure 22 visualizes the

distribution of population. A comparative

study of these two maps will reveal that concentration of cropland does not necessarily

produce a concentration of people, and conversely, that only in exceptional cases is a

concentration of people the result of intensive

use of the land for agricultural production.

A comparison of the distribution of cropland with that of population will disclose the

difference in location of centers of industry

and commerce and production centers of

agriculture.

Advantages of site account largely for development of cities in different localities. These

advantages may consist of transportation and

port facilities as they are found along the

inland waterways of the Great Lakes and the

coast, or the proximity of raw material and

sources of energy.

The Case of Cotton

The relationship of changing land use

through expansion of settlement and industrialization of the country may be perceived by

considering what has happened in the case of

cotton. Cotton is a cultural plant. Its fibers

were spun and woven into fabrics by the peoples

of India and those of the old civilizations in

America centuries before the first European

settlers arrived in the New World. Settlers in

69
-1o

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE NEC. 58(5)-2494 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE

FIGURE 21.—When the proportion of land in crops is used to illustrate relative intensity of land use in diiferent parts of the country, the relationship

of land use to physical conditions becomes evident. Much land in the Western States is arid and irrigation is practiced. Rough mountainous land,

poor soil, or inadequate drainage is found in much of the East. The largest concentration of cropland is in the Central Plains.
U. s DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE NEC. 54 (7)-520 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE

FIGURE 22.—An outstanding feature of the distribution of population as shown on this map is its unevenness over the country as a whole Approximately

85 percent of the total population is east of the 100th meridi^in. The greatest concentrations of population are in the North Atlantic and Great Lakes

States, which contain sites favorable to the development of large urban centers.
the South Atlantic colonies and the French

settlers in Louisiana had begun to grow cotton

brought in from the West Indies mainly for

their own use.

Cotton textiles had been produced with

machinery in England since 1769, but the

industry was handicapped in its development

by the high price of cotton. In the colonies, it

remained more of a home industry ; homespuns

were an important article of clothing during

the Revolution. It was not until 1784 that 8

bags, or some 3,200 pounds of cotton, were

exported to England. Production of cotton

remained low until, in 1793, it was stimulated

by Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin.

Up to that time, the cotton fiber or lint was

separated from the seeds by hand, which was

time-consuming. It took an operator a good

part of a day to clean a pound of cotton in this

way. Whitney changed all this. With his first

gin model 60 pounds of cotton a day could be

cleaned, and with his 1794 model 1,000 pounds

a day could be ginned. Since that time, the

operating efficiency of cotton gins has been

further stepped up. With present equipment,

ginning a bale of 500 pounds of cotton requires

from 21/2 to 3 hours of man labor, depending on

the design of the gin and whether the cotton is

picked by hand or harvested with a mechanical

stripper. Mechanically harvested cotton contains more leaves and trash, which slow down

ginning operations {11 íy 90).

Cotton was the first crop to feel the impact of

mechanization. Whitney's invention made it

profitable, and the effects were felt in different

directions. Not only was more cotton grown

on established plantations, but the plant also

migrated westward with the advancement of

settlement in the Southern States. Except for

the War Between the States, production of

cotton expanded, with minor ups and downs,

until recent decades. Some cotton is grown in

all Southern States from the Atlantic to the

Pacific wherever a frost-free season of 200

days or more prevails and where soils and soil

moisture are favorable for its production.

Production of cotton reached its peak in 1926

when more than 44 million acres yielding nearly

18 million bales were harvested. Since then the

acreage of cotton has declined, but the decline

has been offset to a considerable extent by an

increase in average yield per acre. This increase was brought about through the breeding

of improved varieties, the use of better cultural

practices and fertilizer, and through insect

control. The average yield for the first 2 years

on record—1866 and 1867—was less than 150

pounds per acre. The average yield per acre

recorded for 1955 was more than 400 pounds,

which means that the average yield of cotton

per acre increased by more than 100 percent in

less than a century (ISi, 1952, 1956),

The increase in yield per areal unit made a

reduction in cotton acreage necessary to bring

production closer to the demand level. Nonetheless, among the crops grown in the United

States, cotton still ranks second in point of

acreage used, which fluctuates now around the

20 million mark, and in value of product, which

in recent years has amounted to more than

$2,300 million. The United States produces

more than half of the world's cotton. A large

part of this cotton is exported to other countries. Growing cotton, therefore, is more than

a strictly domestic enterprise, for cotton that

reaches the international market must be produced in competition with other cotton-growing

countries. Even at home, cotton has its competitors in the form of artificial fibers, which

in many instances have taken its place.

As it is now grown, cotton is entirely a cash

crop. This has affected economic and social

conditions in the producing areas and also in

the industrial districts for which cotton provides the raw material. Some cotton for industrial use had been shipped to New England

before the ginning process was perfected.

When cotton became available in quantities to

furnish the raw material for mill operation, a

new industry was born. The textile industry

of New England grew with the expanding

production of cotton and the increase in population. Cotton textile mills are now found in

the South, also, and in many other parts of

eastern United States.

Mechanization of field operations also has

benefited cotton producers. Of all the field

operations, harvesting cotton by hand picking

is the most laborious. It is only recently that

this process has been mechanized. Harvesting

cotton with a mechanical stripper is not all

gain, however. Although much labor is saved

and the harvest is speeded up, the grade of

cotton is lowered and some cotton is left in the

field. In western Texas, where the climate is

drier than in the eastern part of the Cotton

Belt, a 2-row mechanical cotton stripper operated by 2 men can harvest 2 acres of cotton per

hour. In North Carolina, about three-fourths

of an acre per hour is the average rate. Moreover, the operation of a mechanical cotton

stripper is conditioned on both favorable

weather during the harvest season and nearly

level land. Steep slopes, contour rows, and terraces are obstacles to operation of mechanical

strippers (115).

Mechanized Crop Praduction

More significant than any other change in

farming methods was the mechanization of field

operations in production of all major crops.

Mechanization not only changed farm operations; it also advanced farming from a selfsupporting family occupation to a commercial

72
enterprise. That such far-reaching changes

resulted from it is due mainly to the mcrease

in efficiency of farm labor. These innovations

have found their widest application where crops

and physical setting lend themselves to mechanized operations. For instance, mechanized

production of small grains on nearly level land,

a subhumid or even semiarid climate, and a

productive medium-textured soil showed the

greatest gains in efficiency of farm labor. A

comparison of man-labor requirements for some

of the main crops grown with old and new

methods will help to explain the significance

of mechanization.

Wheat—Around 1800, the man-labor requirements for production of wheat, expressed

in United States averages, were about 56 hours

per acre yielding 15 bushels, or 373 man-hours

per 100 bushels. A century later, these requirements were reduced to 15 hours per acre

yielding 14 bushels, or 108 man-hours per 100

bushels. In 1954-56, the average number of

man-hours needed to grow an acre of wheat

yielding 19.3 bushels was 4.3 hours, or 22 hours

per 100 bushels. This is only 8 percent of the

per acre requirement in 1800, or 6 percent of

the requirement per 100 bushels.

Corn,—Corn, the most extensively grown

crop in the United States, has a record no less

remarkable. Corn grown for grain in 1800

required an average of 86 man-hours per acre

producing 25 bushels, or 344 man-hours per

100 bushels. By 1900, these man-hour requirements had been cut to about half, and by 1954-

56 they had declined to 11.8 man-hours per

acre yielding 41.3 bushels, or 29 man-hours per

100 bushels. The average number of man-hours

required to grow an acre of corn, therefore, was

reduced to 14 percent, or, on the 100-bushel

basis, to 8 percent of the requirement 150 years

ago.

Cotton.—By means of yield estimates for

1800, a similar series of figures that indicate

man-hour requirements has been prepared for

cotton. According to these estimates, in 1800

the average labor requirements for growing an

acre of cotton yielding 147 pounds of lint were

185 man-hours, or 601 man-hours per bale.

By 1900, the average yield per acre had increased to 191 pounds, and the man-hours

needed to grow it had declined to 112, so that

only 280 man-hours were needed to grow a

bale of cotton. For the 1954-56 period, the

average yield again increased. It is now 386.7

pounds per acre, which require, on the average,

77 man-hours, or 96 man-hours per bale. The

average number of man-hoiirs required to grow

cotton has therefore been reduced in 150 years

to 42 percent of the former requirement per

acre, or 16 percent per bale (26, 62).

These three sample illustrations of the increase in farm labor efficiency are averages for

the United States as a whole; they cannot be

regarded as norms that are applicable to regions, much less to localities. Recent regional

studies reveal that under favorable conditions

much greater savings in man-hours per acre

have been attained than may be suspected.

For instance, in the hard winter wheat region

of the High Plains, wheat can be grown and

harvested with less than 2 man-hours of labor

per acre. Corn is grown for grain in the Corn

Belt with from 6 to 20 man-hours per acre.

Like corn, cotton has a considerable spread in

labor requirements, depending on the region,

yield and variety, and the extent of mechanization. On the High Plains of Texas, irrigated

cotton yielding 418 pounds of lint picked partly

by hand and partly by machine required 34.5

man-hours per acre. On nonirrigated land, an

acre of cotton yielding 200 pounds of lint harvested partly by hand and partly by machine

required only 21 man-hours. In California,

cotton grown on irrigated land producing

around 700 pounds per acre of lint picked

mainly by hand required 99 man-hours per

acre. In the humid East, however, without

mechanical picking and moderate yield, cotton

usually requires more than 100 man-hours per

^cre {125). Similar departures from the averages of man-labor requirements must be expected in areas in which modern production

practices are not or cannot be followed to any

extent.

Other Crops.—These three crops—the principal crops in point of value—have also contributed proportionally more than the others

to the general decline in farm-labor needs as a

result of mechanized operations. However,

with few exceptions, all other crops follow a

similar trend. This is especially true of the

grain crops. Some crops are less affected by

increased efficiency of farm labor, but more so

by the increase in per acre yields. Tobacco is

an example of this type of crop. Forty years

ago, the average yield per acre of tobacco was

816 pounds, which required 356 man-hours of

labor, or 44 man-hours per 100 pounds. In

1954--56, the average yield per acre was 1,461

pounds, with a labor requirement of 490 manhours, or 34 man-hours per 100 pounds. Per

acre yields of practically all crops have increased in the last half-century. This also

explains the statistical differences in man-hours

required when applied to areal or crop units.

These differences help to explain, in most instances, the fact that the increase in labor

efficiency cannot be attributed entirely to

mechanization of farm operations. Increased

yields are also responsible to some extent.

Efficiency of Farm Labor Increased

Increases in efficiency of farm labor have

been recorded ever since the country was set73
tied, but the greatest gains have been made

since 1910. Comparison of figures representing

average performances for the beginning and

end of this period may be helpful. From available records, it has been calculated that in 1910

the man-hours of labor per crop-acre for the

United States amounted to 88 hours. By 1955,

they had declined to 17 hours. At the same

time, the production efficiency index of farm

labor per hour on a 1947-49 base had risen

from 46 in 1910 to 132 in 1955. In other words,

during this 45-year period, the labor requirement in man-hours per acre declined by 55

percent, whereas the productive capacity per

man-hour increased by 187 percent.^

Changes of this magnitude in the efficiency

of farm labor brought about through technical

advances in the processes of crop production

and increased yields could not fail to react on

land and people. These innovations not only

modified the old order of farming; they also

affected the use of the land in different directions. With the displacement of horses and

mules by tractors, the land needed to grow feed

and fodder for draft animals became available

to grow crops or feed or to be used as pasture

for meat and dairy animals. The number of

horses and mules displaced in this way ran into

the millions. The number of horses and mules

on farms reached its peak from 1915 to 1918,

when more than 26 million were reported;

from then on their number declined. In 1955,

less than 4 million were reported. Instead,

4.3 million tractors, more than 2.7 million

motortrucks, and more than 4.4 million automobiles were reported on farms. What a decrease of this size in number of draft animals

means in terms of land use becomes apparent

when the acreages needed to produce the feed

for these animals are compared. In 1915,

91 million acres were needed to produce feed

for horses and mules. By 1955, only 9 million

acres were needed for this purpose. The

livestock-acre ratio is not exactly the same for

the two periods because changes in feed rations

were taken into account in the computation.

As these figures indicate, in the process of

mechanizing farm operations, the use of 82

million acres of land almost exclusively in

farms shifted from production of horsepower

to production of farm products {13JÍ, 1952,

pp, Í55, 651; 1956, pp, 359, ^38, U7),

The displacement of animated energy and

labor by motorpower and machines was not

confined to horses and mules. Farm families

and workers on farms were also affected. Statistics register a decline for both, despite a

substantial increase in the total population.

In 1910, the total population of the United

States was 92 million, of which 32 million were

living on 6 million farms. In 1955, the total

population was 165 million, of which 22 million

were living on 5 million farms. As indicated

in round figures, the total population increased

by 73 million in the 45-year period, but the

number of farms decreased by more than a

million, and the farm population by 10 million.

These are not the only instances in which a

gain in labor efficiency had an inverse reaction

on the man-land relationship. During the same

period, even though the number of farms declined, the land in farms rose from 879 million

to 1,158 million acres. Cropland harvested,

however, rose only from 317 million to 333

million acres. Farm employment declined from

13.5 million in 1910 to 8.2 million in 1955.

Expressed in relation to total population, the

ratio was 1 farmworker to 7 people in 1910

as compared with 1 to 20 in 1955. This is of

profound socio-economic significance. As indicated, a reduced labor force provided the agricultural products for 72 million more people

in 1955 than in 1910 and for export as well,

and this was accomplished with only a slight

increase in acreage of cropland (13Jf, 1956),

Type-of-Farming Areas

The statistical evidence of changes in agricultural production presented so far applies to

the country as a whole, but the ratio of change

does not apply uniformly to all regions. Some

regions are affected more than others, mainly

because of specialization. Regional specialization evolved through adjustment of the scope of

farming enterprises to the potentialities found

within the environmental frame of natural

conditions and economic opportunities. This

type of adjustment has been going on since

colonial days.

That not all colonies were equally suited to

production of certain crops became apparent

^ Unpublished data.

at the beginning of settlement. Wheat, for

instance, was tried by the early settlers of

New England but smut soon made its appearance and greatly damaged the crop. In the

colonies south of the Hudson, however, wheat

was more successful. There, it soon became a

commercial crop to be sold in northern markets.

These natural advantages and drawbacks of

different regions gradually became known with

the advancement of settlement and use of land.

Regional specialization involves all products

of the land. The supply-demand relationship

created by regional specialization is therefore

not confined to land and city; it also requires

74
MAJOR TYPES OF FARMING IN

Fruit, truck, and special crops

Feed grains and livestock (Corn Belt)

I General farming

Cotton

Wy\ Range livestock

Tobacco and

general farming

^, Nonfarming

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

NEG 58(5)-2497 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE

FIGURE 23—Agriculture is sensitive to advantages of site. Climate, soil, or lay-of-land alone may create a favorable or an unfavorable environment for

Tiferent tfp^^^^^ The regionally specialized production areas shown on this map represent adjustnient of agricultural production to natural

conditions. But proximity to markets was also a factor in development of the fruit, vegetable, and dairy industries.
exchange of products between regions. This

interlocked economic relationship between regions is not limited to the United States; it

extends to most countries.

As settlement moved westward, it was found

that large regions were so handicapped by low

precipitation that the land could be used for

a few grain crops only. Farther west, the land

could not be used for crops, except with irrigation. From east to west is therefore the

main direction in which the major use capability of the land changes because of differences

in amount of precipitation. Within the more

humid eastern section of the country, changes

in type of farming occur mainly from north to

south. These changes are due largely to the

decrease in temperature, and the shortening of

the frost-free season with advancing latitude.

Although the character of the soils and the land

relief are also involved, terms such as "Cotton

Belt" and "Corn Belt" have become popular.

The arrangement and distribution of the major

type-of-farming areas are illustrated in figure

23 (12S, 38).

Type-of-farming areas as represented on the

map should not be regarded as permanently

fixed in outline or internal structure. Change

may ba expected with the passage of time. For

a timo, a particular type of farming may constitute the best adjustment that can be made

to the prevailing natural and economic conditions of an area, but farming responds also to

economic inducements or limitations. These

inducements or limitations may stem from

changes in market demands and prices, modifications in farming methods, introduction of

new crop varieties or new crops, concentration

of specialty crops, or reclamation of land. With

either inducements or limitations, some changes

may be expected. These changes affect the type

of farming and social and economic conditions

as well. Some of the changes that occur are

mentioned in the pages that follow.

The Corn Belt

The central part of the country is so richly

endowed by nature with physical qualities favorable to agricultural use of the land that it

has reached a high degree of development.

For the most part, the surface is undulating to

slightly rolling. Consequently, aside from the

short slopes along the incised drainage systems, it presents few obstacles to farming or

to construction of transportation and communication systems. Straight-lined field operations, straight highways, roads, and railroads

are prevalent features of the landscape, and

they represent adaptations to the rectilinear

divisions of the land.

No less favorable than surface relief to agricultural production are climate and soils. Cli76

matically, the larger part of the Corn Belt lies

in the humid and subhumid part of the country.

Annual precipitation averages 25 to 40 inches,

of which usually more than half falls during

the warm season. Temperatures are warm in

summer and moderate in winter. The frostfree period ranges from 140 to 180 days. The

soils have developed mainly from glacial till

under grass cover and are naturally productive.

These features combined produce a physical

background that is adapted to farming. As a

result, the proportion of all land in crops is

higher in the Corn Belt than in any other area

of similar size in the country.

Animal industry and crop production with

feed crops predominating from the beginning

provided the orientation for the agricultural

development of the Corn Belt. Corn, which

had been the chief crop of the Indians, was

transmitted by them to the earliest settlers.

The growing of corn succeeded wherever

summer temperatures averaged around 65° F.

From experience gained in different parts of

the country, it was found that in no other

region could corn be grown more successfully

than on the central prairies. Thus corn became

the dominant crop and earned the region its

name. Other crops—wheat, oats, rye, and hay

particularly—were grown with corn in rotation, although the composition of the cropland

pattern has been altered (150,152,151), These

changes were not confined to farming; they

affected the economic structure and social

divisions of the population as well.

In the Corn Belt, the technological improvements and scientific methods developed during

the last few decades have found ready application. Crop production has become almost

entirely mechanized. With the disappearance

of draft animals, the acreage of hay and forage

crops needed to feed them declined, but production of corn gained in importance. Corn

was no longer an exclusive food and feed crop.

It had found industrial uses and with them

expanded its market demand. As a result, corn

is now grown largely as a cash crop. Production of corn was further stimulated by the

advent of hybrid corn around 1933. From that

time on, hybrid corn has gained in favor.

Today, about 90 percent of the corn grown in

the United States is hybrid corn. The average

per acre yield of corn in the United States was

25 bushels in the 1926-30 period, as compared

with 38 bushels in 1950-54, an increase of more

than 50 percent {ISi, 1956).

Corn is not the only crop in the Corn Belt

that has affected farming profoundly ; soybeans

have also affected it. The soybean, a native of

Asia, was brought to America as early as 1804,

but it did not become an agricultural crop of

major importance until about 30 years ago
(92). It was only after the soybean had

become acclimated and its value as a field crop

had been recognized that it started its rise to

prominence. In 1925, 11/2 million acres were

planted, but less than a half million acres were

harvested for beans. Average yields were 11.7

bushels per acre. Three decades later in 1955,

the total planted acreage for the United States

was more than 20 million acres, of which 18

million were harvested for beans. The average

yield was 20 bushels per acre, or a total of

374 million bushels. The significance of this

figure in this connection arises from the fact

that 251 million bushels, or 67 percent of the

total, was produced in the Corn Belt (13i,

1956). This sudden rise in soybean production

not only affected the economy of the Corn Belt ;

it was felt around the world. It reversed the

position held by the United States on the

international market. This country had been

the world's largest importer of soybeans and

its products; it is now the largest exporter.

That soybeans made such phenomenal gains in

the Corn Belt was due largely to its similarity

to corn so far as conditions of growth were

concerned. Soybeans can be grown in rotation

with corn or as a replacement crop when corn

does not get the proper start in the spring.

Changes of this magnitude in yield and kind

of crops grown could not fail to affect farm

organization as well as the economic status of

the region and the social grouping of the people.

The large-scale production of crops for industrial use attracted industries to the small towns,

the population of which increased rapidly. Up

to the early decades of the 20th century, the

population of the Corn Belt was predominantly

rural, and the country towns grew slowly.

With the arrival of industry, especially in the

eastern part of the belt, the trend in population

growth was reversed.

As indicated by census figures for the last

few decades, the urban population is increasing

rapidly while the rural population is barely

holding its own and, in some instances, is

decreasing. This is one aspect of regional

development that is of more than local interest

and concern. From both national and farm

viewpoints, much can be said for the preservation of the fertile land of the Corn Belt for crop

production. The extension of urban settlement

reduces the land available for crops and often

encumbers the remaining farmers with a share

of the cost of development and an increase in

service charges. This kind of urban extension,

moreove]% is not confined to one region. It can

be found around most urban centers, where

suburban development is spreading. In some

instances, zoning ordinances have been adopted

to guide land development in order to prevent

misuse or waste of land and other resources.

The Great Plains

Large-scale mechanized production of crops

had its inception in the Great Plains. Topographically and climatically, the Great Plains

represent the most favorable natural environment for mechanized crop production in the

United States. Large unbroken rectangular

fields on slightly rolling or nearly level land

with a minimum of precipitation during the

harvesting season provide the regional setting.

Small grains, mainly wheat, are the principal

crops grown on the Western Plains. They are

produced entirely with machine operations.

With straight-line operations a mile or more

long, a grain grower of the Plains frequently

can cultivate and harvest fields that comprise

hundreds of acres, an accomplishment that

could not be approached with the farm implements formerly available (pis. 62, 63, 65, 74).

Without modern mechanical equipment, much

of the land in the semiarid plains that is now

utilized for crop production could not be

used for this purpose with any expectation

of economic returns. Because of the cyclical

variations of climate over the years, average

yields are comparatively low and crop acreages

fluctuate.

Because of the low and irregular precipitation, which averages between 15 and 25 inches

annually over most of the higher part of the

Great Plains, a more diversified cropping schedule is not possible and crop yields are unreliable.

Recurring droughts are a hazard to crops.

Small grains are the principal crops that can

be grown here with any degree of success.

Wheat, oats, barley, and rye are grown, but

wheat predominates; in some sections wheat

farming approaches a monocultural type of

agriculture. In the 10 States represented in

figure 24, A and B, the acreage now used for

wheat is more than twice as large as the acreage

used for oats, barley, and rye combined.

Recently, despite occasional setbacks and the

ever-present hazard of weather, the acreage of

wheat has expanded more than have the

acreages of other grains.

In other parts of the country, acreages of

wheat have contracted. In 1925 in the 10

Plains States, around 32 million acres were in

wheat. In 1950, close to 50 million acres were

planted to wheat; in 1955 only 42 million acres

were seeded. These expansions and contractions of cultivated land on the western semiarid

margin of the Plains, however, cannot be

attributed to a single cause. Economic factors

are involved also. For instance, high prices

for wheat provided an inducement to expand

the acreage of wheat. The ultimate outcome

of the contest between mechanical efficiency,

the vagaries of climate, and the changing

market prices of the crop is not yet known.

471954 0-59-6 77
00 WHEAT YIELD PER SEEDED ACRE

In the Great Plains, 1926-48

AVERAGE VARIABILITY

BUSHELS PER ACRE

nU Incomplete data

[23 5-9.9

10-14.9

15-19.9

Over 20.0

PERCENT*

Incomplete data

EH 0-40

^41 -55

m 56-70

Over 70

(*COEFFICIENr OF VARIATION)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE NEC. 58(5)-2498 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE

FIGURE 24.—Distribution of average wheat yields, and distribution of variation in wheat yields in the Great Plains are shown in

this chart. The two parts of the chart cover the same area; both are based on yields of wheat by counties over a 22-year

period. But neither the distribution of average yields nor the variation in yields conforms strictly to climate. In areas where

it is practiced, irrigation has its effect.
So far as land use is concerned, the contest

may never be decided on a permanent basis

(1S9).

Wheat is the most representative and the

most important of the small grains grown in

the Great Plains. What happens to wheat as a

result of changes in weather is shared to a

considerable extent by the other small grains.

Fluctuations of crop yields from year to

year, because of variations in weather, occur

throughout the United States but nowhere

else is the range as wide as in the Great

Plains. Yields of wheat in the Plains may vary

from very low or crop failure to a bonanza

crop. The uncertain crop yields must be taken

into account when the regional economy is

considered.

Irrigation is largely responsible for the high

average yields and low variability of yields

shown in figure 24 for the counties west of the

Plains, in southern and western New Mexico,

and in counties that contain valleys and basins

in Colorado (pis. 78, 82), Wyoming, and western Montana. Even some of the Plains counties

on the upper Arkansas, upper Platte, and

Cheyenne Rivers are similarly affected. The

higher average yields and lesser variability of

yields along the eastern margin of the Plains

are due primarily, however, to an increased

and more reliable occurrence of precipitation.

For the dry-farming areas of the Great

Plains, average yields have little significance

as an index to prospective harvests. As applied

in figure 24 they function as a standard level

from which the departures indicate the variability of yields. The percentage used as the

coefficient of variation applies to the two-thirds

of the annual yields that fall within the indicated percentage range below or above the

average. The extremes are therefore excluded.

Suitcase Farming

Complete mechanization of grain farming

also had its reaction on farm settlement, urbanrural population ratio, and economic and social

conditions. In the wheat-growing areas, fieldwork is mechanized to the extent that large

fields can be cultivated in a comparatively short

time. If no livestock is kept on the farms,

farmwork is confined almost entirely to seeding

and harvesting time. Compared with other

types of farming in which a resident operator

is needed the year around, this is a real distinction in that mechanized field operations

have converted large-scale operation into a

part-time occupation. As in most other parts

of the country, dispersed farmsteads were the

original settlement pattern. This pattern still

prevails over much of the area but it is not

static.

By force of circumstance, farmers of the

Wheat Belt acquired mobility. During the dry

1930's, many farmers had to leave the rural

environment but the movement did not stop

with the arrival of the wet 1940's. Although

the acreage of cropland harvested expanded in

the 1940's, the rural population continued to

decline and the urban population to increase.

Many farmers moved to town. By so doing

they could share the amenities of community

life and avoid the inconveniences of dispersed

settlement. "Suitcase" farmers, as these city

operators are sometimes called, now operate

their farms successfully from a distance of up

to 30 miles or more. In some parts of the

Wheat Belt, they cultivate a considerable

acreage (75),

Operating a farm while living elsewhere is

not exceptional, nor is it confined to the grain

farms of the Wheat Belt. To a considerable

extent, ranching in the Rio Grande Valley of

Texas is carried on in this way. Farming and

ranching in Utah is conditioned largely by the

original Mormon village-settlement pattern. A

concentration of nonresident farming is found

in southern Florida in connection with production of citrus fruits and vegetables. Cash

grains, especially rice, in California are grown

chiefly by operators who do not reside on the

land they cultivate. The Great Plains, however,

have one distinction that is not shared by other

regions to any extent—the number of farmers

who do not live on the farms they operate is

increasing. In most other regions, this number

is either more or less stationary or is declining

(9).

Nonirrigated crop production in the semiarid

western border of the Great Plains is now

mechanized to the extent that cash grains can

be grown in this belt. The choice of land use

is therefore confined to either grain production

or grazing. In these instances, the physical

capabilities or drawbacks inherent in the land

determine whether production of grain can

yield the necessary economic returns. Adjustment to these conditions is essential. As may

be observed on the enclosed colored map of

major land uses, it has produced the ragged

edge of cultivated land along the western border

of the Plains. Cropland appears in detached

areas or as jutting-out belts on the smooth

upland portions of the Plains, whereas grazing

land, as a rule, is confined to the rougher land

or to sandy and shallow soils. The Badlands

in North Dakota and South Dakota, the breaks

along the Platte, Arkansas, Cimarrón, and

Canadian Rivers, and similar areas are used for

grazing (pis. 68, 69, 72, 73, 74, 80, 113, 118).

Thus they provide examples of adjustment of

cropland to the suface configuration of the

Plains.

Flax a Special Crop

In addition to the grain farming that prevails

on the Plains, more diversified production areas

79
on the western margin are made possible

through irrigation. Fruits and vegetables and

other specialties are produced in these areas.

On the eastern border, where the rainfall is

somewhat higher and more reliable, other farm

crops such as corn and soybeans, are edging in.

In the Red River Basin to the north, flax is

frequently grown in rotation with grain.

During the last century, flax shifted from

one principal use category to another. Originally, it was grown primarily to produce the

fiber from which linen textiles are woven. With

the appearance of cotton as a competitor, flax

has lost ground. Aside from the small quantity

of flax grown for fiber in Oregon, the flax

grown in the United States is seed flax used

mainly for production of linseed oil. The

growing of seed flax fits in well with local

grain-farming practices; all are mechanized

operations. To promote increased production

of seed, flax is seeded thinly to give the plants

room for branching, which shortens the fibers.

Seed flax is not harvested until the seeds are

ripe and stalks are hardened. These short, hard

fibers of flax straw are unsuited to use for

textiles, but they provide excellent raw material

for manufacturing paper. Cigarette paper is

now made exclusively from the fibers of seed

flax. For other high-quality paper, for instance

currency paper, flax fiber now forms part of

the raw material, as it imparts needed strength.

In point of acreage and yield, flaxseed is a

fluctuating crop. It varies from 3 million to

more than 5 million acres and produces from

30 to 40 million bushels of seed. North Dakota

and Minnesota are the chief producers of seed

flax (S2).

The Dairy Belt

The cool humid region of eastern United

States comprises roughly the Lake and Northeastern States, plus Pennsylvania and Maryland. Dairying, the prevalent type of farming,

gave rise to the name of the belt. As the

climate is humid, the three major land uses are

found here. Approximately 50 percent of the

total land area of the belt is in forests. Some

of the largest compact forest areas in the

United States are located in this region. As a

rule, the forests occupy mountainous, rocky,

swampy, or sandy land. Much of this land is

included in National and State forests or parks,

or is otherwise publicly owned, but commercial

forests on privately owned land are also represented, particularly in Maine. These are the

main features the Lake and Northeastern

States have in common (pis. 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 16,

41, 49).

Land use in both sections is also greatly

affected by industrial development and urbanization of the population though not to the same

extent. The physical backgrounds differ also,

as does farming in some respects, and the

land-man relationship is not the same in the

two areas. , These divergencies are sufläciently

marked to make separate discussions of the

eastern and western sections of the Dairy Belt

necessary.

The Lake States

Unlike the Northeastern States, the Lake

States have no extensive mountain ranges.

They are a northward extension of the glaciated

plains with their morainic belts (pi. 46), sandy

outwash plains (pi. 49), glacial lakebeds (pi.

51), swamps (pi. 50), rough and rocky hills,

and uplands (pi. 41). The lakes, which form

the international boundary and divide the

States, function along shorebelts to modify the

climate to such an extent that use of the land

is affected. In addition, these large connected

inland waterbodies serve as transportation

routes for bulky freight to the Eastern States.

Completion of the St. Lawrence Seaway will

bring ocean traffic direct to the inland ports

of the Great Lakes. The economic consequences

that may be expected to follow in the wake of

this waterway extension cannot be foretold.

Industries and agriculture are well developed

in the Dairy Belt. Land use and agriculture

have been adapted to the physical environment

and to economic opportunities, so far as location is concerned. Crop specialties in particular

are more sensitive to physical location than are

most field crops. The fruit belt along the

eastern shore of Lake Michigan (pi. 39) and

the cherry orchards on the Door Peninsula in

Wisconsin are examples of adjustment of production to the potentialities of climate. In

both instances, the success of growing fruit on

a commercial scale depends on the protection

from frost provided by the moderating influence

of air currents from the lake during blossomtime in spring and near harvesttime in early

fall. Production of sugar beets is concentrated

particularly on the glacial lakebeds around

Saginaw Bay (pi. 40). Green peas, celery, and

sweet corn are the chief vegetables grown for

sale. All are grown in clustered production

areas where physical conditions are favorable

and where marketing facilities have been

organized. Corn is an important field crop, but

it is not grown for grain to the same extent as

in the Corn Belt. With advancing latitude, the

summers grow shorter and cooler, and corn does

not ripen each year. As dairying and animal

husbandry are the chief agricultural enterprises, corn is often grown as a forage crop to

be ensiled and used as wiriter fodder.

That agriculture and industry are still expanding may be seen in estimates of population

and crop acreage. As reported by the census,

population rose for these 3 States from close to

8 million in 1920 to nearly 13 million in 1950,

80
of which 64 percent is now urban. Cropland

increased for the same period from 36 million

to nearly 38 million acres. The growth rates

of population and acreage of cropland, therefore, differ considerably but acreage of cropland

does not tell the whole story of agricultural

growth. The farmland has been improved, and

most of the farm operations are now mechanized. Yields per acre have increased, as has

output per animal unit. As this is a dairy

region, production of milk is particularly important. Milk production per cow increased in

all dairy States during the last decade by

approximately 20 percent over the 1941-45

average (76, p, 5).

The Northeast

The situation in the Northeastern States

differs considerably from that in the Lake

States. The northeastern part of the country

has had a longer period of development and

adjustment. In addition, the physiographic

background is more varied. Back of the level

land along the ocean front are hills, mountains,

and plateaus. Differences in climate conform

to this arrangement, and settlement and development were greatly affected by these conditions. Population is increasing rapidly, but it

is distributed unevenly. Settlement in New

England was of the town and village type (pis.

5, 6, 7), and to a lesser extent this was true also

of the coastal areas in other States. Favorable

sites for large concentrations of population

were provided by sheltered harbors. However,

when the lowlands were occupied, settlement

spread into the hills (pi. 3), mountains, and

valleys. With the prevailing way of life in

colonial days this was possible, but it proved

to be a handicap to advancement in levels

of living, which began with the opening of

the Western Plains for settlement and the

industrialization of the country.

Industrialization in the Northeastern States

had an early start, and this too had its reaction

on the labor market. Industrial competition for

man's labor injected an economic element into

the land-man relationship, which produced

changes in both land use and distribution of

population.

Many settlers in the northeastern mountains

discovered that farming could provide only a

poor living at best. They soon realized that

they were economically handicapped. With the

opening of the Central Plains and the West,

many of them moved to more favorable surroundings for agricultural production. Others

were attracted by the growing industries and

towns. These migratory movements did not

alter greatly the population total for the Northeastern States as a whole, but they changed

markedly the distribution pattern of the people

and with it the cultural landscape of the mountains and the coastal belt. Many mountain

farmsteads were abandoned, and the land

cleared and cultivated by the settlers reverted

to brush and forest or was used for pasture.

Others are used as summer homes (20, 22,

117, 2).

Migratory movements of people and changes

in use of the land in the Northeastern States

are not confined to the mountains. They are

evident also in the lower coastal belt. Urbanization, industrialization, and trade in these

States affect the economic and social status of

the people to a greater extent than do topography and climate. Besides the proximity of

metropolitan markets, the prevalent village and

town type of settlement offered a concentrated

labor supply for industry. With these advantages, the population increased rapidly. At the

same time, the pace was set for urbanization.

How the development affected the man-land

relationship can be told more impressively with

a few round figures pertaining to the last three

decades. The total population of the Northeastern States in 1920, as reported by the

census, was 31 million, which increased by

1950 to 42 million people. Of these, 75 percent

lived in urbanized areas. During the same

period, the number of farms declined from

640,000 in 1920 to 443,000 in 1950, and with it

reduced the acreage of harvested cropland from

24 to 17 million acres. Acreage of cropland is

not a true measure of productive capacity, but

in this instance, it indicates dependence on supplies from more distant sources. Actually, this

concentration of population has produced the

largest market for agricultural products in the

country.

Not all the land that went out of production

was used for urban expansion, nor can all of

it be classed as poor. Some of this land is used

for pasture and some is used for gardening or

part-time farming. Diversion to resort and

recreational uses accounts for part of it, but a

goodly proportion is reverting to woodland.

However, a reduction in crop acreage does not

necessarily mean a proportional reduction in

production. Frequently, a reduction in acreage

of cropland is offset to a considerable extent

by an increase in yield per acre, and some

of the specialties grown in these States have

responded in this way.

Specialties Produced

Dairying is the predominant type of farming

in these States, but in some districts specialty

crops are equally or even more important.

Along the shores of the Great Lakes stretches

a belt in which the land is used intensively for

fruits and vegetables. In northern Maine,

potatoes are the chief cash crop. The per acre

yield of potatoes has more than doubled in the

last 30 years. In 1920, the average yield per

acre for the entire country was 112 bushels;

81
by 1955, it had advanced to 268 bushels. Tobacco, another specialty, is grown in the Connecticut Valley, the Piedmont of Pennsylvania,

and southern Maryland ; it has followed a similar trend. In 1920, the average per acre yield

of tobacco was 780 pounds, and by 1955, it had

risen to 1,467 pounds. Fruits and vegetables

are grown intensively in some districts near the

coast. Here, too, production methods have

improved and the output has increased.

Poultry farming, an important industry, is

also well-established in the region, although it is

concentrated more in the lower coastal belt.

Until a few decades ago, poultry was almost

entirely a sideline of general farming, and to a

considerable extent this is still true. But in

the meantime, poultry farming has evolved

as a special type of animal industry, in which

production of commercial broilers has attained

the status of large-scale business. Some broilergrowing establishments produce more than a

million birds a year.

The indications are that commercial broiler

production started in the early thirties on the

Delmarva Peninsula. More recently, other

production centers have developed. They are

scattered over the Eastern, the Southern, and

the Pacific Coast States. Within the last

decade, production of commercial broilers has

expanded to a point at which it exceeds considerably the number of chickens sold on the

farm. A few round figures will illustrate this

point.

The number of chickens produced in 1955 on

the farms of the country totaled 377 million.

Iowa led with 30 million. In the same year,

commercial broiler production in the United

States amounted to 1,078 million birds. Georgia

led with 178 million. The commercial production of broilers in this country is therefore

nearly twice the farm production of chickens.

A comparison of these figures becomes even

more impressive when confined to the 11 Northeastern States of the Dairy Belt. Chickens

produced in 1955 on the farms of these States

totaled 67 million. Pennsylvania led with 18

million. Production of commercial broilers in

these States in 1955 amounted to 261 million

birds, of which 70 million were produced in

Delaware. This made Delaware the leading

State of the region.

Broiler production has increased rapidly as

has its feed efficiency. To produce a 3-pound

broiler 20 years ago required approximately 12

pounds of feed. As of 1957 less than 9 pounds

was required. Improved strains of birds, feed

of better quality, and more efficient operational

practices largely account for the improvements.

An equally significant increase occurred in

egg production. In the United States, about

40 billion eggs were produced in 1940. In

1955, 59 billion were produced. This increase

in egg production was accomplished without a

corresponding increase in the number of fowls,

which totaled 296 million and 309 million, respectively, for the 2 years. The higher rate of

production of laying hens accounts for most

of the increase. The average number of eggs

produced per layer in 1940 was 134; by 1955,

it had advanced to 192 (ISi, IHO, 1956; 93;

57).

Pointing out the highlights of the poultry

industry with a few figures pertaining to

chickens and omitting mention of turkeys gives

a distorted picture. The turkey is part of the

native American fauna; to the early settlers,

it was a game bird. Turkeys are respected

members of the barnyard congregation and

are raised in great numbers on turkey farms.

Most of the turkeys are grown in the Dairy

Belt; in 1956, they totaled 77 million birds

(72). Finally, ducks and geese are also produced to some extent, but they do not approach

chickens and turkeys in either number or value.

The large concentrations of population in and

near the Dairy Belt provide not only the chief

market outlets for dairy and poultry products,

but in addition they profoundly affect land use.

Urban development has progressed rapidly,

and, by taking advantage of modern transportation facilities, it has sprawled far out into

rustic territory (pi. 8). Aside from the land

actually used as building lots, advanced real

estate values and speculative holdings have

eliminated from farm use much of the land in

the ragged suburban fringe. This land lies idle,

waiting for the homebuilders to come. There

are also developments in the opposite direction,

where the proximity of urban centers has promoted more intensive use of the land for truck

farming and horticultural production (pis. 19,

20). Instances of this kind may be found along

the warmer coastal region from Boston south

into the Delmarva Peninsula. In the northern

Piedmont, farming is diversified ; both livestock

farming and crop production are carried on

(pi. 22).

The General Farming Belt

Between the Corn Belt to the north and the

Cotton Belt to the south, lies a belt from which

cotton is eliminated because of the cooler

climate. In this belt, corn, although it is one

of the principal crops, cannot be grown in

proportioned quantities as in the Corn Belt.

The chief drawbacks are the extensive hilly to

mountainous surface and the less productive

soils. The Ouachita (pi. 131), Ozark (pis. 58,

130), and southern Appalachian Mountains

(pis. 27, 28, 30, 31, 145, 146) comprise a major

part of the belt, but valleys and rolling country,

like the Pennyroyal Plain (pi. 33), the Bluegrass Region (pi. 32), the Nashville Basin

82
(pi. 144), the Great Appalachian Valley (pi.

29), parts of the Piedmont (pi. 26), and the

Coastal Plain (pi. 25), are included also. In an

aggregation of varied land characteristics of

this kind, adjustment of land use and farming

to the capabilities of the land is a necessity.

Much of the rugged mountainous land is

included in national forests or parks ; forest and

recreation are the best uses that can be made

of such land. This does not mean, however,

that the hills and mountains are uninhabited,

or that this belt is sparsely populated. Actually,

some of the hilly sections have a denser population than the broad valleys (88). That so

many people live in the hills is due largely to

the conditions that prevailed at time of settlement. Over much of the eastern section of this

belt settlement occurred during the colonial

period or shortly thereafter, and even the

part of the belt that was in the public domain

was occupied before mechanization made farming a commercial enterprise.

Settlers in the hilly country, however, cannot take full advantage of operational improvements. Usually their fields are small and

frequently they are too steeply sloping to permit

the use of modern tools. Furthermore, the

farm income of these settlers is insufficient to

provide either capital or credit for the purchase

of mechanical equipment. In this respect, the

mountaineers have a permanent economic handicap. Farming in these surroundings provides no more than a subsistence level of living.

There is no opportunity for economic advancement but these families own thieir lands and

have homes (126). Many of the younger

people look for ofF-the-farm employment, which

may be found in mines or more recently in the

manufacturing industries that have located in

the area.

The mountaineers represent an extreme example of low-income farmers, but their level of

living does not prevail throughout the belt. In

those areas in which the surface of the land

permits more extensive farm operations, the

economic status of farmers is higher. In a

number of districts, specialties are produced in

commercial quantities. Fruit, tobacco, peanuts,

and livestock, which in the Bluegrass Region

and the Virginia Piedmont includes purebred

horses and some other specialties, are all represented. Over much of the areas, woodland

and pasture predominate. Only in exceptional

instances has farming been able fully to utilize

modern equipment for crop production.

The Cotton and Subtropical Fruit Belt

Economic and social conditions in the South

are rooted in the history of early settlement.

These conditions were touched on in the discussion of the role cotton plays in this part of

the country. Equally important are the relationships between cotton growing and the land

and between cotton and man. Cotton, which is

produced largely by tenant farmers, is grown

entirely for, the market. Where plantations

were the dominant socio-economic institutions

for use of the land, large holdings were the rule.

A number of these plantation holdings are still

intact, but they are operated by tenants under

unified management (pi. 140). The majority

of tenants, however, are independent operators.

Tenant farms are numerous in the South; in

many counties, more than 50 percent of the

operators are tenants (68), As a rule, tenants

or sharecroppers operate small farms to produce a cash crop, chiefly cotton. Occupancy of

these tenant farms is more frequently on an

annual agreement basis, and consequently it

fluctuates with economic conditions. In recent

years, tenancy in the South has declined considerably, partly as a result of the reduction in

the acreage of cotton.

Cotton

Among the crops, cotton is the most widely

grown. It has also experienced the greatest

decline in acreage, which is particularly noticeable in the humid cotton States of the East

(pis. 129, 150). According to the census, the

acreage of cotton in these States declined from

43 million acres in 1929 to 17 million acres in

1955. A movement in the opposite direction is

reported for the 3 western cotton-growing

States (pi. 119, A, B), where acreage rose in

the same period from 645,000 to 1,498,000

acres. The reduction in cotton acreage in a

quarter-century, therefore, was approximately

17 million acres for the United States. Curtailment in acreage did not bring about a proportional decrease in production. Using census

figures for comparison, in 1929 production was

14.6 million running bales of lint. In 1954,

with a 56-percent decrease in acreage, it was

12.8 million bales. The average yield per acre

increased from 164 pounds in 1929 to 341

pounds in 1954. The decrease in acreage did

not affect production as much as it affected

the number of tenant operators.

Tenant operators are not rooted in the land

by o^vnership or long-term lease. They move

freely from place to place or to and from

nonfarm employment. Consequently, they have

only a transient interest in the land itself.

Improving the land and adopting conservation

practices to preserve the soil for generations to

come are not concepts that would influence a

cotton-growing tenant to change from straight

furrows to furrows that follow the contour of

the land. Furthermore, as cotton was the chief

consideration of the rental, this crop was frequently grown for years on the same land

without rotation or changes in the practices

followed.

83
If not properly cultivated, cotton can easily

induce erosion on rolling and hilly areas.

Erosion induced in this way has brought drastic changes to parts of the South. For instance,

the use capability of some of the cotton land

that was originally the most productive, like

the Black Prairie of Alabama (pis. 142, 150),

and to some extent the Black Waxy Prairie in

Texas (pis. 116, 128), is used only for grazing.

Damage from erosion severe enough to change

the use capability of the land has not always

attained regional proportions, but it has eliminated many tracts from further cropping or

has reduced markedly the productivity of the

land.

Erosion damage of this kind is not confined

to the Cotton Belt ; it extends over much of the

arable land of the United States. Conservation

measures devised to combat erosion are followed widely. However, because of the cropping practices in the Cotton Belt, the greater

frequency and intensity of thunderstorms, and

the mild winters in which the ground seldom

freezes, erosion is a year-long process. Thus,

it is a greater hazard to land in the South than

in other parts of the country (166,145).

Large Holdings

In the part of the Texas Coastal Plain that

was settled during the Spanish period of government, land use is still affected by the landacquisition system in operation at that time.

The early settlers could obtain land in large

tracts. A settler who cultivated land and

raised stock could get a sitio grant—4,428

acres, or nearly 7 square miles—for a nominal

sum {82, p. SI), Land in the coastal belt of

Texas is still held in large tracts and is used

predominantly for livestock ranching. Some

of the largest stock ranches of the country are

in this part of Texas. Large-scale mechanized

rice culture is now established on the eastern

half of the Gulf Coast Prairie (pi. 127). Much

of the land used for this purpose, however, is

under lease to the operators. The oilfields

located in the lower Coastal Plain have injected

additional complications into questions of land

ownership and use. Farther inland, in the

easter;?^ Texas pine region, much of the la^d

that was cleared and used for crops by tenant

farmers is now reverting to forest as a result

of low productivity of the soil and industrial

labor demands (pi. 129).

That land tenure is related to use of the land

is apparent from the examples cited. In some

places, size of holdings is equally important.

In the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains, where

many large tracts are held by absentee owners,

the use capability of the land cannot be fully

developed without drainage improvement. Absentee ownership of these large tracts, however, is not conducive to initiation of the

community action needed for the purpose.

Community action is essential to installation

of a drainage system. A drainage district must

first be organized and later maintained. In

these instances, large holdings by absentee

owners impose a real handicap to development

of the land resources.

Fractionalization of Holdings

If in this respect large holdings have their

drawbacks, so also have the holdings at the

other end of the landownership scale. In some

eastern sections of the country, the Old World

custom of breaking up land holdings and

transmitting parcels of equal size to heirs has

become a more or less accepted practice. The

parcels of land that result from these divisions

frequently are too small to provide economic

units for farming. Fractionalized farms of

this kind may lie idle, or they may be used in

conjunction with adjacent farms. In some

instances, they may revert to woodland (59).

In the West, the oldest agricultural district in

the United States is affected in the same way.

This district is located on the Upper Rio

Grande in north-central New Mexico (pi. 110).

When the early Spanish explorers visited the

valley in the 16th century, they found the

Pueblo Indians cultivating irrigated land.

Irrigated agriculture has been the cultural land

use ever since. Individual land ownership was

no doubt established during the Spanish colonial regime. With it was introduced the custom

of dividing the family holdings equally among

the children at the death of the parents. Many

of these farms have become too small to provide

an adequate family income (67, 23). In these

instances, there are two possible ways to increase farm income. One is to consolidate these

small farms into larger units; the other is to

specialize in high-value crops. Consolidation

is more in line with the present tendency of

enlarging operational units.

Fractionalization of land holdings to obtain

more farm units is contrary to need. Technological advances have increased the efficiency

of labor to such an extent that the old family

farm units are frequently too small to provide

economic units for mechanized operations. In

land use, the impact of mechanization has been

felt in two main directions. The machines increased the acreage that a farmer could cultivate or operate. By so doing, a good many

farmers were displaced. Stated in another

way, the number of farms decreased but the

average size of farms increased. In 1920, there

were close to 6.5 million farms, which comprised nearly 956 million acres and averaged

148 acres per farm. In 1954, the number of

farms had decreased to less than 4.8 million and

the land in farms was close to 1,158 million

acres, or an average of 241 acres per farm.

84
The increase in the average acreage per farm

is not uniform throughout the country; it is

higher in the Great Plains and lower in other

parts of the country ; nevertheless, it indicates

how farming has been affected by mechanization. A similar movement has occurred in

forestry. If lumber or paper mills are to

operate on a permanent or sustained-yield

basis, they must control the output of lumber

from a considerable acreage of forest. To be

able to do this, either ownership of the forest

land must be acquired, or contractual agreements of management must be entered into with

other owners.

Woodland and Forest Uses

In the humid eastern parts of the cotton and

subtropical fruit belts, the chief land uses are

woodland and forest. The area usually is

identified by foresters as the southern pine

region, in which approximately 60 percent of

the land is still in forest and woodland (pis.

138, 152). Farm woodland comprises about

half of it, and the rest consists of commercial

forest with some National and State forests

included. The proportion of land in forest is

an indication of the important part played by

forests in the local economy. Distribution of

forests within this pine region, however, is not

uniform, nor are forests in this environment of

the timber-producing type only. Concentration

of forests in large tracts is more prevalent in

the lower parts of the Coastal Plain, where the

land is too flat to drain adequately. The heavy

rainfall and poor natural drainage make the

land unsuited to agricultural development

without artificial drainage improvements (pis.

152, 161). In places, sand, heavy clay, or

hardpan soils are often deterrents to cultural

use of the land.

The forests of the Coastal Plain region

usually consist of rather open stands, which

permit growth of grasses and other forage

plants. Here, production of lumber can be

combined with grazing. Because of this, grazing of forest land is common in the South.

Only about a sixth of the total forest land

remains ungrazed. Moreover, on the extensive

forest tracts in the lower Coastal Plain, grazing

of livestock on unfenced forest land is not

legally restricted, and for all practical purposes

this land constitutes open range. In keeping

with these conditions, forest owners frequently

are cattle owners also and their land would be

grazed anyway.

Naval Stores,—A year-long dual use of the

land for forest and grazing is more characteristic of parts of the South than of any other

section of the country. Southern forests produce a diversity of products. In addition to

logs, poles, and pulpwood, the naval stores belt

also furnishes rosin and turpentine. In the

early days of settlement, naval stores were

produced farther north on the Atlantic coast.

At that time, pine gum was used mainly to

caulk the seams of wooden ships and to preserve the ships' ropes and riggings. As a trade

name, the term "naval stores" dates back to

that time. It is still in use, although industrial

requirements have largely replaced naval uses.

Production of naval stores in the United States

is now confined almost exclusively to a belt of

the lower Coastal Plain, which extends from

western Louisiana into South Carolina. The

greatest concentrations are in southern Georgia

and northern Florida. In this area of around

90,000 square miles, longleaf and slash pines

are the chief forest trees. Both slash and

longleaf pines are pine species with needles up

to 12 inches ; they are also the gum producers.

This combination of extensive forests and

high-yielding species accounts for the annual

production of more than 600,000 50-gallon

barrels of turpentine and about 2 million drums

(520 pounds net) of rosin, which is more than

half the world's output of naval stores {ISl,

1956),

Several methods are used to produce naval

stores. The older method consists of cutting

streaks through the inner bark of living trees

in the form of V's to induce and maintain the

flow of gum ; this chipping operation, which is

repeated weekly during the growing season,

produces the face on the tree. Below each

face, the gum is caught in a cup from which it

is collected each month and hauled to the distillery. A sulfuric-acid solution sprayed on

the freshly chipped streak increases the efficiency of labor and lengthens the productive

life of the tree. This stimulates the flow of

gum to the extent that chipping can be delayed

for an additional week without reducing the

yield.

A more recently perfected process of obtaining naval stores from wood has advanced so

rapidly in the last three decades that it is now

the leading process. Pine stumps and dead

branches, most of which are remnants of earlier

lumbering operations and formerly were regarded by the lumber industry as waste, constitute the resources on which the wood naval

stores industry depends. They are collected

and transported to central plants where they

are shredded or ground in preparation for the

steam distillation process. Rosin and turpentine are produced mainly, but the output ratio

differs considerably from that of gum distillation. Steam distillation of wood produces about

5.5 drums of rosin (520 pounds net) to 50

gallons of turpentine. Proportionally, this is

about twice as much rosin as is obtained from

gum. There are other processes of producing

naval stores from wood. One is destructive distillation, in which the wood is heated to the

85
point of carbonization. The commercial output

by this method, however, is comparatively

small. More important is the process by which

naval stores, particularly turpentine, are recovered as byproducts of the sulfate paper

industry {122, 36, 12Í).

As a perennial natural resource of the South,

the forests have an interwoven use pattern that

requires internal correlation if a sustained

high-level yield is to be obtained. In the early

stages of the country's development, the forests

were exploited. Since then, their permanent

economic resource value has received fuller

recognition, and considerable progress has been

made in introducing proper management and

operational practices. A few National and

State forests are scattered throughout the area.

They serve as research and demonstration stations in sound forest management.

Other Crops Grown

Although cotton is the most widely grown

crop, and forests occupy the largest acreage in

the cotton and subtropical fruit belts, they do

not everywhere provide the most important

products of the lands. In certain sections and

localities, specialty crops dominate the agricultural economy (pi. 165). Deciduous fruits,

peaches particularly, are important in some

Piedmont counties (pi. 163). In some sections

of the Coastal Plain, peanuts, and in others,

tobacco (pi. 166) have supplanted cotton as

commercial crops (pi. 157). Production of

small fruits and vegetables are important

enterprises in other localities. Along the Gulf

Coast, especially along the coastal prairie of

Louisiana and Texas (pis. 127, 136), rice is the

chief crop. This is true also of the Mississippi

terraces in Arkansas (pi. 133). Rice growing,

which in this country is completely mechanized,

is usually a large-scale enterprise. In this

part of the country, rice is grown in rotation

with pasture.

In the United States, the growing of sugarcane is confined to this subtropical belt. The

cane is grown for commercial sugar production,

chiefly in the lower Mississippi Delta of Louisiana (pi. 137) and in a smaller district on the

shores of Lake Okeechobee in southern Florida

(pi. 155). As a farm crop for sirup, it is grown

over much of the southern humid part of the

Coastal Plain. As a commercial crop, sugarcane provides an example of how science came

to the rescue of industry. In the early twenties, the mosaic virus was introduced into Louisiana with stem cuttings from the Orient. The

disease spread rapidly, and the yield of cane

was reduced to such an extent that the industry

came almost to an end. But plant breeders

succeeded in breeding mosaic-resistant varieties

of sugarcane and thus saved the industry. At

the same time, they produced higher yielding

plants than had been in use before (12). What

happened can best be told in figures. In 1926,

production of cane sugar in the United States

was down to 48,000 short tons. By 1955, it had

climbed to 574,000 short tons. In 1926, the per

acre yield of sugarcane was at its lowest—6.8

tons—and for the last 15 years, it has averaged

more than 20 tons per acre.

Pecans are a tree crop peculiar to the South.

Pecan groves are found from eastern North

Carolina westward to the edge of the prairies

of Texas and Oklahoma. Production of pecans

has advanced considerably in recent years. In

1930, 57 million pounds of pecans were produced; in 1953, production rose to 211 million

pounds; in 1954, it declined to 95 million

pounds ; and in 1955 it rose again to 147 million

pounds (ISi, 1950y 1956). This increase in

production was due mainly to the development

of improved varieties with larger nuts and

higher yields.

A more recent contribution to the tree crops

of this region is the tung tree. The tung tree

is a native of China from which seeds were

brought over shortly after the turn of the last

century. Its name is derived from the heartshaped leaves; in Chinese, tung means heart.

The climatic requirements of the tung tree

restrict commercial plantings to the 100-mile

humid belt along the Gulf Coast and northern

Florida, where a long growing season permits

the nuts to ripen and a short cold spell of 2 to 3

weeks with temperatures of 45° or lower provides the requisite dormant period. Tung

plantings were first made in Florida in the

middle twenties (pi. 153). Since then, more

tung plantations have been added, and the

production center has shifted westward into

southern Mississippi and Louisiana. Tung oil,

a quick-drying oil extracted from the fruits or

nuts, is used in a number of industries.

Although production of tung oil is a young

enterprise in the United States, it has made

considerable progress. In 1939, 3 million

pounds of tung oil were produced. In 1954,

production had advanced to 32 million pounds

(but fell back to 10 million pounds in 1955).

The older orchards are still in production, but

neither yield per acre nor oil content of the

nuts is as high as in the more recent plantings.

Higher yielding varieties with fruits that contain a larger proportion of oil have been developed. With greater per acre yields in addition

to expansion of orchards on suitable land, the

domestic tung-oil needs of the country for the

near future may well be met by home-grown

trees {99).

Citrus Fruits.—The specialties mentioned

thus far for the Cotton and Subtropical Fruit

Belts are confined to the warm temperate zone.

In the lower latitudes where the climate is

subtropical, other specialties take the place of

86
those mentioned. The most prominent subtropical crops are citrus fruits, of which

oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, lemons, and

limes are the better known members. Citrus

fruit was first introduced into Florida by Spanish settlers, who planted groves that consisted

mainly of trees producing sour oranges. These

plantings were near the coast and on the banks

of the St. Johns River. The sweet orange

and the grapefruit were brought over from

Mediterranean countries by later settlers.

Commercial production did not begin, however, until Florida had become part of the

United States in 1819. At first, shipments of

citrus fruit to northern markets were made by

sailing vessels. When railroads were extended

into the peninsula, citrus groves were planted

inland. As a result, production expanded rapidly. By 1886, a million boxes were produced.

Progress was not steady, however. Heavy

frosts in the 1890's reduced the crop to a few

hundred thousand boxes. New plantings were

started immediately farther South where heavy

frosts are not the hazard they are in northern

Florida. Commercial citrus plantings are now

confined largely to the higher land south of

Ocala (pi. 154). Production of Florida citrus

fruit has increased fairly steadily since then.

It has now passed the 130 million boxes a

year mark. About three-fourths of these are

oranges {17y 15JÍ),

The records of Florida's citrus fruit industry

are remarkable in themselves but they are only

a part of the national picture. Citrus fruits are

grown in other Southern States. Some groves

are found in Louisiana on the natural levees of

the Mississippi that jut out into the Gulf.

Citrus fruits are a major crop in the Lower

Rio Grande Valley of Texas (pi. 124). But

the more important production areas of citrus

fruit next to Florida are the subtropical areas

of the West- Until a decade ago, California

was the leading producer of citrus fruits in

the United States. The slowing up in the West

and the more sustained rate of expansion in

the East are related to the natural distinctions

between the eastern and western production

areas. All of the western citrus fruit areas,

the Lower Rio Grande Valley included (pis.

104, 106, 108), are in semiarid country. Consequently, they depend mainly on irrigation,

which is a controlling factor in the expansion

of production. When production from the

different citrus fruit areas in the United States

is totaled, the 1955 figure is 195 million boxes,

35 percent more than the 1940 total. In weight,

the 1955 harvest of citrus fruits exceeded the

total of all the deciduous tree fruits produced

in this year in the United States {ISJ^, 1956).

Considered in relation to population, it is more

than one box per capita.

As may be surmised, the achievement of the

citrus fruit industry, as disclosed by production records, is not purely accidental, nor is it

only a matter of accommodating enlarged markets. Solution of many problems required the

sustained effort and vigilance of scientists,

technicians, and economists. As per capita

consumption of citrus fruit was low a few

decades ago, the creation of markets and organization of trade cbjinnels from producers to

consumers, usually over long distances, were

involved. Most citrus fruits are grown for

domestic consumption; only 5 percent of the

total production is exported.

Some of the problems in the development of

the industry have been mentioned. These problems differed between East and West, but no

valid answers were available for any of them.

Research studies and experiments had to supply

solutions to the problems of protection from

frost, prevention of alkali accumulation in

irrigated groves, proper cultivation and treatment of orchards, application of fertilizers and

trace elements needed for different soils, control

of fungi and insect pests and diseases, breeding of new and better varieties, propagation

through budding on desirable rootstock, and

grading and packing of fruit for the market,

to mention only a few (153).

The marketing of citrus fruit brought its

own problems. The main citrus fruits were

agreeable to the palates of young and old, but

as citrus fruits were seasonal and reached the

market in limited quantities only, they were

regarded largely as a luxury. It was not until

the rich vitamin content, particularly vitamin

C, of citrus fruit was discovered that the public

became aware of its nutritious properties. As

a result, the value of citrus fruit in the diet

received a public reappraisal. Citrus fruits

now form part of the daily diet of millions of

people. To promote wider distribution, processing methods were introduced that made citrus

products available for ready use at any time

of the year. These products may appear as

canned, pasteurized juices—orange, grapefruit,

tangerine, or blends. They may be in the form

of canned citrus salads, which consist of orange

or grapefruit sections. But of all the processed

citrus products, frozen concentrated juices are

most important. Orange juice also leads in

this group. These concentrated juices are

poured into cans, are then quick frozen, and

transported and stored in refrigerated cars

and warehouses at 10° F. Currently, about

45 percent of the citrus fruit harvested is

marketed as processed products.

The processing of agricultural products usually results in byproducts. What is waste

in the family kitchen accumulates in processing

plants in prodigious quantities, and most of

this material contains valuable substances that

87
can be recovered and used. The pulp and peels

from processing plants are converted into feed

for beef and dairy cattle. From the peels of

the citrus fruits, an oil sought for its flavoring

qualities is extracted. Citrus juices are now

converted into table wines. An oil pressed from

the dried seeds of oranges and grapefruit has

many uses ; salad oil is only one of them.

Small Fruits and Vegetables,—The warm

winters of the subtropical belt are utilized to

produce off-season crops. Fresh vegetables,

lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes, celery, and strawberries are grown on a commercial scale for

northern markets. In this respect, the deciduous fruit and vegetable industries are allied

with the citrus fruit industry. Unlike the

latter, however, they are concerned with many

different products and are not confined exclusively to one climatic belt. The fruit and

vegetable industries take advantage of the

whole range in seasonal conditions from South

to North. In winter and early spring, fresh

fruits and vegetables come from the subtropical

areas, but with the advancement of the seasons,

harvesters move northward along the string of

trucking areas. In this way, the larger markets

are provided year round with fresh vegetables

and seasonal fruits.

Obstacles appeared in the production as well

as the marketing of the fruit and vegetable

industries. Desirable varieties had to be developed, protection from insect pests had to be

carried on, soil fertility and moisture content

had to be maintained or improved for maximum

production, and perhaps most important, as

these crops are highly perishable, processing

methods and transportation and storage facilities to preserve the quality and value of the

fruits had to be developed. Scientific knowledge, technical skill, commercial acumen, and

organizational skill played their parts in the

development of these industries. Both old and

new methods of food preservation are now used.

An idea of their growth may be obtained from

the figures cited in the paragraphs that follow

(70).

As the citrus fruit industry is considered

separately here, citrus fruits are excluded from

the following figures culled from Agricultural

Statistics (ISi), These figures do not include

fruits and vegetables grown for home consumption; they refer only to those grown for the

market. The figures cited for quantitative

comparison begin with 1940 and end with 1955.

It was during this period that the impact of

the quick freezing process, as a new method of

food preservation, began to be felt more fully.

Fresh fruits and vegetables are still grown for

the market, but the quantities grown for this

purpose are declining. In 1940, 134,000 carlots

of fresh fruits reached the market as compared

with 90,000 carlots in 1955. The quantity of

fresh vegetables that reached the market increased at first from 459,000 carlots in 1940

to 696,000 in 1946, then declined to 492,000

carlots in 1955.

The decline in consumption of fresh fruits

and vegetables, therefore, indicates that a large

proportion of these staples now reaches the

market in processed form. The drying of fruit

is an old device; it holds its own despite new

methods of preserving. During the last decade,

production of dried fruits hovered around a

half-million tons annually. Canning was perfected in America for commercial application

in the latter part of the last century. Since then

it has made great strides in providing the

market with fruits and vegetables at all seasons. Fruits canned in 1940 amounted to 37

million cases containing 24 No. 21/2 cans each.

In 1955, 72 million cases were canned. Canned

vegetables advanced from 117 million cases in

1940 to 230 million cases in 1955. Quick freezing, the latest process of food conservation, has

recorded the greatest advances. The first

frozen packs were sold in 1930 (18). In 1940,

the frozen pack of fruit put on the market

totaled 172 million pounds. By 1955, it had

increased to 660 million pounds (exclusive of

citrus juices), or more than 3 times as much as

in 1940. Vegetables made an even better showing. The frozen pack of vegetables produced

in 1940 amounted to 83 million pounds, but by

1955, it reached 1,140 million pounds, nearly

14 times as much as in 1940.

Impressive as these increases in production

of fruits and vegetables are in themselves, they

are even more remarkable when the acreage on

which they were accomplished is taken into account. The acreage used for commercial production of fruits and vegetables did not change

greatly during the last decade and a half.

Compared with other crop acreages, it is relatively small. For the commercial production

of 22 fruits and nuts, citrus fruit included, the

acreage used in the United States was 3,827,000

acres in 1940, and 2,917,000 acres in 1955. A

similar acreage was used for commercial production of 28 vegetables—3,262,000 acres in

1940 and 3,827,000 acres in 1955 (134, 1956).

Of these acreages, the larger proportions are in

the Atlantic and Gulf States. These States

have ample room for expansion of trucking,

especially if market demand should increase

beyond the capacity of the established trucking

areas.

The warmer climate of this region is an

advantage in the growing of several vegetable

and fruit crops. To this extent, climate was an

aid to establishment of these industries in

the South. In contrast, the development of

diversified farming, in which animal husbandry

functions as a major line of production, was

handicapped by the warm climate. This handi88
cap has been surmounted to a considerable

extent through the breeding of livestock less

sensitive to warm summer temperatures; improvement of pasture through drainage, clearing, or fertilization; and introduction of new

pasture plants that provide palatable feed during most of the year. The beef-cattle and dairy

industries are the chief beneficiaries of these

improvements.

The Semiarid and Arid Western Plains

and Basins

The restricted use capability of the land and

the drawbacks to denser settlement and fuller

development of the semiarid and arid areas of

the West were included in preceding discussions

of climate, natural vegetation, and water management. The conclusion reached, that the

cultural use of land in the western semiarid

and arid plains and basins depends on water

for irrigation, will hold true so long as the

prevailing distribution of precipitation remains

as it is. Exceptions are some relatively small

areas in which precipitation is slightly higher

and grain can be grown with dryfarming methods (pi. 90). Large and small irrigation systems have been installed in many places where

water and land suitable for the purpose are

available. Irrigated agriculture, however, varies with the project. Adjustment to the local

climate, the potentiality of the soil, and the

economic needs of the community, is essential.

Irrigation in its simplest form—diversion of

the water of a creek to a ditch—usually is done

to improve grazing or to grow hay as winter

feed for livestock (pis. 98, 121). On the larger

irrigation projects, specialty crops are frequently the chief source of income. On most

irrigation projects, livestock is well represented, especially when dairying for nearby

markets is an important part of the farm

economy. In the warmer areas of southern

Arizona and California, subtropical fruits,

grapes, and winter vegetables are the main

products of irrigated land, but cotton and flax

are also important (pis. 107, 108). Deciduous

fruits are the best-known products of some of

the northern irrigation projects, for instance,

the Yakima Valley in Washington and the

Grand River Valley in Colorado (pi. 82).

Truck crops are a major product of irrigation

projects in Idaho (pi. 88), Utah (pi. 84), and

Colorado (pi. 79). Sugar beets are one of the

most widely distributed cash crops on northern

irrigation projects.

Sugar Beets

For several reasons, sugar beets are well

adapted to the western irrigated areas. In

semiarid regions, irrigated land frequently

contains some alkali, which with increasing

concentration becomes more and more toxic to

the plants. In extreme instances, the land

cannot be used for crops. As sugar beets are

not especially sensitive to alkali, they can be

grown with little risk and good results on

irrigated land. Also, they supply raw material

that can- be converted into consumer goods by

processing plants in local communities. A

third reason is that pulp and beet tops as byproducts of sugar mills provide a valuable

livestock feed, which is in demand during the

winter. Because of this, winter quarters for

ranch livestock are usually found in sugar-beetproducing areas. By taking advantage of the

interrelated benefits that accrue from sugar

beets on irrigated land, the beet-sugar industry

can almost be identified with western irrigation

projects. More than 80 percent of the beets

for sugar are produced on irrigated land.

Production of beet sugar is a fairly well

established and stabilized industry. During the

last decade, the annual crop was around 10

million tons of sugar beets or nearly II/2 million

short tons of sugar. In the meantime, the per

acre yield has increased somewhat, and this has

been offset by a similar reduction in acreage.

Before this stability of production had been

achieved, however, the beet-sugar industry

went through a period of trial and uncertainty,

much as did the cane-sugar industry in Louisiana. Both sugar plants were introduced from

overseas, and both had to be bred to adapt them

to American conditions. Sugar beets were

introduced from Europe, but early attempts to

produce sugar from beets on a commercial

scale failed until, in 1870, a sugar mill in California succeeded in getting a start. For some

time, sugar beet growers depended on seed

from Europe. But this seed was susceptible to

attacks of virus diseases and blights, particularly curly top, which reduced the yield and

quality of the crop and sometimes resulted in

complete failure. Sugar mills in some of the

infected areas had to move to new sites.

Varieties of sugar beets resistant to curly top

and leaf spot were needed. Plant breeders

succeded in producing both. By so doing, they

saved the beet-sugar industry and, at the same

time, laid the foundation for a new industry,

the growing of sugar-beet seed. When production of seed of disease-resistant sugar-beet

varieties got underway in America, imports

from abroad gradually declined. In 1940, they

ceased altogether. During the succeeding

decade, seed of disease-resistant sugar-beet

varieties was exported. How this branch of

the beet-sugar industry has advanced in the

meantime is apparent from the yields of seed

obtained. In 1940, the average per acre yield

of seed from these new varieties of sugar

beets was only 1,127 pounds. By 1955, it had

increased to 3,004 pounds. The American

89
beet-sugar industry provides, therefore, an

additional example of how science and technology came to the rescue, and how at the same

time other sugar beet growing countries were

benefited {25, 116).

The Pacific Valleys and Basins

Land use is more diversified along the Pacific

Coast than in any other part of the country.

Broadly speaking, this is a region of low coastal

ranges and broad interior valleys flanked on

the east by the high Sierras and broken in

places by the drainage outlets of interior basins.

Because the mountain ranges stretch across the

prevailing direction of the moisture-carrying

winds from the Pacific, the distributional arrangement of precipitation, if plotted as a

graph, is almost a counterpart of the relief

profile. A moderate amount of moisture is

discharged on the coastal ranges; the interior

valleys are comparatively dry ; and the Sierras

receive the heaviest discharge of precipitation

on the western slopes. This decreases rapidly

on the eastern slopes and is low in the adjoining

basins. As the region has a midlatitudinal

extent of more than 16 degrees, differences in

temperature influence greatly the cultural

development of the region.

In the northern part of the region, except

for the Snake River plains and some sections

of the Columbia River Basin, land use is closely

adjusted to the potentiality of the physical

environment. No major modifications have

been brought about by the collective action of

man. The exceptions in the Snake River plains

and the Columbia Basin are irrigation districts

in which agricultural specialties are grown to

a considerable extent. Diversified nonirrigated

production of crops and the growing of fruit

are confined largely to the Willamette Valley

(pis. 96, 97) and the Puget Sound Basin (pi.

95), where moisture is adequate to permit the

diversification. Mechanized dry farming of

small grains is the prevailing land use on the

Columbia Plateau (pis. 91, 92, 93). Forest use

of the land is confined to areas in which the

rate of precipitation is high. These are the

mountains and part of the Puget Sound country, where much of the land is in national

forests and where lumbering can be organized

as a permanent industry (pis. 95, 99). Grazing

is the chief use of the arid land where no water

is available for irrigation, and in the rougher

parts of the country, where tree growth is

scanty because precipitation is too slight to

support a commercial forest stand (pis. 94,

100).

A different situation prevails in California.

Very little land could be used by the early

settlers for intensive crop production under

natural conditions. The land of the valleys

was dry; small grains could be grown on the

valley floors, and livestock could graze in the

hills. Such extensive land uses, however, cannot support many people. Yet people moved

into the South Pacific valleys, which had attractions and resources that could be developed.

Not the least of these resources is the Mediterranean climate with its long summers and mild

winters. Also, ground water in the lower levels

and water in the streams could be used for

irrigation. This combination of pleasant climate and available water supply has been

developed. It supports an estimated population

of more than 12 million. However, gigantic

engineering works, some of which are not fully

completed, were necessary.

Water Important in Land Use

The land use patterns that evolved under

these conditions are closely associated with use

of water. When no additional water can be

applied, extensive uses, such as grazing and

dry farming (pi. 105), prevail. With water,

the land produces many different crops, fruits,

and fibers for the market. In the Sacramento

Valley, where sufficient water is available and

soils and surface are favorable, rice culture

utilizes an extensive acreage (pi. 101). The

growing of rice in the valley is commercial and

all its operations are mechanized. It differs

from many types of farming in that, as a rule,

the operators do not reside on the land they

cultivate. In contrast to the traditional method

of rice growing, which requires much hand

labor, all operations connected with this type

of rice culture are done with machines. Ditches,

levees, and seedbeds are constructed and prepared with machines; seeding is done from

airplanes ; and harvesting is mechanized. Large

fields of regular shape make this type of rice

growing possible. Other local characteristics

of the landscape are just as striking. In the

districts in which either table wine or raisin

grapes are produced, the land is used intensively

(pi. 104). The farms are usualy 10 to 40 acres

in size, and each is a farm home. Orchard

farms of fruits and nuts are frequently larger

(pi. 106).

Quite distinct are the lower areas that border

the San Joaquin River. Irrigation on the

higher levels has brought about a rising of the

water table in the lower areas and has resulted

in an accumulation of alkali in the soil. Thus,

the use capability of the land has been reduced

(pi. 103). Reclamation of some of these areas

through drainage is now in progress, but land

use is confined largely to the feed crops needed

by the dairy and stock farms of the area.

Former tule marshes also have been reclaimed

for intensive agricultural production. These

marshes are composed mainly of islands at the

confluence of the Sacramento and the San

Joaquin Rivers (pi. 102). To do this, the

90
natural levees were raised to protect the land

from overflow, as much of it is near or below

sea level. Vegetables are grown in this area.

Only a few examples of the diversity in

agricultural land use found in California can

be mentioned here. Edaphic differences, climatic potentiality, origin of land ownership,

and agricultural specialization have left their

imprints on the land use patterns. Land use

distinctions in California, however, are not all

derived from agricultural use of the land even

in agricultural districts. Manufacturing industries have moved to the west coast, particularly to California, and have located in the

valleys. Scattered oilfields have added their

characteristics to urban and rural landscape

features. Moveover, the climatic and scenic

amenities attract not only tourists but also

residents with independent means. As a result

of the influx of people, industrial and urban

centers and those of the garden city type have

expanded rapidly and are still growing. In

1955, more than 64 percent of the population

was listed as urban.

So far, there are no indications within the

region of a sustained population movement

from the land to the city that would compare

with that in New England. The number of

farms is slowly increasing, as is the rural

population. Apparently agriculture will remain

a major industry of the State, and as many of

the high-per-acre-value crops are grown here,

California is likely to remain one of the leading

States in value of farm production. But strains

and stresses in the relationship of population to

natural environment have developed, especially

in some districts. In this instance, it is not the

frequently mentioned increase of '^population

pressure on the land,'' but a decrease of pressure in the water mains. Water shortages

recur in this part of the country, and large

engineering works are necessary to obtain a

better distribution of water.

Distribution of water is a perennial problem

in California. People and industries continue

to locate in the southern coastal valleys. No

sooner has one section received additional water

than deficiencies are noted in others. In no

other part of the country is the distribution of

water the problem it is here. Nowhere else has

it been given the public recognition it has received in California. The water supply, a basic

natural resource, fluctuates. In the end, the

safety limit of dependability controls development. According to recent estimates, water use

in California now exceeds the safety limit of

the developed water supply by about 3 million

acre-feet a year. This does not mean that the

water resources of California are exhausted ; it

does mean that they need development.

Plans for the Feather River project are completed, and a master plan has been prepared to

chart possible future utilization of the waters

from other rivers. In a scheme of this kind, the

watershed-unit approach to development can

hardly be adhered to if the water is to reach

the places where it is most needed and can be

used most effectively. Transfer of water from

one watershed to another is not the problem it

used to be. With the assistance of engineers,

the rivers do it themselves by providing the

power that operates the lifting pumps. Waters

that originate outside the State, as do those of

the Klamath and Colorado Rivers, are included,

but State compacts for their utilization are

necessary. The remaining projects are extensive in scope and require large engineering

installations. Technical, legal, and financial

difficulties must be resolved before water can

be made available for the fuller utilization of

California's land resources (16).

Yield-Improving Practices

How scientific and technological advances

have affected land use, and agricultural use in

particular, was illustrated by comparing former

and recent production records in the discussion

of regional conditions. Although this method

offers striking examples, it does not provide all

evidence that has a bearing on the subject, and

it was not used to create the impression that

all benefits derived from improved methods of

land use can be enumerated separately, expressed in definite quantum figures, and accredited to one or the other factor. Improvements

in land use practice? may function in more than

one direction, or they may supplement each

other.

Conservation Practices

In this respect, conservation practices can be

as effective in increasing the productive capacity of the land as any other yield-improving

biological or technical innovation, but neither

can be always fully evaluated separately and

converted into volume measures of improved

yield. It would be hard to say, for instance,

just how many thousand board-feet of lumber

have been saved annually from burning as a

result of the fire protection provided by the

watchful observers of the lookout towers.

Similarly, the exact results of applying control

measures to white pine blister rust are not

known. However, proper forest management.

91
of which fire protection and blister-rust control

are only phases, increases the output of forest

products and is essential to maintain forest

yields. Controlled grazing as opposed to free

grazing operates in the same direction when

the grazing capacity of the depleted range is

to be restored. Although in itself controlled

grazing helps to remedy exploitation, it is even

more effective in many areas if brush is controlled also (pi. 117) and reseeding is practiced. But benefits of good forest and grazmg

management cannot be fully appraised in terms

of gains in grazing capacity or greater productive capacity of forest land. In either instance,

the benefits derived from retarded runoff and

conservation of water and soil may exceed in

importance the gains in improved grazing or

forest growth.

Soil conservation practices are essential in

many parts of the United States if for no other

reason than to preserve the productive capacity

of the land for further use. When followed,

they too have a multiple benefit reaction in that

by holding the soil in place, they also help to

retain moisture in the soil and thus increase

its yield. However, increases in yield that

come from soil conservation may be difficult to

evaluate correctly. Wherever soil conservation

practices are followed, it is evident that the

use of land, particularly for farming, is not

pursued indifferently, and that almost certainly

other yield-improving methods are followed

also. High-yielding crop varieties, fertilization,

and use of pesticides contribute to attainment

of higher yields, but how much each of these

factors has contributed to the increase in

production for the country as a whole is an

open question.

Use of Fertilizer and Pesticides

The quantities of fertilizer and pesticides

used indicate their importance in agricultural

production. Only in recent years has consumption of commercial fertilizers reached its

present proportions. From almost 9 million

tons of fertilizer used in 1940, consumption

rose to more than 22 million tons by 1952. It

has remained at that level since. This includes

all the main plant foods—nitrogen, phosphoric

oxide, potash (of which the fertilizers contain

less than 10 percent)—and the minor'elements

needed by certain plants. Not included, however, are liming materials, of which more than

30 million tons are used annually, and phosphate rock, of which close to a million tons are

applied directly to the soil {131^, 1955),

Although the use of fertilizer is widespread,

the opportunities for improvements in yield

are not exhausted. As has happened in some

instances, a reduction in acreages of crops and

pasture can be offset by efficient use of fertilizer. Production can be maintained or even

increased on fewer acres with higher yields.

Not all regions can benefit to the same extent

from use of fertilizer, nor is the same fertilizer combination sufficiently effective in all

instances. Efficiency of fertilizer varies considerably on different soils. Field experiments

are needed to establish the requirements for

different soils and crops, and when correlated

to regional conditions, they provide indexes of

what can be accomplished in this direction

{91,).

Pesticides do not promote increased yields

directly, but they contribute materially to increased production by saving the crops from

destruction. Pesticides include insecticides,

fungicides, and weedkillers. Large quantities

of these materials are used in the United States

to keep insect and fungus pests and weeds

under control. Consumption fluctuates around

300 million pounds a year {ISU, 1956).

From the quantities of fertilizers and pesticides used in the United States, it is apparent

that production of these materials supports a

farflung industry. To this must be added the

manufacturing of the machinery and implements needed to apply the materials to the land.

Until recently, this was done almost exclusively

with ground equipment, but lately airplanes

have been used, particularly in applying pesticides and fertilizers. As of 1952, more than

2,000 aerial applicator firms used approximately 7,000 pieces of aircraft in these operations. Dusting and spraying are the main

operations and seeding from the air has been

added as a new technique. In 1952, these firms

treated approximately 40 million acres. They

service all major agricultural areas of the

country, but they are concentrated largely

where the land is intensively used. In addition,

the Forest Service uses airplane sprays to

control such insect pests as the gypsy moth.

Airplanes used for the purpose were at first

converted training models, but special airplanes

are now built for agricultural use {155y 71).

Side by side with these new developments

are the time-honored methods. Crop-rotation

systems, which may include shifts from crops to

pastures, are more or less integrated with the

regional type of farming. Types of farming in

which livestock farming is represented usually

have well-established rotation systems also, in

which the use of manure and green-manure

crops as soil-improving agents is of recognized

value. This is not true to the same extent of

cash-crop farming areas. For example, in

cotton-growing areas, producers rely chiefly on

commercial fertilizers to maintain or increase

soil fertility. In semiarid areas, where only

small grains can be grown, summer fallow is an

established practice. It is combined with

stripcropping to check wind erosion.

92
Impact of Changes on Land and People

How mechanization of agriculture and industry has reshaped socio-economic conditions

becomes clear when we compare the urbanrural population ratio of a century ago with

the present ratio. In 1850, the total population of the United States was only 23.2 million

people, of which 19.6 million, or 85 percent,

were classed as rural. This plurality has been

reversed. Of the total civilian population of

161.5 million people in 1955, the largest segment, 103.5 million, or 64 percent, was urban,

and only 58.0 million, or 36 percent, was rural

(1S2).

Rural Population Changing

Revealing as these figures are, they do not

tell the whole story because the traditional

meaning of the word "rural" has become

blurred. In its original meaning, the rural

population, in contrast to city dwellers, was

made up primarily of tillers of the soil, herdsmen, and woodsmen. Under the current definition, of the 58 million people classed as rural in

1955, only about 22 million are members of

farm families; the rest are nonfarm residents

who have occupations other than farming.

Broadly speaking, it may be said, therefore,

that in 1955 about 22 million, or 14 percent, of

the total population were farm people (121).

The change in the internal composition of

the rural population may be accounted for by

several reasons. Among them are the spread

of urban conveniences and services to rural

areas, and land use combinations that minimize

the urban-rural distinctions. On the urban

fringes of the larger cities, detached real estate

development projects or manufacturing plants

are occasionally located in rural surroundings

and are sometimes combined with part-time

farming. In the western irrigation districts,

where the regional population is congregated

and the land is used intensively, villages, towns,

and industries have grown up. Thus, urban

living has been projected into the country.

Urban settlement areas have expanded to

represent a sizable acreage, which is increasing.

This is true also of service areas, which include

rights-of-way of railroads, highways and roads,

and airports. Expansion of acreage in this

category is not uniform, however. The acreage

in railroad rights-of-way is decreasing slightly.

Some branch lines have suspended operation

because of competition from buses, motortrucks, and automobiles. Thus, the land has

been freed for other uses (pis. 38, 64). Parks,

playgrounds, country clubs, and golf courses

have also been developed. In the aggregate,

however, these service areas aré expanding.

Regional Specialization

The changes and shifts in land use make up

only one phase of the all-embracing process of

internal development and economic growth.

The haphazard method of settlement, in which

individual choice of location was determined

largely by availability of land with too little

attention paid to adaptability to intended use,

has made land use adjustment a perennial

process. Adjustment of land use to natural

advantages and shortcomings has developed

regional land use characteristics that are not

confined to the proportional acreages of land

in cropping, grazing, and forest uses. It has

also evolved production areas specialized by

regions. Regional specialization represents an

adjustment to the prevailing physical and economic factors that influence land use. Ordinarily, it is identified with type-of-farming

areas. "Cotton Belt," "Corn Belt," "Wheat

Belt," "Dairy Belt," "Fruit and Truck areas,"

and "Western Range," are all names that have

regional connotations so far as land use and

type of farming are concerned. Forestry adds

its regional distinction. In extensive areas,

forests provide the best use of the land (fig. 22).

Regional specialization in agricultural production usually is not practiced to the extent

that crop production is a monocultural enterprise. Only where the climate eliminates other

crops, as is the case in parts of the wheatgrowing areas, is the regional specialty the only

crop produced in the area. In other specialized

areas, only a single major use of land may be

possible because physical conditions eliminate

competitive major uses. The western grazing

land is of that type. There the only possible

land use is grazing; crops can be grown only

in restricted areas where irrigation can be

carried on. In the Sand Hills of Nebraska,

cultivated crops are eliminated by the nature

of the soil. A rugged topography makes the

mountains the stronghold of the forests. Corn

and cotton are regional specialties in the Corn

and Cotton Belts, respectively. Both belts are

defined by physical conditions. Nearness to

market is frequently thé decisive factor in

making dairying the farm specialty within the

milkshed areas of cities. Specialization in land

use, whether it was brought about in response

to natural restrictions or to man's needs, usually promotes greater efficiency in production.

At the same time, it creates economic group

interests of regional extent.

Certain regional aspects of specialization in

land use have national implications also. Considered from the national viewpoint, it is obvious that because of specialized production in

one direction or another, none of these regions

471954 0-59-7 93
produces foods and fibers in balanced proportions even for their own needs, much less as

surpluses for the market. Our large city

markets receive farm products from all parts

of the country. However, the productionconsumption relationship is not a one-way

traffic between rural and urban populations.

It means an exchange of products among the

people of all regions in the country. In their

place of origin, the products of the land may

be of greater or lesser regional importance, but

they form an interlocked and integrated part in

the national economy as a whole. In fact, they

may even transcend the national boundary.

Our Changing Diet

Dietary habits are not the same throughout

the country. We have regional favorites, for

instance, potatoes, beans, or grits, to mention

only a few. Diets no doubt vary between

country and city people. Frequently, this variation is based on preference rather than economic necessity. But in neither instance is the

diet of our people restricted to the products of

the locality or region in which they live. With

extension of transportation facilities to all parts

of the country, improvement in speed and refrigeration equipment for fresh products, and

advances made in the food freezing and packing

industries, the products of any one region are

available to any other region. With these

developments, the rise in standard of living,

and a better knowledge of the requirements of

proper nutrition, the per capita ratio of the

different foods consumed has changed considerably, as may be observed in figure 25. The

products taken into consideration in the chart

CHANGES IN FOOD CONSUMPTION

From 1935-39 Average Per Capita

Dairy prod.^

(EXCL. BUTTER)

-25

-50

-75

Y Poultry

. Fats & oils

(INCL. BUTTER) t

±± ± JLL

Fr. & veg.^

(PROCESSED), V,

Fresh fruits

(INCL. MELONS*)"

Potatoes &

sweetpotatoes * J I

I I I I I I I I

Cereals

I I I II ±

1935 '40 '45 '50 '55 1935 '40 '45 '50 '55

VARIATIONS IN RETAIL WEIGHT. CIVILIAN ONLY, 3 --YEAR MOVING AV» CENTERED. OpRODUCT WEIGHT EXCEPT

MILK AND CREAM CONTENT OF ICE CREAM. tPAT CONTENT. HßlNCLUDES HOME GARDEN PRODUCE. ^INCLUDES FROZEN

CONCENTRATED CITRUS JUICE ON SINGLE STRENGTH BASIS.

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE NEC. 4134A-57(5) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE

FIGURE 25.—This chart illustrates the mutation in dietary wants from 1936 to 1956. Most impressive were shifts

from such starchy foods as cereals and potatoes to animal products, and from fresh to processed fruits and

vegetables. Higher standards of living, more information as to balanced diets, new methods of production and

processing, and improved marketing methods, account largely for the development of these trends.

94
are not entirely of domestic origin. As our

tastes are cosmopolitan, some of the foods in

our daily fare must be imported. This is true

also of some of the fiber and forest products

and the other raw materials we need. In the

opposite direction, we have a flow of surplus

products from our own lands to other countries.

Economic interdependence of regions and

nations is the result.

An additional aspect of the interrelationship

between the places of origin of the food and its

consumers has been given little attention. With

our food supplies coming from all corners of

the country or even the world, a balanced diet

that will satisfy the energy requirements and

will contain in addition all the needed vitamins

and minerals for proper nutrition can be

arranged readily from the variety of foods

available. That a proper diet safeguards the

health of the people is well known. By the

same token, it may be assumed that it also

contributes to the prolongation of life and

reduces the death rate correspondingly. Vital

statistics reveal what has been accomplished

in that direction. In 1900, the death rate in

the United States per 1,000 population was

17.2; by 1955, it had fallen to 9.3 {131, 1956),

Longevity is a phenomenon for which medical

science and sanitation usually receive credit;

improved diets are overlooked.

Social Implications of Land Use

The relationship of land use to physical and

economic conditions are the more obvious ones,

but land use has its social implications also.

During the first century of our national existence, land was so abundantly available that

occupancy and use of land resources was the

first consideration in the public mind. Under

these circumstances, the land resources were

exploited to satisfy immediate needs and little

thought was given to the generations to come.

Ordinarily, after ownership was acquired, use

of the land was determined by the owner or

operator. Often the economically more rewarding use was decided upon, even though alternatives were possible. Private land ownership

is an established principle in the United States.

For some years, it was thought to give proprietors the undisputed right to use or abuse

the land as would serve best their own interests. That land ownership is a trust fraught

with social obligation to the community and the

Nation became apparent with closer settlement

and wasteful use of the land.

Land uses not in keeping with the welfare

of the community were most objectionable in

crowded cities. To obtain relief, the State

legislatures passed enabling laws that permitted local administrative units to adopt regulatory measures of how the land could or could

not be used. Zoning ordinances, as these regulatory measures are usually called, therefore,

are the product of city environments. In most

urban centers, they constitute a regulatory

function of the local administration.

Although zoning was originally devised to

fit urban needs, it has not remained strictly

an urban device. With the expansion of cities,

undesirable land uses became a problem in suburban fringes. At the same time, the centrifugal influence exerted by large urban centers

was felt in the open country, and land use was

affected by it. As now used, zoning ordinances

may be intended to regulate settlement in rural

districts, regulate urban and suburban development, or protect the land that borders highways from obnoxious uses. Zoning ordinances

usually derive their legal status from enactments of local governments, to keep land use

within channels beneficial to the economic and

social well-being of the people in the area

{112).

Land use regulation of privately owned land,

with conservation as its main objective, is a

comparatively new device that is used in some

Soil Conservation Districts. As in zoning, the

power to regulate land use is derived from the

consent of the voters in the districts. As the

districts that adopted these measures are on

the Western Plains, the hazards of wind erosion have received special recognition. On the

whole, the ordinances are designed to protect

the land resources of the districts. Control

provisions are directed mainly toward regulating grazing on the open range, preventing

the plowing out of sodland without permission,

and preventing wind erosion through specified

cultural practices. So far, these land use ordinances are in operation in only a few districts.

They are still in the experimental stage {1^7).

When land is kept in, or acquired for, public

ownership to implement public welfare, social

considerations also arise. In the continental

United States, approximately a fourth of the

rural lands are in Federal, State, or county

ownership. Most of these lands are in the

West.^ They represent remnants of the public

domain or were set aside as national forests,

national parks and monuments, and wildlife

sanctuaries. An Indian reservation can hardly be classed as public land, as much of it is

used by the Indians in common.

Why has so much land remained in public

ownership? The answer can be found in the

arid and mountainous nature of the country.

Land in the western basins and valleys has a

low seasonal grazing capacity, and the migratory movement of livestock is necessary. Even

under the enlarged homestead act that permitted a settler to claim a full section of land,

this acreage could not support a settler and

his family. Scattered ranches are found only

95
where an adequate supply of stock water is

available and winter feed can be grown under

irrigation. A considerable area of the public

domain is desert, which excludes economic use.

Most of the mountainous lands were included

in national forests and national parks as a

conservation measure. In the Eastern United

States, most of the land had been transferred

into private ownership. Nearly all had been

cut over but not all could be converted into

farms. To protect public interest, a considerable acreage of rugged mountainous land or

land with poor soils was bought by Federal

and State governments and established as National or State forests and ßarks (figs. 7 and

8).

Uses that can be made of public lands are

usually designated and are frequently multiple

in purpose. In contrast to privately owned

land, which is often exploited, use of public

land is controlled. Conservation through proper use is the main objective. To attain this

end, the western range is organized into grazing districts, in which grazing is controlled

by the permit system. In publicly owned forests, a number of uses must be accommodated

and coordinated. One of the chief functions

of publicly owned mountain forests is watershed protection as a regulatory measure in

water management. To prevent storm waters

from rushing down the mountainsides to form

floods in the valleys is one objective. Related

to the first is the second—the gradual release

of water to furnish a reliable water supply to

population concentrations and irrigation districts on the lower levels. Lumbering and

grazing in National and State forests must be

regulated in accordance with these objectives.

Recreation and protection of wildlife are additional functions.

These are the main contributions that National and State forests make to public welfare

so far as actual use of the land is concerned.

Equally important is their educational value.

They provide a practical demonstration of proper forest management. National and State

parks and monuments are mainly areas of

scenic attractions or historical associations reserved for recreational use, in which conservation measures are essential to preserve the

designated use potentiality. The national wildlife sanctuaries have as their objectives the

protection and conservation of the native

fauna; they are managed accordingly.

Public land has an impressive position in the

totality of our land resources. This impression

is modified when the potentiality of economic

use is considered. When the public lands, particularly those in Federal ownership, are classified according to use capability, it is found

that most of them have a characteristic in

common; very little public land is suitable for

arable use. These findings do not apply in the

same degree to State-owned lands. In the

public domain States and Texas, certain lands

were reserved for the benefit and support of

education. Not all these lands have been alienated; som"e are still in State or county ownership and are used for production of crops.

In any general survey of land use development and its changes, only the major phases

can be cited. But from even the cursory treatment given here, it must be apparent that the

continuous advances of science and technology

bring in their wake chain reactions that penetrate the entire socio-economic structure. These

reactions are felt with greater or lesser force,

depending on whether or not the people can

apply the innovations to the use of the land.

There are two extreme instances. In one, the

people have used these innovations. Here the

result may be prosperity with a high standard

of living. In the other, they have not been

able to use all the new devices to keep up with

the modern trend. As a consequence, they

cannot raise their standard of living above

the subsistence level. Economically progressive areas versus stagnating or problem areas

are the result.

If users of the land are to share in the good

things of life, land use, whether it is in the

form of agriculture, forestry, or ranching, must

be sufficiently rewarding to permit operators

to raise their standards of living above the

subsistence level. However, not all parts of

the world or even all parts of our own country

can benefit to the same extent from use of

labor-saving devices and improved methods and

practices in land use. Frequently, natural and

social impediments are so strong that economic

advancement of the people becomes almost impossible.

Low-Income Areas of Land Use

Those who live in a mountainous or rough

country and who try to make a living from

agricultural use of the land, as in parts of the

Appalachian and Ozark Mountains, are permanently handicapped. Although recent road

extensions may have brought markets within

accessible distance, on their small and frequently steep fields these mountaineers can produce only a little more than they need for

themselves. In some instances, greater improvements in crop-production methods, whether technical or scientific, have only a negative

reaction. They widen the economic gap between the areas that can and those that cannot

use them. After a country is developed, therefore, natural site advantages or disadvantages

have far-reaching economic consequences on

the lives of the people.

96
Better Land Use

Obviously, such low-income areas can only

develop when at the time of settlement, the inherent disadvantages of the natural environment are not recognized and land use advances

to a point at which it must be considered a

commercial enterprise in which a large part

of production is grown for market. When land

use reaches this stage, it must be implemented

properly if it is to function as a major part of

the economic structure of the country. Transportation facilities are necessary to tap the

land resources of the country and bring land

and people into contact with the rest of the

world. Furthermore, if the commercial transactions are on the scale that they are in the

United States, service organizations are needed

to act as intermediaries between producers of

raw products and consumers. With more than

60 percent of the population living in urban

centers, a steady flow of products to market is

essential. To accomplish this, storage and

transportation facilities, frequently combined

with refrigeration, must be available. By converting the many raw products into usable

commodities, the processing and manufacturing industries act as service agencies. The

arteries of commerce through which the products of the land reach their final destination,

therefore, may be long and tortuous. They

may also experience internal stresses and complications as a result of fluctuating volumes,

variable demand, reduction in volume of old

and addition of new competitive products.

Many of these variations can be traced directly

to the use of land, or inversely, land use is

affected by them.

Major fluctuations and shifts in the supply

of farm products especially may be related to

several causes. The vagaries of climate cause

the yield of crops to vary from year to year.

Climatic departures from normal sometimes

reach disastrous proportions, but usually they

are not national in extent. Floods, droughts,

unseasonal frosts, and hail usually are of only

regional occurrence, although they may cause

considerable damage and a crop deficit in the

afflicted region. But a crop deficit in one section of the country may be offset partly or

wholly by surpluses in other sections. This has

happened at times, but it cannot be relied on

to occur always.

More lasting results, particularly in the direction of better, bigger, and more diversified

farm production, have been brought about by

using scientific methods, that is, through a

better knowledge of the land and its soil, how

to preserve and improve it, adjustment of actual use of the land to its potential use, use of

fertilizers and pesticides, the breeding of more

productive crop varieties and livestock, the introduction of new crops, and the technological

implementation of labor.

Through Science and Technology

Mechanization alone has increased agricultural production in two ways: By making

large acreages of land formerly needed for the

support of draft animals available for economically more productive uses, and by making

possible the extension of crop production, chiefly of wheat, into the semiarid plains. Technology must be credited also with engineering

projects in reclamation and flood control. Reclamation, which may be in the form of either

irrigation or drainage, has added to crop production other millions of acres that formerly

were of little or no use for that purpose. But

irrigation and drainage cannot always be designated as reclamation. As functions of water

management, irrigation and drainage are frequently used to correct moisture conditions on

land already cropped. Supplementary irrigation by means of the sprinkler system is now in

use to some extent in the humid sections of

the country. This type of irrigation is rewarding when intensive cropping is involved,

and the practice is likely to be more widely

followed in the future. Flood control has reduced the danger of floods in the Alluvial Valley of the Mississippi to a minimum. Extension of drainage and reclamation of much of

the fertile bottom land in this area is now

possible.

If technical know-how has stimulated and

increased production in different ways, scientific knowledge and production methods are no

less conspicuous with their contributions. The

two are frequently so closely related in their

operations that no clear-cut distinction can be

made between them.

A fuller knowledge of the genesis of soil

development, the different characteristics acquired by the soil in the process, and the relationship of these characteristics to soil productivity have helped to adjust methods of

soil management to the needs of the land.

Frequently, deficiencies in plant nutrients and

in water-holding capacity, and excess of alkalinity or acidity, can be corrected by applying

soil amendments and improved cultural practices. With improved soil-management practices adopted over much of the country, and

application of fertilizer, yields have increased.

Cultural practices are closely connected with

soil conservation, but in its broader sense conservation includes more than soils. The protective and productive plant cover of range

and forest is also included. Conservation of

these natural resources has as its main objective

the prevention of their depletion. However,

proper use of the land, which implies conservation, frequently increases output. Soil conservation increases crop yields, range conser97
vatîon increases carrying capacity, and forest

conservation increases output of lumber and

other forest products per area! unit.

Remarkable gains in production of food and

feed have resulted from the contributions made

by the biological sciences in animal hubandry,

plant breeding, and introduction of new crops.

Through proper care of domestic animals and

improvement of breeds, our dairy, poultry, cattle, and sheep industries have increased production considerably so far as input-output

relationships and quality of animal products

are concerned.

Equally significant are the increases in yields

per acre of crops produced as a result of plant

breeding, and the diversification of agricultural

production through the introduction of new

crops. Most of our cultivated plants originated

in the Old World. Some were brought over by

early settlers, although frequently their crops

were attacked by disease or did not succeed in

the New World. To fit them into the new

environment, disease-resistant varieties and

improved strains adjusted to biotic conditions

had to be developed through breeding. This

process is still going on.

In this respect, the soybean provides an outstanding example. It took this Asiatic immigrant more than a century to become properly

adjusted to American conditions. Only after

this was accomplished did its phenomenal rise

to prominence as one of the major crops of the

country begin. A second example is provided

by corn (maize), our principal crop, which is

American bom and reared. Through the development of hybrid corn, average yields per

acre have increased by more than 27 percent.

Improvements in production through the use

of labor-saving devices and scientific methods

have aflfected agriculture more or less on a

regional basis. But aside from the regional

distribution of benefits, the districts in which

specialty crops are grown usually receive additional attention and incentives to production

of ^quantity and quality crops from the processing industries and marketing organizations

with which they are connected. These specialties are mainly small fruits and vegetables,

exclusive of white and sweet potatoes, commercial production of which is largely concentrated in certain districts. The total acreage

devoted to production of vegetables and small

fruits for the market averages less than 4

million acres.

However, in this instance, acreage is not a

reliable measure of productive capacity or importance of the industry in the national economy. Land use in these districts is intensive,

and frequently more than one crop is grown on

the same land. In order to provide the market

the year round with fruits and vegetables,

these districts are scattered from north to

south, so that full advantage can be taken of

the range in climate. Most of these crops are

perishable, and different methods of preserving

them are in use. Drying or dehydration is the

oldest method. Canning is a modern device

that has met with public favor ; and in the last

70 years it advanced to a point at which it

holds the leading position in the processing

industry. The quick freezing industry is only a

little more than a score of years old, and it is

still growing. Both the canning and quick

freezing industries have become characteristic

of the American mode of living.

Only a few of the more noteworthy examples

are cited here to show how the tools of science

and technology have affected land use. But

even from this brief discussion, it must be

apparent that these efïorts are directed mainly

toward increased production of better products,

and, as the results show, they have been

successful. Increase in production has been

attained in two directions. One is increased

productive capacity of the land ; the other is

increased output per acre or per animal unit.

Essentially the same principle is followed by

the manufacturing industry. To produce new,

more, and better products with less effort is

the leading motive of both. Usually it is associated with progress.

So far, the increase in crops and animal

products has not only kept pace with the

needs of an increased population, but in

some instances, it has run ahead of the needs.

Although in general, crop yields per acre and

output per animal unit have increased, the increase has not been uniform. Some of the

crops have lost ground that is taken up by

others. Many products of the land occupy a

competitive position on the market; demand

for them is influenced by the buying power of

the people. Also, the change in the social composition of the population, and the advancement in the standard of living have modified

the buying habits of the people. A significant

change in this connection is found in the American diet, as recorded for the last 20 years in

the changes in per capita consumption of farm

products. Changes of this kind necessarily

reflect changes in the use of the land that go

back to the land use patterns of our farms.

They do not necessarily imply shifts in major

land uses; they can be confined to changes in

the rotation system and in the composition of

crops in the field pattern.

Changes in land use are an inevitable part of

the adjustments required to gear our national

productive plant to meet new needs. During

the wartime emergencies, the process of increasing production was accelerated. In more

normal times, an increase in population, variable export needs, hazards of climate, new industrial developments, and contributions of

science and technology are factors that are

likely to continue to be felt in the national econ98
omy. AU inject dynamic elements into the land

use situation. Adjustments in land use to conform to individual and national needs have been

in progress ever since the early settlers arrived. As the United States is still a growing

country and its land resources are not yet

fully developed, future generations will need

to grapple with land use problems. These

problems are of public concern. With the physical resource base of the country better known

and the techniques more fully developed, it

should be possible to evaluate areal advantages

and shortcomings properly and to deal effectively with these problems in the future.

Land Use Patterns as Recorded by Aerial Photography

Aerial photography has become a valuable

tool for engineers, administrators, teachers, investigators, and those who carry on research.

By recording on a horizontal plane on a reduced

scale but with considerable detail and precision, the visible natural and cultural features

on the earth's surface, aerial photography furnishes documentary evidence of local settings

that could not be obtained with the same completeness and speed from ground observation.

Occurrence, distribution, areal extent, and spatial relationship of the features are recorded.

Of the many purposes aerial photography may

serve, recording the major distinctions in the

use of land is a main objective.

Most of the agricultural areas in the United

States have been covered by aerial photography

at least once. The fund of information provided by these photographs was drawn on

heavily in the preparation of this publication.

In addition to the contents of the land use map,

some of the special features represented on the

regional maps are derived largely from aerial

photographs. Moreover, with the use of these

photographs as a research tool, a new approach

to the solution of old problems was made

possible. To some extent, the text of this report received its orientation from aerial photography.

When land use is visualized on a national

scale, local complexities disappear in the generalized picture. Even in a regional treatment,

local land use patterns cannot be set forth adequately, although distribution, composition, or

dominance of one or the other major land uses

in the regional complex may find fuller recognition. The presenting of a variety of factual

evidence in the spatial order and composition

of localized environments, and the illustrating

of the cause and effect relationship of land use

adjustment to historical, physical, and economic factors have been left to the aerial photographs.

Within the more localized environments, land

use adjustment to physical factors to a considerable extent is as evident as it is in the national picture. That it ii^ not carried out consistently everywhere is chiefly because of influences that emanate from, or impediments

imposed by, economic, social, and historical

factors, which frequently have produced the

outstanding characteristics of the local setting.

From the many local land use patterns, representative examples recorded by use of aerial

photography were selected and described.

Rural land use, with which this publication is

concerned, received prior consideration in the

selection of these pictures. In only a few instances have urban fringe scenes been included

to illustrate urban impingement on rural land

uses.

The chief criterion in selecting the aerial

photographs was their instructive value as illustrations of how under different conditions

men have arranged and organized the cultural

landscapes of their surroundings, and how they

are using the land. As figure 26 indicates,

these examples were from various parts of the

country; all States are represented in the collection. The number of photographs that could

be included was limited; therefore, the site

locations are widely scattered. These locations

are dissimilar so far as the composition of the

land use pattern is concerned ; each has its oWn

story to tell.

Most of these photographs were obtained

from the Aerial Photography Division of the

Commodity Stabilization Service; some were

obtained from the Soil Conservation Service,

both of which are in the U. S. Department of

Agriculture, and a few were furnished by the

U. S. Geological Survey of the Department of

the Interior.

The information in the legends of the aerial

photographs is derived from many sources.

Topographic and geologic surveys, climatic records, soil surveys, census reports, type-of-farming studies, and other State publications were

used for the purpose. In some instances,

county agents have furnished pertinent information relating to their localities.

These photographs were not taken at the

same time or even in the same year or the

same season of the year. Seasonal peculiarities

caused by local cultural practices are sometimes noticeable in the fields. Although an

effort was made to obtain late coverage, the

only available photographs of some areas were

taken 15 years ago. No doubt some changes

have occurred, but as these photographs usually pertain to well-established rural districts

or cultivated land confined to restricted areas,

no radical changes should be expected in the

land use pattern.

99
To permit ready comparison of area! and this scale a 1.42 inch square represents !4

linear features among photographs, all are re- square mile, which equals 160 acres or 64.75

produced on a scale of 1:25,000. To facilitate hectares. A 4-centimeter square represents 1

comprehension of areal dimensions of farms, square kilometer, which equals 100 hectares or

fields, pastures and woodlots, some of the met- 247.1 acres,

ric and English measures are as follows: On

100
Guide to Aerial Photographs

Plate No. Title Plate No. Title

1 Northern Maine

2 Southern Maine

3 Southern New Hampshire Hills

4 Champlain Valley, Vermont,

5 Central Massachusetts

6 Narragansett Basin, Rhode Island

7 Connecticut Valley, Connecticut

8 Urban Fringe Area, Connecticut

9 Fultonham Basin, New York

10 Mohawk Valley Section, New York

11 Slope of Adirondack Mountains, New York

12 Lake Ontario Plain, New York

13 Cohocton Valley near Atlanta, New York

14 Appalachian Plateau, Pennsylvania

15 Dissected Northwestern Border of

Appalachian Plateau, Pennsylvania

16 Appalachian Ridges and Valleys of

Central Pennsylvania

17 Strip Mining of Anthracite Coal

in Eastern Pennsylvania

18 Lower Piedmont of Pennsylvania

19 Coastal Plain of Southwestern New Jersey

20 Coastal Plain of Delaware,

21 Chesapeake Shore of Eastern Maryland

22 Upper Piedmont of Maryland

23 Allegheny Plateau of Western Maryland

24 Eastern Shore of Virginia ,

25 Lower Coastal Plain of Virginia Drained

26 Upper Piedmont of Virginia

27 Catawba Mountain and Valley, Virginia

28 Rim of Blue Ridge Plateau, Virginia

29 Great Appalachian Valley Section,

West Virginia

30 Dissected Appalachian Plateau,

West Virginia

31 Eastern Kentucky Hills,

32 Bluegrass Region of Kentucky,

33 Karst Lands of Kentucky

34 Western Coal Measures of Kentucky

35 Upper Ohio Hills

36 Drift Plain of Northeastern Ohio

37 Western Ohio Drift Plain

38 Southern Michigan Upland

39 Fruit Belt of Michigan

40 Glacial Lake Plain, Saginaw Basin,

Michigan

41 Superior Upland of Michigan

42 Central Plains of Indiana

43 Knobstone Escarpment in Southern

Indiana

44 Illinoian Drift Plain of Southern Illinois

45 Central Prairie of Illinois

46 Dairy Region of Southeastern Wisconsin

47 Drumlin Field in South-central Wisconsin

48 Military Ridge of the Driftless Area,

Southwestern Wisconsin

49 Sandy Outwash Plain, Northern Wisconsin

50 Red Lake Swamp, Northern Minnesota

51 Glacial Lake Plain, Northwestern

Minnesota

52 Prairie-forest Transition Belt,

South-central Minnesota

53 Dissected Plain, Southeastern Minnesota

54 Prairie Land, North-central Iowa and

Southern Minnesota

55 Loess Plain, AVestem Iowa

56 Loess Hills, Southern Iowa

57 Ozark Border, East-central Missouri

58 Ozark Center, Missouri

59 Bottom land and Bordering Upland

of the Missouri River, Missouri

60 Rolling Prairie, Eastern Kansas

61 Flint Hills, Kansas

62 Great Bend Plain, Central Kansas

63 High Plains, Western Kansas

64 Loess Plain, Eastern Nebraska

65 High Plains, Western Nebraska

66 Sand Hills, Nebraska

67 Glacial Till Plain, Southeastern

South Dakota

69 Strong Moraine, Northeastern

68 Great Plain, Western South Dakota

South Dakota

70 Beach Ridges of Lake Agassiz, Red

River Valley, North Dakota

71 Drift Plain with Kettleholes,

Northeastern North Dakota

72 Bad Lands along the Little Missouri

River, North Dakota

73 Missouri-Yellowstone Plain, Eastern

Montana

74 Triangle Area, North-central Montana

75 Continental Divide along the IdahoMontana Boundary

76 Big Horn Basin, Wyoming

77 High Plains, Wyoming

78 Mountain Crossing, Southwestern Wyoming

79 Northern Colorado Irrigation District,

80 South Platte-Arkansas Divide, High

Plains of Colorado

81 Eastern Section of San Luis Valley,

Colorado

82 Grand Valley Irrigation Project,

Western Colorado

83 High Plateaus, Southern Utah

84 Wasatch Front near Logan, Utah

85 Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Utah

86 Open Rangeland, Eastern Nevada

87 Carson River Basin, Western Nevada

88 Lake Walcott Dam, Snake River, Idaho

89 Snake River Plain, Southern Idaho

90 Upland Benches, Eastern Snake River

Valley, Idaho^^

91 Nez Perce Prairie, Northern Idaho

92 Blue Mountain Plateau, Washington

93 Palouse Country, Eastern Washington

94 Eastern Slope of Cascade Mountains,

Washington

95 Logging operations, Anderson

Mountain, Washington

96 Rolling Foothills, Willamette Valley,

Oregon

97 Level Floor, Willamette Valley,

Oregon

98 Jordan Valley, Southeastern Oregon

99 Coast Ranges, Northern California

100 Chaparral, Lower Sacramento Valley

Slope of Trinity Mountain, California

101 Ricefields, Sacramento Valley, California

102 Delta of the Sacramento and San

Joaquin Rivers, California

103 Lowland on San Joaquin River, California

104 Eastern Side of San Joaquin Valley,

California

105 Western Side of San Joaquin Valley,

California

106 Corona Basin, Southern California

107 Imperial Valley, California

108 Phoenix Basin, Arizona

109 Canyon de Chelly, Arizona

110 Rio Grande Valley, Northern New Mexico

111 Llano Estacado Rim, New Mexico

112 Johnson Mesa, New Mexico

113 Rim of Cimarrón Breaks, Oklahoma

471954 0-59-8 101
Plate No. Title

114 Central Plains, Oklahoma

115 Cove in Ouachita Mountains, Oklahoma

116 Northern End of Texas Black Prairie

117 Limestone Plains, North-central Texas

118 Rough Land in the Plains, Texas

119A Llano Estacado, Texas, 1941

119B Llano Estacado, Texas (same area as

119A but photographed in 1953)

Tahoka Lake, Texas

Concho Basin, Texas

Farming Frontier, Semiarid Western

Coastal Plain, Texas

Balcones Escarpment and Southern

Black Prairie, Texas

Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas

Sand Plain, Southern Texas

Interior Coastal Prairie of Texas

Gulf Coast Prairie of Texas

Central Section, Texas Black Prairie

Forest Belt, Eastern Texas

Boston Mountains, Arkansas

Northern Border, Ouachita Mountains,

Arkansas

Flood Plains of the Mississippi, Arkansas

Mississippi Silty Terraces, Arkansas

Coastal Plain of Arkansas

Mississippi Flood Plain of Louisiana

Coastal Prairie of Louisiana

Mississippi Lowland with French

Settlement, Louisiana

Lower Coastal Plain, Mississippi

Bluff Hills in Mississippi, Bordering the

Alluvial Valley of the Mississippi River

Yazoo Basin, Mississippi River

Bottom, Mississippi

Upper Coastal Plain, Northern Mississippi

Northern End Mississippi-Alabama

Black Prairie, Mississippi

Plate No.

143

144

145

146

Title

120

121

122

123

124

125

126

127

128

129

130

131

132

133

134

135

136

137

138

139

140

141

142

Jackson Purchase of Tennessee

Nashville Basin, Tennessee

Nashville Basin Border, Tennessee

Southern Appalachian Mountains,

Tennessee

147 Valley of East Tennessee

148 Highland Rim, Alabama

149 Sand Mountain, Alabama

150 Black Prairie, Alabama

151 Coastal Plain, Alabama

152 Gulf Coast Forest Belt, Florida

153 Warm Temperate-Subtropical

Transition Zone, Florida

154 Lake District, Central Florida

155 Everglades on Shore of Lake

Okeechobee, Florida

156 Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia

157 Dougherty Plains, Southwestern Georgia

158 Upper Coastal Plain at Fall Line, Georgia

159 Great Appalachian Valley Abutting

Piedmont Hills, Georgia

160 Big Dukes Pond on Middle Coastal

Plain, Georgia

161 Old Shore Lines in Coastal Flatwoods,

South Carolina

162 Carolina Bays on Middle Coastal Plain,

South Carolina

163 Thermal Belt of Upper Piedmont,

South Carolina

164 Blue Ridge of North Carolina

165 Middle Carolina Piedmont, North Carolina

166 Durham Basin in the Triassic Belt,

North Carolina

167 Little Singletary Lake, North Carolina

168 Lower Coastal Plain Terraces,

North Carolina

102
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE NEC. 56(5)-2495 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE

The numbers on this mop correspond to the nunibers of the plates

O

00

P'iGURE 26.—The aerial photographs that follow illustrate land use patterns from all States of the Union. Spot location and distribution of the areas

included are indicated on the map. The numbers used correspond to the plate numbers of the photographs and consequently provide a ready reference

for consultation on individual photographs.
Northern Maine

PLATE 1.—In Northern Maine, forestry and farming

are confined to separate areas with little or no transition between them. In the so-called "Potato Empire"

to the east, most of the land is suited to crops, whereas the "Big Woods" area to the west has remained a

solid expanse of commercial forest. This marked distinction between the two areas is due primarily to type

of land ownership. The forested area is held mainly in

large tracts by lumber companies, which retain ownership of the land to ensure a sustained supply of forest

products for the wood-processing industry. A section

of the contact line of field and forest, near St. Agatha

on the shore of Long Lake in Aroostook County, is

shown. Aside from the sharp division of farm and

forest, the farming area shown has points of interest

derived from the land use pattern, which reveals that

this is a French settlement. The location of the farms

and the arrangement and shape of the fields as long

lots extending back from the road along the lake are

characteristics of French settlement. This glaciated

smoothly rolling country has lakes, swampy depressions, and detached rounded hills and mountains scattered throughout. The fields shown in the photograph

are laid across a hill that rises 200 to 300 feet above

the lake level of 581 feet. The upland soils, developed

from glacial till, are mainly loams and are easy to

cultivate. The climate is cool. Summers are mild and

the frost-free period is around 122 days. Winters are

cold and the snow cover lasts for months. The annual

average precipitation is 34 inches. Farming is organized on a cash-crop basis. Potatoes are the chief cash

crop, although forage crops are grown also. Livestock

farming, and particularly dairying, is gaining in importance.

104
Southern Maine

PLATE 2.—In some respects, southern Maine is similar to other parts of Southern New England. The irregular combination of hills and plains is interspersed

with lakes and swampy depressions. Drainage is largely of postglacial origin; it has not had time enough to

develop fully. The soils, which are usually medium

textured, developed from glacial till. In some places

they are stony, and, as a rule, they are only moderately

fertile. Roads and settlements received their principal

orientation from the larger rivers that traverse the

area, as may be seen in the illustration, which comprises a section along the Kennebec River between

Vassalboro and Waterville in Kennebec County. The

Kennebec connects the forested hinterland of Maine

with the settlements near the coast. In their descent,

these rivers serve as carriers to bring logs from the

forests to the saw and paper mills, and also generate

power for the industries. In the pictured section, the

Kennebec flows in a "canyon-like" channel about 100

feet deep. Highways follow the river on both sides.

Settlement and clearing are continuous, and the elongated land divisions are laid out perpendicular to the

river. Land use and agriculture have been adjusted to

the prevailing economic and physical conditions. Because of the comparatively cool summers, not all crops

grow well. Cropland has been reduced to about half of

what it was 50 years ago; old fields are now used for

pasture or revert to woodland. The main agricultural

enterprises are now dairying and poultry. Hay is the

leading crop and is supplemented by other feed crops.

Some vegetables are also grown for market.

105
Southern New Hampshire Hills

PLATE 3.—The mountainous parts of New Hampshire

and Vermont have undergone profound changes since

the time of settlement. Settlers had gone into the hilly

and mountainous country and established homes in

many places. They had to clear the land not only of

forest, but frequently of stones. Stony loam soils of

medium productivity are the most extensive types.

However, in the more remote locations, especially, the

settlers found it hard to make a living on the land.

They could not reach the markets because of distance

and difficulties of transportation over rough terrain.

Discouraged, they abandoned the farms, and moved to

the West or to the towns. Only a fraction of the cultivated land in the hilly and mountainous section that

was in use 60 or 70 years ago is now used for crop

production. Some is used for pasture, but much is

growing back into forest. Because of the pleasantly

cool summers and the attractive scenic setting produced

by the hills and the many lakes, called ponds, many

farmsteads have been converted into summer residences. How little farming is being done in the rougher parts is shown by the tract of hilly land which lies

on the Hillsboro-Merrimack County line about 3 miles

east of Hillsboro. Farming in this part of New Hampshire is centered on poultry and its products. Dairying

is second in importance. Hay is the leading crop but

other crops, like potatoes and apples, are grown to

some extent for the market. Production of maple

sirup and sugar was formerly a more important home

industry than it is today.

106
Champlain Valley, Vermont

PLATE 4.—In Vermont, land use for agricultural production is concentrated more in the Champlain Valley

than in any other part of the State. The land of the

valley is a smooth slightly rolling plain. During the

glacial period, the southern end of the valley was a

glacial lake, which has imparted its own characteristics to the soil. The soil is a heavy clay loam with a

calcareous substratum. The area shown lies on the

glacial lakebed in Addison County, north of Chimney

Point on Lake Champlain. Land use here has gone

through a number of stages. This part of Vermont

was first settled in the 1730's. The early settlers concentrated on wheat and other small grains, but rust

soon invaded the area and destroyed the crops. Cool

summers and heavy soils, which warm up late in

spring, are not favorable to many of the crops grown

farther south. Grasses succeed better than crops and

the land is better adapted to livestock farming. Purebred Merino sheep were imported early in the 19th

century from Portugal and Spain, and later from

France. Thus an improved breed was produced and

within a few years, sheep raising became the chief

industry of the valley. Merino sheep were not grown

for wool alone; many were sold as breeding stock to

western settlers. This created competition, which at

first impaired and in the end destroyed the sheep industry of the valley. With the decline of the sheep

industry, farmers turned first to hay as a cash crop,

and with improvement in transportation, dairying

gradually became the main farm enterprise. Hay is

harvested from more than 80 percent of the cropland.

An even larger proportion of the cleared land is used

for pasture. Woodland is confined chiefly to wet spots

or to rough and stony ground.

107
Central Massachusetts

DN-1426

PLATE 5.—Land use in central Massachusetts is affected by the physical quality of the land and the presence of an industrialized population centered in towns.

The land surface has been sculptured by glaciers into

smoothly rounded hills interspersed with lakes and

sandy outwash plains. For cropland use, the strongly

rolling morainic country, much of which is rough stony

land, has its own limitations in addition to the shortcomings of the soil. The upland soils, which developed

from glacial drift material derived mainly from coarsegrained crystalline rocks, are chiefly sandy loams or

loams that are more or less stony and of moderate productivity. The climate is affected by the proximity of

the ocean. The frost-free season fluctuates around 160

days, and annual precipitation averages from 42 to 46

inches. Land use has changed considerably with the industrialization of this part of New England. In the

competition for labor, industry gained while agriculture

lost. During the last half century, the number of farms

and the acreage used for crops declined markedly. Urban expansion has encroached on some of the cropland,

but in other instances former cropland is now used only

for pasture or is reverting to brush. Cropland is

scattered, and small irregular ñelds are the rule. The

photograph shows the eastern end of Clinton and its

environs. The stretch of woodland north of the Nassau

River bend is a sandy terrace on which a golf course

and a sewage-disposal plant are located. Agriculture

is diversified. Dairy, poultry and truck farms, and

orchards are represented. However, many farms are

only part-time enterprises.

108
Narragansett Basin, Rhode Island

DN-1425

PLATE 6.—Although Providence and its environs were

settled in the first half of the 17th century and therefore make up one of the earliest settled parts of the

country, most of the land has remained in forest of

little commercial value. The virgin forests have been

cut, and the second growth is composed of different

kinds of oaks, pitch pine, largetooth aspen, gray birch,

and white pine, with blueberry, sumac, bull brier,

bracken fern, and laurel underbrush. Cordwood is almost the only product furnished by these forests. The

climate is milder here than in most parts of New

England. The frost-free period is approximately 180

days, and the annual precipitation of around 46 inches

is ample for all crops that can be grown in this latitude. The state's large city population would provide

nearby markets. The unfavorable surface relief and

the stony, sandy loam soils largely account for the

scanty agricultural development. The tract shown,

which lies near Chapachet, a village 10 miles from

Providence, is a representative example of land use in

the interior of Rhode Island. Part of the village may

be seen in the upper left-hand corner. As in much of

New England, the landforms and soil materials are

largely products of glaciation. Smoothly rounded hills,

both large and small, but usually not more than 100

to 200 feet high, interspersed with lakes and swampy

depressions, are the prevailing surface features, although in places steep slopes flank the watercourses.

The scattered farms and orchards are usually identified with tracts of smooth land having a nonstony

soil. Farming is largely specialized. Dairy products,

poultry and poultry products, horticultural products,

and fruits and vegetables are the chief cash products.

109
Connecticut Valley, Connecticut

; * ?'■■ '^X"*- t .

. 4Í>A

PLATE 7.—Agriculturally, the Connecticut Valley

with its tributaries is the most highly developed area

in southern New England. Farms and cropland are

concentrated, and agriculture has been established since

colonial days. Since then, industrialization has left

its mark on both land and people. In Connecticut, the

valley has an overall width of about 20 miles but is

divided by the Talbott Range, a low narrow ridge, into

parallel sections—the Farmington Valley and the Connecticut Valley proper. Much of the valley land is

smoothly rolling and the lower parts are nearly level.

These landform characteristics were inherited from the

glacial period. The lower portion was covered by a

glacial lake, and the upland was overridden by the ice.

Soils within the valley range in texture from sand to

loam and are gravelly or stony. The valley averages

46 inches of precipitation annually and has a frostfree period of 160 to 180 days. In the last 40 years,

industrialization has reduced the number of farms in

Hartford County by more than 40 percent. How industrial development has affected land use is illustrated in the photograph of Avon, a small town in the

Farmington Valley, 6 miles northwest of Hartford.

Much of the land formerly tilled is now used for

pasture or is reverting to brush. As now constituted,

farming in the area may be classified as part-time in

the small fields south of Avon and as predominantly

dairying in West Avon. Tobacco, the principal cash

product of farmers in the Connecticut Valley, is also

grown in the Farmington Valley.

110
Urban Fringe Area, Connecticut

DN-1427

PLATE 8.—The reaction to the industrialization of

the country is felt in many directions, even in the use

of land. The congregation of people in cities and towns

requires expansion of urban centers, which is not always confined to the immediate surroundings. Modern

transportation facilities permit daily commuters to

travel comiderable distances from rural areas into the

cities and back again. Around the larger cities,

branches of suburban developments frequently extend

far into the country. An example shown takes in the

surroundings of New Canaan 6 miles north of Stamford. Suburban developments follow the main roads

leading northward from Stamford in Fairfield County.

These suburban extensions are again connected crosswise by the Merritt Parkway, and thus commuting

from these suburban districts to Metropolitan New

York is feasible. In such instances, urban life is frequently combined with part-time farming, as shown.

Urban fringe areas pose many administrative problems. Proper development, taxation of real estate,

and service expansions are frequently problems on the

agenda of the locality. A peculiar problem arises

when urban and rural populations receive recognition

as such in the process of enumeration, or when urban

land uses must be segregated from the rural uses of

the land and considered as separate entities.

Ill
Fultonham Basin, New York

DN-14,28

PLATE 9.—The shale and sandstone formations of the

Appalachian Plateau bordering the Catskill Mountains

to the north are deeply incised by creeks. The valleys

eroded by these waterways are deep and also wide in

their lower reaches. Thus they provide desirable locations for farm communities. Farms, villages, and

towns are strung along the valleys as almost continuous settlements. The basin shown lies on Schoharie

Creek in Schoharie County, where the village of Fultonham is located. Here the valley is so wide that the

plateau elevation is not reached in the photograph.

The road in the valley at the foot of the slope follows

an elevation of nearly 700 feet while the plateau above

it rises to approximately 2,000 feet. Because of the

difference in elevation the climate also differs. Available records indicate an annual mean precipitation of

about 40 inches for both levels, but the mean monthly

temperatures in the valley are 4 to 6 degrees higher

than on the plateau. This also affects the length of

the growing season. The frost-free period of around

150 days in the valley is about 3 weeks longer than

the similar period on the plateau. On the whole, summers are pleasant but winters are severe. The snow

cover lasts from 3 to 4 months. Valley and plateau

soils are distinct also. The alluvial bottom soils are

chiefly sandy loams, while the soils on the plateau and

its slopes are of the heavier types. They vary from

loam to silty clay loam and are stony in places. Land

use is adjusted to these conditions. Forage crops,

small grains, and some corn are grown on the valley

land, while pastures, hay land, and some orchards are

located on the valley slopes or plateau. Dairying is

the main type of farming and poultry raising contributes a good share to the farm income.

112
Mohawk Valley Section, New York

PLATE 10.—The Mohawk Valley, between the Adirondack Mountains to the north and the Catskill Mountains

to the south, was one of the first gateways opened between the East and the Middle West, and it has remained one of the chief connecting links. The gap in

the mountains made possible construction of the Erie

Canal, now called the New York Barge Canal. The

canal, which was opened in 1825, provided the first

constructed transportation channel between the Lake

country a^d the settlements on the Atlantic Coast.

Since then, railroads and highways also follow the

Mohawk Valley. The valley is also the only belt

across the eastern mountains in which much of the

forest has been cleared. On the lower elevations of

the uplands on both sides of the valley, woodland is

confined largely to the steeper slopes and the rough

or wet lands. The section shown lies between Utica

and Frankfort in Herkimer County. Dutch Hill, a

ñat-topped hill extension of the plateau to the south,

is outlined by a belt of woodland, which marks the

slope of more than 500 feet that separates the plateau

from the valley. The soils are mainly medium to

heavy textured. Because this section is near the divide of the valley, it is somewhat cooler than the portions east or west. On the lower levels, the frost-free

period is close to 150 days, but it decreases to 140 or

130 days on the plateau. Precipitation is around 40

inches annually and snow remains on the ground

throughout the winter. Agriculture consists chiefly of

animal husbandry, mainly dairying. Hay and forage

crops and pasture are the chief uses made of the land.

113
Northern Slope of Adirondack Mountains, New York

— »Ô <>

DN-Í430

PLATE 11.—Near the Canadian boundary in northern

New York, physical conditions restrict alternative land

use possibilities. On the northward sloping foothills

of the Adirondacks, the advanced latitude, elevation,

and northerly exposure lower the temperature and

shorten the growing season to a point at which crops

cannot be grown successfully. With increasing elevation, farming leaves off and the forest takes over. The

change from farming to forest occurs near the 1,700-

foot level, as illustrated. There is no really sharp

dividing line but the ragged transition is confined to a

rather narrow belt. The section of this belt shown

lies near the lower Chateaugay Lake, elevation 1,310

feet. The outlet of the lake may be seen in the photograph. Sandy loams, some of which are stony, are

the predominant soil types. This border belt is characterized by short mild summers and long cold winters.

Although the average length of the frost-free season

is from 110 to 130 days, occasional late frosts in May

and early frosts in September are hazards to crops.

Precipitation averages around 36 to 38 inches annually,

of which much falls in the form of snow. On the lower

levels, agriculture is largely confined to dairy farming

and hay is the chief crop. Irish potatoes are also

grown to some extent for the market. Much of the

cleared land is used for pasture.

114
Lake Ontario Plain, New York

PLATE 12.—The plain that borders Lake Ontario is

part of the extensive glacial lakebeds in the Great

Lakes country. The surface is so nearly flat that drainage improvements had to be installed over much of the

plain before the land could be used efficiently for crops.

Some swampy depressions have been left in woods'.

The rest is now mainly in crops or orchards. The

agriculture of the area has changed profoundly since

the settlers cleared the land of the heavy hardwood

forests. Until the 1890's, agriculture depended mainly

on production of grain and livestock. Improvement of

the soil and better transportation and marketing facilities made possible adjustment of use to the capabilities of the land. The physical setting of the area

has its own advantages. As a rule, the soils, which

developed from stratified lacustrine deposits and to

some extent from glacial till, are medium-textured,

productive, and fairly easy to cultivate. The modifying action of Lake Ontario greatly reduces the effects

of the late spring and early fall frosts. In spring, the

temperature is held down and thus the blossoming of

fruit trees is retarded until the danger of frost is past,

while the frost-free season, which averages around 170

days, is extended in the fall. The annual average precipitation is 30 inches. Agriculture is greatly diversified and the land is used intensively. As shown, the

roads and fields follow rectangular divisions. Originally, the land was part of the Holland Land Company purchase and was subdivided into rectangular

tracts for sale and settlement. Animal husbandry is

now centered on dairying, with poultry and its products

second in importance, followed by cattle and hogs produced for meat. Tree fruits, grapes, and vegetables

are the main cash crops, but grains and hay are also

important.

115
Cohocton Valley near Atlanta, New York

PLATE 13.—The Appalachian Plateau of western New

York is dissected by broad, deep valleys, some of which

are 1 to 2 miles wide at the bottom. Because of the

differences in elevation, climatic differences in some

parts of the plateau are sufficient to influence crop

production. In the Cohocton Valley near Atlanta, the

area shown, the length of the frost-free season averages close to 150 days. Some 20 miles farther south

on the plateau, the frost-free period may drop to

around 130 days or less. Precipitation varies with

elevation—the annual average is around 30 inches on

the lower levels and around 40 inches on the higher

levels. In addition, upland and valley soils contain

some constituent diflferences. Although both soils developed from glacial drift material, derived mainly

from shale and sandstone, and are medium in texture,

the valley soils frequently contain limestone and other

rock material brought in by the glaciers and water

from the north. Much of the land is used for crops

and pasture, but woodlots are scattered over the region, especially on the higher plateau. Wooded belts

usually outline the steep slopes that separate the plateau from the valley floors. Fields are derived from

rectangular land divisions, as the land here was bought

by the Holland Land Company and subdivided into

rectangular tracts for settlement purposes. However,

to prevent erosion, field operations on the strongly

rolling upland had to be adjusted to the contour. This

did not obliterate the field boundaries, which are still

in evidence. Farming is centered on dairying, but some

cash crops, like potatoes, are grown. How glaciation

affected land use on the Appalachian Plateau will be

more apparent when plates 13 and 14 are compared.

116
Appalachian Plateau, Pennsylvania

PLATE 14.—Land uses in the glaciated and unglaciated parts of the Appalachian Plateau in northern

Pennsylvania differ notably. (See Plate No. 13.) ,0n

the unglaciated side, where much of the land is gently

rolling, very little land is used for production of crops.

Most of it is covered by a scrubby forest growth and

little real timber is left. A number of reasons explain

these differences. One is that in this part of the plateau along the divide, the highest elevations are well

above the 2,000-foot level. On these elevations, the

growing soason is short; frosts occur up to the middle

of June and again in early September. The average

annual precipitation of 35 to 40 inches is ample but

the temperatures are drawbacks. The soils are also a

deterrent to more intensive use of the land. They developed from sandstone and shale and are of only fair

fertility. Thus cultivation is not especially rewarding.

A third handicap to the surface use of the land is the

exploitation of the subsurface resources, which extend

over a considerable acreage. Where subsurface resources are exploited, as shown, surface use becomes

secondary. The section shown is part of the Bradford

oilfield in the environs of Rew village, 7 miles southeast of Bradford. This is one of the oldest fields in

production. The wells are closely spaced at regular

intervals and are flooded in order to increase production. When an area has been flooded and abandoned,

vegetation again takes hold of the land and gradually

obliterates the well-installation pattern. As shown,

agriculture is not highly developed. The few farms

on these high levels depend mainly on dairying.

471954 0-59-9 117
Dissected Northwestern Border of Appalachian Plateau, Pennsylvania

PLATE 15.—The hilly country in western Pennsylvania outside the glaciated zone is a thoroughly dissected portion of the Appalachian Plateau. Narrow

ridges, 300- to 400-feet high, separated by equally

narrow valleys, prevail. Very little level land is found

in the valley bottoms and even less on the ridgetops.

The soil of these hills usually is a silt loam that erodes

rather easily. Although the mean frost-free period

of 150 to 160 days and the nearly 40 inches of annual

average precipitation would be favorable to production

of a number of crops, the physiographic environment

poses problems of production. Cultivation of the slopes

is difficult, especially when it must be done in competition with farmers in more favorable locations where

mechanization is common. Much of the land was used

for crops at one time, but within the last half century

the harvested acreage of crops has been drastically

reduced. In places, it is only half of the former acreage. More land is used for pasture, and other fields

are reverting to brush. Only the steepest slopes have

been left in woods. The situation is illustrated by the

area shown, which lies on the boundary between Pennsylvania and the panhandle of West Virginia in the

southwest corner of Washington County. The straight

line that runs north along the crest of a ridge from

the confluence of two creeks, stopping fields and woodland tracts from protruding across the line, denotes

the State boundary. Farming is centered largely on

livestock. Sales of dairy products, poultry, and livestock—mainly cattle, sheep, and hogs—account for

most of the farm income. Alfalfa and clover, timothy

hay, com, wheat, and oats are the main field crops.

118
Appalachian Ridges and Valleys of Central Pennsylvania

PLATE 16.—In central Pennsylvania, the northeast to

southwest orientation of mountain ridges and interspersed valleys is the controlling factor in the arrangement of the cultural landscape features. Settlement,

agriculture, forestry, transportation, and communication facilities are all affected by it. The railroads and

roads that connect the cities and farms follow the

valleys, using the gaps in the mountains as gateways

to link the valleys together. Property lines are usually

drawn at right angles or parallel to the mountain

ridges. Distribution of farm and forest land follows

closely the mountain-valley pattern. Little woodland

is left in the valleys, which frequently have productive

soils developed from limestone. Conversely, little cropland is found in the mountains, where the land is

steeply sloping and much of the soil is rocky and

stony. Larger tracts of mountain land are included

in State forests. Precipitation and temperatures are

favorable to all crops that can be grown in this latitude. The average annual precipitation is approximately 40 inches, well distributed over the seasons. The

frost-free season averages around 160 or 170 days in

the valleys. The surroundings of Spangler Gap in the

Nittany Mountains near Tylersville are shown. This

is the gap that connects Sugar" Valley in Clinton

County with Brush Valley in Centre County. Crop

production, with corn leading, is largely adjusted to

the needs of dairy farming, the dominant type of farming in these valleys. However, livestock, and poultry

and poultry products are also important, and some

crops are grown for the market.

119
Strip Mining of Anthracite Coal in Eastern Pennsylvania

PLATE 17.—As a rule, land use is concerned only

with surface use. There are instances, however, in

which mineral deposits are so near the surface that

they can be mined with daylight operations. To this

extent, the surface of the land is used also. Open

pit operations to quarry building stones, limestone,

slate or clay, sand and gravel were known from ancient

history. Surface coal mining, usually referred to as

strip mining, is a comparatively recent development.

With the improvement of power equipment to remove

the tremendous loads of overburden and the coal seams

as well, within the last 30 years strip mining has expanded rapidly. A comparative study of the two

methods indicates that nearly 100 percent of a coal

seam can be recovered through strip mining, while

only 40 to 60 percent of a seam can be mined with

underground operations (91). Strip mining, however,

produces problems of land use. If agricultural land

is involved, its productive use is almost entirely destroyed. The spoilbanks left by strip-mine operations

cannot be cultivated. They regain a vegetative cover

slowly, and, as a result, they are unsightly for a long

time. The area shown lies south of Hazleton at the

junction of the Luzerne, Carbon, and Schuylkill County

boundaries. Some of the strip-mine pits in the photograph are more than 150 feet deep. Some of the spoilbanks are equally as high and consist of a scramble

of holes and hills. Strip mining is carried on even

more extensively in the bituminous coalfields of western

Pennsylvania and other Appalachian fields as well as

in the interior coalfields, which include lignite fields.

120
Lower Piedmont of Pennsylvania

PLATE 18.—Before William Penn received title to

the land in 1681, some Dutch and Swedish settlers had

already arrived in eastern Pennsylvania. The German

and Scotch-Irish immigrants did not arrive until later

(1718-32). Of the two groups, the Germans preferred

the rolling Piedmont, while the Scotch-Irish occupied

the hills. In time, with development, the rolling Piedmont became agriculturally the most productive section of the Colonies and of the Eastern States. Until

recent years, Lancaster County led all counties in the

United States in value of agricultural products. The

lay of the land in the area is not uniformly suited to

crop production. Low ridges divide this part of the

Piedmont into belts within which soils and land relief

differ. In the limestone belt that crosses the northern

half of Lancaster County, the land is gently rolling

and the soil is a productive brown silt or clay loam.

In the southern end of the county, the land is strongly

rolling to hilly and the soil is a productive light brown

loam that developed from the weathered material of

metamorphic rocks. As this is the lowest part of

Pennsylvania and usually does not exceed 400 or 500

feet in elevation, the climate is also milder than in

other parts of the State. The frost-free season averages from 170 to 200 days or more. Precipitation,

which averages from 40 to 42 inches annually, is well

distributed seasonally. Land use in southern Lancaster

County is illustrated by the environs of Mechanic

Grove, 4 miles south of Quarryville. Agriculture is

diversified; corn, small grains, tobacco, and potatoes

are included in the rotation system. Horticultural

specialties are also grown for market. However, dairying and poultry are the principal sources of farm income. In this hilly country, the soils are subject to

erosion, and soil conservation practices are followed

extensively. Stripcropping has produced the grotesque

pattern in the spatial order of the cultural landscape

features shown.

121
Coastal Plain of Southwestern New Jersey

PLATE 19.—All of southern New Jersey is in the

Coastal Plain, but land use is far from uniform. A large

and rather compact area on the east is woodland covered with scrub oak and pitch pine. This area is

usually referred to as the New Jersey Pines, or the

Pine Area. On the west are areas in which most of

the land is used intensively for crops. That such contrasts exist is due partly to the character of the soil.

The soil of the pine area is a light sand, while much

of the western part has soils that range from sandy

to silt loam. On the Delaware side of southern New

Jersey, a combination of natural and economic factors

has produced an environment that favors intensive use

of the land. Aside from the marshes on Delaware

Bay and some wet spots on uplands and creek bottoms,

the land is gently rolling. It rises not much more

than 150 feet above sea level and is well drained. The

soils are easy to cultivate and with proper management and fertilization are rather productive. The

proximity of the ocean makes the climate equally fav122

orable. The frost-free season averages nearly 200

days, and the annual precipitation of around 42 inches

is well distributed over the seasons. But during the

dry spells that sometimes occur during the growing

season, sprinkler irrigation is extensively applied on

high-value crops. The concentrations of population

along the middle Atlantic Coast provide the nearby city

markets. In much of this area, land use is intensive

and diversified. Farming may be centered on vegetables, poultry and poultry products, dairying, nurseries, or fruits. The area shown lies between Bridgeton

and Deerfield at the northern end of Cumberland

County. Farming in this section is organized to supply

the canning and freezing industry. Harvest of highquality products is continuous during the growing season. The more important products grown here are

fruits and vegetables, which are marketed in frozen

packs. A large processing and packing plant may be

seen in the photograph.
Coastal Plain of Delaware

PLATE 20.—Except for the small portion north of the

Wilmington-Newark line, practically all of Delaware

is Coastal Plain country anä lies less than 100 feet

above sea level. The surface of the land is either flat,

undulating, or slightly rolling near the drainageways.

A considerable acreage has a flat surface and consequently drainage is inadequate. The inadequate drainage is an impediment to cultural use of the land. Many

drainage improvements have been installed, but a large

acreage of wet land has been left in woods or in

marshes along the coast. The better drained land, of

which a sample is shown, is used chiefly for crops or

orchards. Soils and climate are favorable to intensive

use of the land. Soils range in texture from sandy to

silt loams, which are easy to cultivate. A mild maritime climate provides a long growing season, which

averages around 190 frost-free days. The annual average precipitation of 42 to 44 inches, half of which

normally falls during the warm season, is ample for

all crops. The tract shown lies about 2 miles south

of Smyrna, where farming is greatly diversified. Corn,

wheat, and other small grains are grown; considerable

hay is cut; vegetables are grown for the market and

for canning plants; and orchards are a feature of the

landscape. Livestock enterprises, particularly dairying and poultry, are important in the agricultural

economy. Delaware was one of the first States to

construct dual highways, a stretch of which may be

seen in the photograph. Improved highways and roads

connect all parts of the State; nearly 2 percent of the

total land area of the State is taken up by rural roads

and highways and their rights-of-way.

123
Chesapeake Shore of Eastern Maryland

PLATE 21.—Tidal marshes are an extensive feature

of the shores of the Delmarva Peninsula. On the eastem shore of Chesapeake Bay, especially, tidal marshes

are entwined with the lives of the people. These

marshes may separate islands from the mainland, or

they may follow the rivers inshore for many miles. In

the aggregate, they occupy an area of nearly 300

square miles on the Maryland sector alone. The nature

of the tidal marshes and of land use on the bordering

firm land are illustrated in the photograph, which

shows Little Blackwater River at its junction with the

main river in Dorchester County. The bridge over

Little Blackwater River, in the center of the picture,

is about 8 miles inland from Fishing Bay, but the tidal

marshes follow the river inland another 4 miles. For

a considerable distance away from the tidal marshes,

the adjacent land is flat and rises only a few feet

above sea level. The soil is predominantly a silt loam,

124

which must be drained for agricultural use. Usually,

agricultural development follows the edge of the tidal

marshes where the rise of the land is more pronounced,

and where drainage installations can be made more

readily. Farther back, much of the land is swampy and

has been left in woods. Converting the land to agricultural use would mean installation of a more elaborate drainage system. The climate on these Chesapeake Bay shores is mild. The frost-free season

usually lasts for more than 200 days and the annual

precipitation averages 42 inches. Com, wheat, soybeans, and tame hay are the chief crops grown on these

lowlands. Most of the farmers who live on the shore

operate part-time farms. They are also engaged in

fishing, oystering, and muskrat trapping. The tidal

marshes are used by migratory waterfowls; to sportsmen they are well-known duck-hunting grounds.
Upper Piedmont of Maryland

Sl^v Ï

.,}-•.:' *''^^,

PLATE 22.—In the Upper Piedmont of Maryland, the

land is used chiefly for agriculture. The interspersed

distribution of fields, pasture, woodlots, and farmsteads

on the strongly rolling land has produced an attractive

landscape. The soils have developed from the decomposed material or rock formations, most of them of the

crystalline or semicrystalline kind. In texture, the

soils range from loam, or gravelly or stony loam, to

shale and silt loams, and their distribution is patchy.

They are of medium fertility but respond to good management and fertilization. Elevations of 400 to 500

feet and distance from water have modified the coastal

climate. Rummers are warm but they are shorter than

those on the coast and winters are comparatively mild.

Snow seldom remains on the ground. The frost-free

period averages 180 days, and precipitation averages

from 40 to 42 inches for the year. General farming

suited to the physical environment is carried on for

the most part, although adjustments to the demands

of nearby city markets are evident. Corn, wheat, barley, oats, and hay are the principal crops grown. Considerable quantities of these crops are used as feed

on the farms. Cattle, hogs, and poultry are the usual

livestock combination, and dairying is the chief source

of farm income. Sales of livestock and of poultry and

poultry products are also important. Some field crops

and vegetables are grown for the market. A typical

pattern of land use is presented in the tract shown,

which lies about 4 miles northwest of Mount Airy in

the eastern part of Frederick County. Most of the

farms are medium-sized to large, with land in fields,

pasture, and woodlots. Pastures are usually near the

farmstead and in the creek bottoms, while woodlots

occupy the rougher spots.

125
Allegheny Plateau of Western Maryland

PLATE 23.—Western Maryland extends to the divide

plateau of the Appalachian Mountains. On the strongly rolling to hilly plateau back of the Allegheny Front,

where elevations frequently rise above the 2,500-foot

level, only the smoother portions can be used for farming. Of the total land area, about 50 percent is in

farms, and only comparatively small portions of this

land can be used for crops and for pasture. The remaining acreage is mainly in forests; timber production is the best use that can be made of this land. The

forest belt shown covers Negro Mountain, and the

farms to the west are 2 to 3 miles south of the village

of Accident. Soils developed largely from the weathered material of sandstone and shale, and gravelly or

stony types prevail. These soils are not strong, but

they respond well to fertilization. Compared with

eastern Maryland, the climate is cool. Summer temperatures are moderate in daytime and cool at night.

126

The frost-free season lasts 4 to 5 months. Winters are

cold and the snow cover lasts for some time. As comfortable summer temperatures attract vacationists,

some resorts are located on the plateau. The annual

mean precipitation of 42 to 46 inches is higher than in

the low country to the east. Agriculture on these

highlands shows its reaction to climate. Corn is not

grown to the same extent as on the lower levels. Hay,

oats, com, and wheat are the more important crops.

The chief sources of farm income are dairying, meat

animals, and poultry. The tract in the picture is from

an agricultural section. Some of the farms have

rectangular boundaries, as contrasted to the divisions

commonly used in this part of the country. These

divisions indicate, however, that the land was subdivided before it was settled. No doubt it comprised

part of the unappropriated land that was deeded to

soldiers at the end of the Revolution.
Eastern Shore of Virginia

PLATE 24.—In the Eastern Shore counties of Virginia, the land is generally flat and most elevations

are below the 50-foot level. Tidal marshes are extensive on both sides of the peninsula. In this narrow

stretch of country, land use is adjusted to a number of

physical and economic factors. Frequently the land

is not well enough drained for agricultural use and

must be improved through ditching or tiles. Physiographically, the land is part of the Lower Coastal

Plain. Soils are light and usually range from sandy

to fine sandy loams. As a result, they are fairly easy

to cultivate. The maritime influence on temperature,

which has prolonged the grrowing season considerably,

is felt from the Atlantic Ocean on the east and Chesapeake Bay on the west. Winters are mild; summers

are warm and long. The frost-free period averages

210 to 220 days. Precipitation, which is around 44

inches annually, is sufficient for most crops, although

sprinkler irrigation systems have been installed in a

number of farms to insure maximum yields. Aside

from the tidal marshes, land use is almost exclusively

divided between cropland and forest, which usually

occupies the wetter ground. The photograph shows

the environs of Cheapside, a village in Northampton

County. Intensive farming is carried on, and production is concentrated on cash crops. Vegetables, Irish

potatoes, sweetpotatoes, and strawberries are the chief

crops grown for eastern city markets. Woodlots provide lumber for the manufacture of containers in which

the farm products are shipped. Cattle and poultry are

of minor importance in the farm economy.

127
Lower Coastal Plain of Virginia Drained

PLATE 25.—Inadequate drainage is one of the chief

drawbacks to fuller economic development of the

Lower Coastal Plain on the mainland of Virginia.

Swamps and wet lands are extensive. As far back as

George Washington's time, attempts were made to

drain the Dismal Swamp but failed. For much of the

marsh and swamp lands, reclamation through drainage

is not economically feasible. For another large acreage, however, drainage improvements are possible.

Some arer.s have been so improved and are now used

intensively for crop production. Farm drainage can

be installed by the owners if drainage outlets are

available on the farm or if outlets can be secured

through permits from adjacent owners. This was

evidently the working arrangement in the area shown,

which lies about 5 miles out of Norfolk, near Kempsville at the head of the eastern branch of the Elizabeth

River. The silt loam soils have been brought into a

high state of productivity through the use of manure

and fertilizers. A long, warm summer with an average

of 230 frost-free days, a mild winter, and around 44

inches of annual precipitation are favorable to diversified agriculture. The nearby markets in Norfolk and

the beach resorts provide the orientation for agricultural production. Dairying and truck farming are the

prevailing types of agriculture. The principal field

crops are corn, small grains, and hay, and the chief

truck crops are strawberries, Irish potatoes, sweetpotatoes, and vegetables. Workers from Norfolk supply most of the labor needed in truck farming, and

this has produced an inversion in the movement of

commuters.

128
Upper Piedmont of Virginia

DN-1442

PLATE 26.—No local land use pattern can be regarded

as typical for the Piedmont of Virginia. Irregular

farm boundaries and fields prevail in the region, but

they are not peculiar to the Piedmont alone. The

spatial order of fields, pastures, and woodland may be

an adaptation to the physiographic background, associated with the customs of the original settlers or the

type of farming practiced in the area. In some parts

of the Piedmont, farms and fields are arranged along

the divide between the streams; in other parts, small

fields are the rule, and in the North, where large

estates with cattle and horses are found, extensive

pastures are a dominant feature. The land use pattern of that part of the Upper Piedmont shown does

not approach the extreme in either direction. The area

is near Concord, or about 8 miles southeast of Lynchburg in Campbell County. The land is strongly rolling

to hilly and the elevation is approximately 800 feet.

Soils vary from sandy loams to clay. The sandy loams

are usually found on the smoother upland; and the red

stiff clays occupy the steeper slopes where erosion has

removed the more friable surface material. Summers

are long and warm with an average frost-free period

of 200 days, and winters are moderate. Farms are

openly scattered and fields occupy a relatively small

proportion of the land. Farming is diversified. Tobacco is the principal source of farm income. Com,

wheat, and hay are other important field crops. Cleared

pastures occupy a considerable acreage, an indication

that livestock enterprises are an important part of the

farm economy. Dairying, livestock sold, and poultry

contribute their shares to the farm income.

129
Catawba Mountain and Valley, Virginia

PLATE 27.—It is not always evident that geologic

history and structure are the underlying causes of

edaphic peculiarities or that they act as advantages

or drawbacks in the development of local land use

patterns. The geologic structure and the pétrographie

nature of the underlying rocks usually influence land

use indirectly through land relief and soils. However,

in the mountains are localities in which the geologic

structure is reflected in the land use pattern. Here

land use is adjusted to land relief and rock formations,

which are defined and recorded in aerial photography.

A sample from the mountains of Virginia—a section

of the Catawba Mountain and Valley at the headwaters

of Catawba Creek in Roanoke County—is shown. Because of the general arrangement of the landscape,

the small acreages of land used for cultivated crops

are found in the smoother portions of the valleys and

basins. Pastures are usually found on the more sloping

130

lands while the forests occupy the mountains. There

are exceptions to the rule. On the northern slope of

Catawba Mountain, the pasture zone is divided by a

belt of brush and woodland which follows a row of

knobs on the mountainside. The belt and knobs define

the outcrop of a sandstone formation. Above and below

this belt, shales with interbedded limestone provided

the parent material from which the soils developed.

These valleys have a pleasant climate with a frost-free

season of around 180 days and moderate winter temperatures. Annual precipitation averages approximately 40 inches and is well distributed seasonally.

The mountainous topography and the distance to

markets prevent a more diversified type of farming.

As much of the farmland is best suited to pasture,

livestock farming is the main industry. Cattle, dairy

products, and poultry and its products are the chief

sources of farm income.
Rim of Blue Ridge Plateau, Virginia

PLATE 28.—The Blue Ridge as the separating mountain range between the Great Appalachian Valley and

the Piedmont does not retain the characteristics of a

ridge from north to south. South of the Roanoke

Gap, the Blue Ridge broadens out into a rolling to

hilly plateau with the highest spots protruding above

the 3,000-foot level. The plateau is bounded on the

east by a well-defined rim from 1,000 to 1,500 feet

high, of which a section along the Carroll-Patrick

County boundary is shown. Along the rim runs the

Blue Ridgo National Parkway, which offers panoramic

vistas over the detached mountains and the hilly

country below the rim. In this part of the Blue Ridge,

only the plateau rim has recreational value. The plateau itself is largely agricultural. Because of the

elevation, the climate is cooler than on the Piedmont

below. The growing season in these elevations averages around 6 months. The annual precipitation of

approximately 44 inches is ample for agricultural

needs. Most of the soils are medium-textured and

fairly productive. Land use on the plateau is almost

evenly divided among cropland, pasture, and woodland. Cropland usually occupies the smoother land

and woodland the steeper slopes. Com, wheat, and

alfalfa are the main crops. Livestock farming dominates the agricultural economy. Cattle, dairy products, and poultry and its products are the chief

sources of farm income. Oti the rim escarpment, most

of the land is in woods, although some good-sized

orchards, mainly apple, have been planted on the lower

slopes. Air drainage on these slopes is frequently

sufficient to prevent damage to the trees from late

spring frosts.

131
Great Appalachian Valley Section, West Virginia

PLATE 29.—Only two counties of West Virginia are

far enough east across the mountains to share the

resources of the great Appalachian Valley. The valley

lies between the Blue Ridge on the east and the Appalachian Plateau and Mountains on the west, and extends south from Pennsylvania to Alabama. Throughout its length, it is known for its fertile soil, pleasant

climate, farm specialties, and scenic attractions, particularly the many caverns. The section of the valley

shown lies in Jefferson County. A bend of the Potomac

may be seen. The smaller river farther south is the

Shenandoah. Harpers Ferry lies at the junction of the

two rivers. The lands of the valley are gently rolling,

with fertile soils; they range from silt to clay loam

and were developed from limestone. In places, the

soil is shallow and rock outcrops protrude above the

surface. Where these rock outcrops are numerous,

they interfere with cultivation and the land is best

suited to pasture. As a result of its sheltered position, the area is warmer and drier than the mountains.

The growing season averages 180 days, and annual

precipitation averages 36 mches. Of this, slightly

more than half falls during the warm season. Most

of the land is cleared and used for agricultural production. Woodland is confined to the steeper slopes.

Farming is diversified. Orchards, mainly apple, are

extensive, and apple blossom time attracts many visitors. Of the field crops, corn, wheat, barley, alfalfa,

and clover are important. Fruit, dairy products, and

livestock are the chief sources of income.

132
Dissected Appalachian Plateau, West Virginia

PLATE 30.—Most of West Virginia lies in the physiographic region of the Allegheny and Cumberland Plateaus. When used as a geographic term in this connection, "plateau" is more closely associated with geology

than physiography, for the plateau is thoroughly dissected. But when viewed from the crest of divides, no

outstanding mountain serves as a landmark. Some

divide flats in the northern part of the plateau are used

for farming. In the southern section, as shown, the

land is more maturely dissected. Practically no level

land is found on the divides or in creek bottoms. Settlement is scattered along the creeks, and a little land

is cultivated on the lower slopes and in spots on the

divide. Although differences in elevation between the

ridge crests and the valley bottoms are frequently less

than 500 feet, the land is rugged. The photograph was

taken about 4 miles south of Charleston, but the proximity of a city of 75,000 people is not reflected in the

cultural features. Urban influences have not penetrated the mountains to the extent that they greatly

modify the land use pattern. Climatically, land use

is not restricted. The growing season averages around

180 days, and the annual mean precipitation of 46

inches is more than sufficient for all major uses. Most

of the soils developed from weathered material of shale

and sandstone and are only moderately productive. In

most instances, farming in this part of the country

cannot rise above the subsistence level. Frequently,

it is only a part-time occupation of the miners. The

mining of coal is the chief industry of the area. Forestry is the best use of the land in that it protects 1:he

watershed and provides lumber and pulp for the industry.

471954 O-59-10 133
Eastern Kentucky Hills

PLATE 31.—^The eastern Kentucky Hills represent a

maturely dissected plateau. Valleys are usually Vshaped, with very little level bottom land. Equally

small acreages of level land are found on the ridges.

Differences in elevation between bottom land and ridgetops usually hover around the 500-foot mark. This

rugged surface is the dominant landscape feature in

most places. In certain localities in the Appalachian

Highlands, a similar topography would deter use of

the land for agfricultural production. When the soils

of the Kentucky Hills are considered, they are little

more encouraging. The parent material from which

the soils developed is usually derived from sandstone

and shale which, as a rule, are not highly productive.

Nor is soil development uniform. The early settlers

along the streams and creeks learned from experience

and observation that the soils of the northern and eastern sides of the ridges were deeper and reached farther

up the slope than did soils on the opposite sides. This

results from greater insolation on slopes with southern

and western exposures. In winter, repeated thawing

and freezing of the soils on these slopes promotes erosion. The moisture-holding capacity of the resulting

thin soil is reduced until it is too low to produce crops

in summer. An unusual land use pattern is the result.

Only eastern and northern slopes are cleared and cultivated. The southern and western slopes are left in

forest. Temperature and moisture conditions are favorable to all crops that grow in this latitude. The

tract of land shown lies about 5 miles west of Jackson

in Breathitt County. Farming is largely of the subsistence type. Many farmers work part time in forests

and mines.

134
Bluegrass Region of Kentucky

PLATE 32.—In Colonial times, a few settlers advanced

as far as the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky. Considered from the geologic viewpoint, the Bluegrass Region is neither a basin nor a plain but a truncated

dome, which has produced a rolling plain, fringed by

a more dissected belt, and all surrounded by knobs and

hilly country. AH the land is well-drained; some has

suffered from erosion. The principal soils are rather

productive silt loams, which developed from limestone.

In contrast to the forested surroundings, the settlers

found in the region a parklike arrangement of native

vegetation. Large openings in the hardwood forest

were grown over with grasses, sedges, and canebrakes.

Although the region was named for bluegrass, bluegrass is not indigenous to the region, having been introduced by settlers from the East. It grew well on

the limestone soil and proved to be a prolific producer

of seed and pasture. Grass seed became an article of

trade with other frontier settlements, and in time the

grass became known as "Kentucky Bluegrass." Grass

seed has remained a cash crop of some importance ever

since. The Bluegrass Region is the outstanding agricultural region of Kentucky. Most of the land is

cleared and used for pasture and crops. Fence rows

along the fields and pasture boundaries are a characteristic landscape feature, as may be noted in the tract

shown, which lies 3 miles south of Paris in Bourbon

County. A moderate humid climate with a frost-free

season of 180 to 190 days and a mean annual precipitation of more than 40 inches would be favorable for

the field crops that grow at this latitude. But as the

soil is particularly adapted to grasses, the largest

acreage is used for pasture. In the farm economy,

livestock and its products are nearly as important as

cash crops. Cattle, sheep, hogs, and thoroughbred

horses play their part. Corn, small grains, and hay

are the chief crops grown for use on the farm. Burley

tobacco is the principal cash crop.

135
Karst Lands of Kentucky

PLATE 33.—The Karst Lands of Kentucky, of which

the southern portion is better known as the Pennyroyal Plain, form an irre^lar crescent around the

western coal measures. All Karst lands are underlain

by a soluble limestone. As the horizon of the land is

nearly level, much of the precipitation is absorbed by

the soil, from which it percolates through the rocks.

Through the solvent action of the slowly moving water

in the rock, the channels and caverns formed constitute a subterranean drainage system. Depressions

formed over the inlets of the underground drainage

system have produced the spattered sinkhole design

that can be seen in the tract shown, which lies 2 miles

west of Sonora in Hardin County. These sinkholes

frequently impede cultivation of the land. They remain wet longer than the adjacent uplands; some

retain water for some time. The soils developed from

limestone are usually silt or clay loams and erode

136

rather easily. Erosion is most active around the rims

of the sinkholes from which the soil is washed into

the depressions. A certain regularity in the layout of

the fields, as shown, indicates that the land was divided for the settlers. However, this is not a characteristic of the Kentucky Karst Lands as a whole.

The climate conforms to the interior position and elevation of the region, and with a frost-free season

averaging 190 days, it has the general characteristics

of the lower Ohio slope in Kentucky. Precipitation,

which averages around 46 to 48 inches annually, is

higher than in the Bluegrass Region. Farming is

largely centered on livestock, mainly cattle, with some

dairying and hogs. Much of the land is used for

pasture. Corn, some small grains, and alfalfa and

lespedeza for hay are the principal field crops grown

for use on the farms. Burley tobacco is the leading

cash crop.
Western Coal Measures of Kentucky

PLATE 34.—The Western Coal Measures of Kentucky

are a composite of hills and plains in which the major

branches of the drainage system indicate the distributional arrangement of the plains. Flat alluvial valley bottoms, which are more than 4 miles wide in

places, separate the hills and rolling upland areas.

Some of the hills rise more than 200 feet above the

valley flats; the rolling areas have much lower elevations. The prevailing soils of the upland are silt loams,

which developed from the disintegrated material of

shale and sandstone with interbedded limestone in

places. They are of moderate fertility. On the sloping

upland, these ñne-textured soils erode easily if not

protected. Sheet and gully erosion have damaged

considerable areas. Soil conservation practices are

needed on the hills, and conversely, drainage improvements are needed on the flats below when they are used

for crops. The tract shown, which lies 2 miles southwest of Ashbyburg at the northern end of Hopkins

County illustrates land use on hills and bottoms. The

hills in the northern part of the tract rise only about

100 feet above the lowland; but they are badly eroded.

Much of the once cultivated land is reverting to brush

and pasture. Reclamation of the lowlands is progressing from the foot of the hills to the creek channel, but

a good many square miles are still wet and in forest.

Although the growing season averages 190 days and

the mean annual precipitation is 46 inches, most of the

land is now used for pasture. Cattle, hogs, some

sheep, and poultry are raised, and dairying is a sideline. Some tobacco is grown as a cash crop.

137
Upper Ohio Hills

DN-1443

PLATE 35.—^The hilly country that flanks both sides

of the Upper Ohio River is sometimes referred to as

the Upper Ohio Hills. This hilly belt lies outside the

glaciated area and thus has been exposed to erosion

much longer than the bordering drift plains to the

north. The sustained carving action of water has produced a well-dissected and rather rugged land relief.

In places, the hills rise 300 feet above the creek bottoms. The locality shown lies about 4 miles southeast of Stewart in Athens County, Ohio. This portion

of Ohio was part of the "Ohio Company's Purchase"

of 1889. It was later divided into townships 6 miles

square, but the national system of subdivision was not

followed strictly. The settlers cleared and cultivated

considerably more land than is presently used for crops.

Fifty years ago the acreage of cropland was approximately twice what it is now, a reduction caused mainly

by the roughness of the land. The soils, which developed for the most part from weathered material

of sandstone and shale, are fine-textured and erode

easily. Sheet erosion has damaged some of the land

and probably contributed to the reduction in crop

acreage. Precipitation, which averages 40 to 42 inches

for the year, is higher than on the plains to the north,

and the average growing season of 170 to 180 days is

slightly longer. As may be noted, the rectangular

land divisions are marked by hedges, but cropland,

pasture, and woodland are more or less adjusted to the

land relief. Dairying and the livestock industry are

the chief uses made of the land. About half the land

is used for pasture; approximately one-eighth is used

for cultivated crops, and the steeper slopes are left in

woods. Small apple orchards are found on some farms.

138
Drift Plain of Northeastern Ohio

DN-I4S0

PLATE 36.—In northeastern Ohio along the upland

divide, much of the land is level or slightly undulating

to gently rolling and drainage is not yet fully developed. The St. Lawrence drainage system is on one

side and the drainage system of the Ohio River on

the other. This part of Ohio was overrun by the

glaciers of the Wisconsin period. It is covered by a

mantle of glacial till, which is composed mainly of

the ground-up material derived from shale and sandstone. The soils developed from the till are predominantly of the heavier types and are deficient in humus

and acid. In texture, they range from loam to clay

loam and the subsoil is a heavy plastic clay. Heavy

soils with deficient surface and internal drainage are

necessarily difficult to cultivate. Much of the land has

been cleared, but only about a fourth of it is now used

for crops. More land is used for pasture than for

crops. Climatically, the area would be suited to diversified farming. The frost-free season averages 140 to

150 days, and precipitation averages 38 to 40 inches

annually and is well distributed seasonally. Agriculture is centered on dairying and animal husbandry,

mainly cattle and poultry. Corn, wheat, oats, and hay

are the chief crops, but vegetables and Irish potatoes

are grown for nearby markets. The tract shown lies

in the northwestern part of TrumbuU County about 2

miles southeast of North Bloomñeld. This section of

Ohio was first claimed by Connecticut; it was known

as the Connecticut Western Reserve. In 1800, it was

ceded to the Federal Government and subdivided into

rectangular tracts. However, the townships are only

5 miles square, and, as shown, they are not sectionalized.

139
Western Ohio Drift Piain

PLATE 37.—^The surface of the western Ohio drift

plain is undulating to smoothly rolling and slightly

hummocky in places. A fairly deep deposit of glacial

till provided the parent material from which the soils

developed. Most of the soils range from silt loam to

silt clay loam. They are acid in the surface horizon

but the calcareous substratum is even heavier than

the surface soil. Internal drainage of the soils in their

natural state, therefore, is frequently deficient. Much

of this nearly level land was cleared and used for

crops, but crops were sensitive to wet spells that

affected yields. To overcome this difficulty, tile drains

were laid over much of this level country. Now most

of the northwestern part of Ohio is organized into

drainage enterprises. Precipitation averages from 34

to 38 inches annually, of which slightly more than

half falls during the warm season. The mean length

of the frost-free period ranges from 150 to 180 days.

Summers are rather warm. The photograph was taken

from the vicinity of DegrafT in Logan County. A part

of the city is shown. As may be seen, the land is

divided into rectangular divisions, which are similar

to the land divisions of the public domain, in that they

consist of sectionálized townships 6 miles square. The

difference lies in the numerations and direction. Ranges

run from west to east instead of north to south;

numeration of townships and sections differ also. This

departure from the norm started in a purchase project

on the Ohio River; it was extended between the Miami

and Little Miami Rivers north into what is now Logan

County. Most of the land is now used for farming;

only a few woodlots and openly wooded pasture tracts

are reminders of the former hardwood forest cover.

Western Ohio is considered a part of the Corn Belt.

Corn is the leading crop, but wheat, oats, soybeans,

and leguminous hay are also important. Good proportions of these crops are sold. Next_ to cropland,

pastureland is most extensive. The main sources of

farm income, however, are sales of dairy products and

livestock.

140
Southern Michigan Upland

PLATE 38.—In southern Michigan, landforms are the

product of glaciation. They consist of an irregular

array of slightly rolling till plains, and strongly rolling

moraines with interspersed depressions and broad wet

bottoms along the sluggish rivers and creeks. Differences in elevation between the high and low points

vary within 200 feet, but they are usually much less.

Very little land can be classified as too rough for

cultivation. A much greater acreage requires drainage. The upland soils are mainly the medium-textured sandy loams or loams. The substratum is frequently calcareous. Muck and peat are extensive lowland types. The usual growing season is more than

150 days. The annual precipitation of approximately

30 to 32 inches is lower than farther south, but the

greater part falls during the warm season. The tract

shown lies in the southwest comer of Jackson County.

It is a rolling till plain, in which the arrangement of

the cultural features is dominated by the rectangular

division of the land. Fields, pastures, and woodlots

are bounded by sectional division lines. The smaller

square fields and pastures, which are frequently enclosed by hedgerows, contain 10 acres. The embankment that bends around the road intersection in which

the village of Pulaski is located is an abandoned railroad tract. Agriculture is of the intensive Corn Belt

type. Corn is the main crop but wheat, alfalfa, and

clover are included in the rotation system. Vegetables

and Irish potatoes are grown for market. On the

whole, farming is organized around dairying and livestock. Dairy products, livestock, and poultry with its

products are the chief sources of farm income.

141
Fruit Belt of Michigan

PLATE 39.—The belt of country that stretches along

the eastern shore of Lake Michigan from the southern

boundary of the State to Grand Traverse Bay in the

north is usually referred to as the Fruit Belt of Michigan. Land use here has been adjusted to temperature

and soils. The surface is a composite of morainic

hills, rolling drift plains, smooth glacial lakebeds,'sand

dunes, and interspersed depressions. The soils of the

uplands range from sand to clay. In the lowlands, they

are usually of the organic type. The climate is modified by th-î waters of Lake Michigan. The prevailing

westerly air currents coming from the lake moderate

the temperature, particularly in- spring when they hold

temperatures down during the day and prevent frosts

at night. This delays blossoming until the danger of

late frost is over. Fall frosts are retarded in the same

way. The frost-free season ranges from 150 days in

the north to 180 days in the south. The annual average

precipitation of 30 to 32 inches is well distributed

seasonally. The Fruit Belt tract shown lies in the

midwestern part of Allegan County. Hutchins Lake

is in the upper right-hand corner. Morainic hilly upland till plain and glacial lakebed make up the morphological background of the locality. How topography

and soils aflfect land use may be seen in the photograph. Orchards and vineyards are confined to the

rolling uplands where mineral soils prevail. Truck

crops are confined largely to the muck soils of the

drained lakebed south of the lake. Farming is diversified. There are many apple, peach, pear, and cherry

orchards, and small fruits are grown also. Cabbage,

celery, cauliñower, and cucumbers are the main vegetables produced for market. Dairy, poultry, and livestock farming are also important.

142
Glacial Lake Plain, Saginaw Basin, Michigan

PLATE 40.—Glacial lakebeds occupy a considerable

area in the Northern States. As a rule, their surfaces

are smooth and almost level. They are sometimes divided by old beach ridges or waterlaid moraines, a few

feet high, into upper and lower plains. Washed glacial

till or, more often, waterlaid deposits formed the parent material from which the soils developed. The

prevalent soil types are usually medium to heavy textured and very fertile. However, for agricultural use,

drainage improvements are needed in many places.

Most of this land is used rather intensively for crop

production. The wetter land is used for pasture and

woodlots. The photograph represents a tract in the

Saginaw Basin in Bay County, above the lowest beachline west of Linwood. The lowest land on the eastern

margin lies about 3 miles west of Linwood on the shore

of Saginaw Bay. It is approximately 20 feet above

the water level of Lake Huron. Within the area shown,

the land rises another 25 feet westward. The climate

of the bay area is comparable to that of southern Michigan. The frost-free period averages 140 to 150 days,

and the precipitation averages 30 inches annually.

Agriculture is diversified and includes a number of

specialties. The greater part of the farm income is

derived from crops but livestock is a close second. The

principal field crops are corn, wheat, oats, barley, and

alfalfa. Of the crop specialties grown for the market,

dry beans come first, followed by Irish potatoes, sugar

beets grown for production of sugar, and vegetables.

Among the livestock enterprises dairying predominates,

but sales of livestock and of poultry and poultry products contribute a good share to the farm economy of

the basin.

143
Superior Upland of Michigan

PLATE 41.—In the Northern Peninsula of Michigan

and the adjacent counties of Wisconsin, much of the

land is either rough and rugged or swampy or wet.

Only a small part of the land has been cleared and improved for agricultural production. Farms are more

or less clustered along the main lines of transportation,

but in the intervening locations, they are few and

scattered. Of the landforms, the mountains and knolls

are of preglacial origin, although many of the morphological details, such as the moraine and drift deposits

or drumlin formations, are of glacial origin. Lakes

are more numerous on the Wisconsin side than on the

Michigan peninsula, and wet land is more extensive in

the eastern than in the western half of the peninsula.

A similar distinction is evident in the soils. Sands are

more prevalent in the eastern part and the medium to

heavy-textured types are more in evidence in the western part. In addition to the northern climate, the

often rocky and stony soils are a drawback to agricultural use of the land. Temperature gradients from

the lakeshore to the interior are rather steep. On the

lakeshore, the average length of the frost-free season

is around 140 days; inland it may range from 80 to 90

days. The annual precipitation is approximately 30

inches. Much of this falls as snow, which may cover

the ground for 3 months or more. The scattered location of farms is illustrated by the tract shown, which

lies 2 miles north of Paulding in the southeast corner

of Ontonagon County. Most of the land is cutover;

some is cleared and used for crops and pasture. General farming prevails. Dairy products and livestock

are the main sources of farm income. Mining camps

and lumber mills provide the market. Hay, oats, and

potatoes are the main crops.

144
Central Plains of Indiana

DN-I456

PLATE 42.—The Central Plains of Indiana are an extension of the drift plains of western Ohio. The action

of water has not modified greatly the surface configuration left by the retreating ice sheets. Near the larger

watercourses, the land is more rolling. Low bluffs, 20

to 50 feet high, may define the alluvial valley floors.

The interstream portions of the plain are usually only

undulating or slightly rolling. The depressions frequently require drainage improvements for use as

cropland and extensive areas have been so improved.

Soil distinctions frequently coincide with the better and

poorly drained areas. Glacial till provided the material from which the soils have developed. Over large

areas, this consists of a surface layer of loess-like texture. Silt loams are the prevailing soil types on the

better drained land. In the depressions, the soil is

usually a silt clay loam. As the better drained land

dries out more readily, it gives the surface a billowy

appearance. Corn Belt climate characterizes the area.

Summers are warm; the frost-free period averages 160

to 170 days; and precipitation is around 38 inches annually, of which 60 percent falls during the warm

season. A section of the undulating plain south of

Rossville in Clinton County is shown. Cropland and

pasture are dominant land uses, but many farms have

woodlots. Sales of livestock, mainly cattle and hogs,

are the main sources of farm income. To these are

added dairy and poultry products. The main crops are

corn, wheat, oats, soybeans, and leguminous hay, of

which a large part is used on the farms but a good

share also reaches the market. Property lines, location

of roads, and field operations are controlled largely by

the rectangular division. Indiana was the first State

in which the official system of land division was used

for almost the entire State, so that any section can be

identified with a few symbols.

145
Knobstone Escarpment in Southern Indiana

PLATE 43.—In southern Indiana, the limit of glaciation shows a remarkable indentation. The recession of

the glacial boundary is about 90 miles deep. It outlines

the Knobstone country, which extends in a north to

south direction. The Knobstone Ridge is an outstanding topographic feature of southern Indiana. Actually,

it is an elevated westward tilted plain, bounded on the

east by a steep escarpment. Along the Ohio River,

the hills rise to 500 feet or more from the river bottom.

Farther north, in the portion of the escarpment shown,

which lies about 4 miles north of New Albany in Floyd

County, the difference in elevation between the rim of

the escarpment and the plain below is 450 feet. Both

glaciated and unglaciated country appear in the photograph. The unglaciated plain above the escarpment is

deeply dissected and the steeper slopes are left in

woods. The rolling plain below was overrun by the

glacier of the Illinoian period, which affected the soil

development. In the Knobstone country, the parent

material of the soil is derived from sandstone and

shale, while in the plain it is old glacial till. There are

also slight differences in climate, which have not been

recorded effectively. Precipitation is around 42 inches

annually in the plains and averages up to 4 inches

higher in part of the Knobstone country. The frostfree season averages 190 days in the low country and

almost 10 days less on the high land. Additional distinction is the land division. The Knobstone country

was public domain and is divided into townships and

sections. The plains portion is part of "Clark's Military Grant;" it is divided into 500-acre tracts with

orientation of the lines derived from the Ohio River.

The physical background accounts for the differences

in land use and farming in the 2 areas. The acreage

used for cropland in the plains is much larger than

that so used in the Knobstoneland. Livestock is the

chief item in the farm economy in both sections, but

dairying is more prominent in the plains. Sales of

crops are high in both areas, but fruit is more important in the hills and tobacco more so in the plains.

146
lUinoian Drift Plain of Southern Illinois

DN-I45B

PLATE 44.—Except for the rugged Ozark spur,

southern Illinois lies at the southern limit of glaciation; it was covered with ice during the Illinoian glaciation but was not invaded by the ice sheets of the

Wisconsin period. Smooth plains with a gently rolling

surface resulted. The area is traversed by broad alluvial flats, which range up to 2 miles wide. These flats

usually lie less than 100 feet beiow the general level of

the plain in which the sluggish meandering streams

provide insufficient drainage for the land. As in central Illinois, the parent material from which the soils

developed is mainly derived from the mantle of loess

that covers the glacial till. Soil development took place

under fore3t cover. Consequently, the high humus content and the dark color of the prairie soils farther north

is missing. The prevailing soils are the heavier types,

usually silt loams with a heavy clay substratum.

Southern Illinois is slightly warmer than the central

part of the State. Summers are warm and the frostfree period averages 180 to 190 days. Also, the annual

average precipitation of 40 to 44 inches is somewhat

higher than in central Illinois. The tract shown lies

in the north-central part of Franklin County. Meander

bends of the Big Muddy River appear in the wooded

alluvial bottom. Rolling land borders the river bottom,

and farther back the land is almost level. As may be

observed, erosion is active on the rolling land. The

upland is used for cropland and pasture. Forest is

confined mainly to alluvial flats, which would require

drainage improvements for agricultural use. A few

woodlots are scattered over the farming areas. Livestock and its products, particularly hogs, cattle, poultry,

eggs, and dairy products, are the main sources of farm

income, although a good share of the field crops, chief

of which are corn, wheat, soybeans, and hay, also

reaches the market.

147
Central Prairie of Illinois

PíATE 45.—The central prairies of Illinois were covered by ice sheets in the pre-Wisconsin and Wisconsin

periods of glaciation. The surface characteristics of

the morainic and drift plains are derived from glaciation, but they have been modified along the rivers and

larger creeks where the land is more dissected and

rolling. Nevertheless, the outstanding characteristic

of the area is that of a plain. Glacial deposits of varying thicknesses were left by the ice, although most of

the soils developed from loess, which covers all of central Illinois and constitutes the parent material of the

prairie soils. Silt loams are the prevailing types on

the better drained land, and clay loams are more often

found in the shallow depressions. The soils, which

developed under grass cover, have a high humus content and are very fertile. Although these prairie soils

are nearly black, they do not belong to the black-earth

group, as the calcareous subsoil horizon is missing.

Woodland is confined to the steeper slopes near the

water channels where the soils are lighter in color.

The groves near the farmsteads were planted. Although the climate of the Central Illinois plains is

humid, precipitation is not as high as it is farther east.

Normally, it is from 32 to 38 inches annually; however,

the largest proportion falls during the warm season.

Summers are warm, and the frost-free period averages

from 160 to 180 days. The tract shown lies at the

northern end of McLean County. This is true Com Belt

country. Most of the land is used for crops, and field

operations are mechanized. Straightening the courses

of the meandering creeks has improved drainage and

produced greater regularity in the shape of the bordering fields, thus facilitating field operations. This region

produces cash grain. Corn is the leading crop, but oats

and soybeans are also important. Livestock is a close

second to cash grain in the farm economy, with hogs in

the lead and cattle second. Poultry contributes its share

to the farm income. Most of the farms contain at

least 160 acres, land values are high, and many farms

are operated by tenants.

148
Dairy Region of Southeastern Wisconsin

PLATE 46.—In southeastern Wisconsin, glaciation has

produced a diversity of surface forms. These forms

have affected land use in its quantitative development

and also in the distributional arrangement of settlement and the land use pattern. Strong terminal moraines with hills and rocky soils, smooth, slightly rolling

drift plains with soils ranging from sandy or gravelly

loam to clay loam, and wet lowlands with peat and

muck soils are assembled irregularly. The many lakes

are an attractive feature of the rural landscape. The

climate is considered humid but the annual average

precipitation is only 30 inches, of which around twothirds falls during the warm season. The summers are

fairly warm, and the frost-free period averages around

160 days. Although the land is divided into sections and

townships, roads are freqently deflected from rectangular land-division lines by wet lands, lakes, and hills.

This in turn has affected the location of farms and

fields. The tract of land shown lies north of Dousman

in the western part of Waukesha County. The dry

land is level to slightly rolling, but extensive wet lands

are responsible for the irregularities in the settlement

and land use patterns. Much of the wet land has been

improved by drainage and clearing and is now used for

hay and pasture. Although this area lies outside the

Corn Belt, com is the leading crop. It is followed by

leguminous hay and oats. Most of the field crops are

used on the farms. Only a small proportion is sold.

The farm economy is centered on livestock, and dairying is the principal industry. This is one of the bestknown dairy regions in the United States. Milk is the

main source of farm income. Livestock sold and poultry

and its products are next in importance. Vegetables

are grown to some extent for the market.

471954 0-59-11 149
Drumlin Field in South-central Wisconsin

PLATE 47.—In south-central Wisconsin, particularly

the eastern half of Dane County and in Dodge and

Jefferson Counties, glaciation has produced a peculiar

landform, called drumlins. Drumlins are elongated

hillocks, usually composed of till, and infrequently of

rock and gravel, which may be a mile or more long, a

quarter of a mile wide, and perhaps 50 to 100 feet high.

The major axes of the drumlins indicate the flow direction of the ice sheets that formed the drumlins. In

this instance, when the Green Bay glacier reached the

end of the Winnebago Basin on its southward journey,

it started to spread out, as indicated by the direction

of the drumlins. In the south-central part of Dodge

County, the drumlins lie in almost true north to south

direction, but toward the west they gradually veer

and finally are alined in a southwest to northeast direction. How this radial swing in direction of drumlins

has affected land use is illustrated. The section of the

drumlin field shown lies on the western boundary of

Dodge County, and the outskirts of Columbus may be

seen in the lower left-hand corner of the photograph.

Originally, the drumlin field of Wisconsin was openly

wooded with interspersed prairies. The intervening

lowland was wet, and even swampy and marshy in

places. The soils of the drumlins range from sandy

loams to silt loams. Peat and muck are frequently

found in the depressions. Climatically, the drumlin

field does not differ much from the rest of southeastern

Wisconsin. The frost-free period averages around 150

days and precipitation about 32 inches, most of which

falls during the growing season. Land use, as developed on the drumlins, is controlled by two factors.

Farm boundaries are controlled by the rectangular

land divisions, oriented north to south and east to

west, but for the most part, farmsteads and field

operations follow the directions of the drumlins. Most

of the land has been cleared, and much of the wet land

has been drained, so that cropland and pasture are the

dominant landscape features. Dairying is the principal

type of farming. Com, oats, and leguminous hay are

grown largely for use on the farm. Green peas are a

cash crop. Livestock and poultry are also important.

150
Military Ridge of the Driftless Area, Southwestern Wisconsin

PíATE 48.—The Driftless Area comprises the rougher, more dissected part of southwestern Wisconsin with

small extensions into northwestern Illinois and southeastern Minnesota. On the glacial map, the area stands

out as an island in the glaciated region, although glaciologists point out that as the bordering ice 'sheets

were of various ages, it was never an island surrounded by ice (49). Differences in elevation between

the larger valleys and the higher ridges or upland

plains are usually only about 500 feet; nevertheless,

the valleys are steeply incised and thus much of the

land is too rugged for cultivation. The southern section, which is separated from the northern section by

the Wisconsin River, has its own drainage system, of

which Military Ridge is the divide. The soils on the

upland are largely derived from loess. The climate

of the Driftless Area is humid, and although the mean

annual precipitation is not heavy, two-thirds of it falls

during the growing season. The area is higher than

the land to the east and the west. The difference is

also recorded in the temperature; the mean length of

the frost-free period is reduced to 150 days. The Military Ridge, of which a tract near Edmund is used to

illustrate the setting, is more of a plain. Originally,

it was a prairie branching out on the spurs. The slopes

were wooded, and the steeper slopes along the creeks

are still kept in woods. To conserve the soil on the

more rolling land, conservation practices are now followed extensively. Usually, the southern end of the

Driftless Area is included in the Corn Belt. Corn is

the leading crop, followed by oats and alfalfa. Considered from the land use viewpoint, more land is used

for pasture than for crops. Thus, livestock is the

dominant interest of the farmers. Hogs, cattle, and

milk provide most of the farm income. Only a small

proportion of the field crops is sold.

151
Sandy Outwash Plain, Northern Wisconsin

PLATE 49.—Within the cutover region of the Lake

States are a number of good-sized areas in which poor

soils and rough topography form the chief impediments

to agricultural use of the land. Wisconsin has its

share of these areas. Plains of this type are located

in the central, northern, and northwestern parts of the

State. These sandy lands usually are rolling, and in

the aggregate, the intervening wet depressions may

occupy as much ground as the dry land. The dryland

soils are prevailingly light in texture. They are either

sands or sandy loams with a light-textured substratum,

frequently rocky and stony, while the soils in the depressions are peat and muck. In the northern area,

the climato is an added drawback to agricultural use of

the land. Summers are comparatively cool and short

and the frost-free period averages from 100 to 120

days. Precipitation is normally around 28 inches for

the year, but because most of it falls during the warm

season, it is sufficient. Settlement in these areas is

sparse and scattered. In itself, this has its economic

and social disadvantages. Improvement and maintenance of roads and transportation of children to school

over long distances are often difficult and costly. Service costs frequently exceed the fiscal resources of counties or districts. To avoid an expansion of civic obligations, mapy counties have adopted rural zoning

ordinances that make settlement or resettlement of

abandoned farms unlawful. The most northerly of

these plains extends as a belt from Minnesota along the

St. Croix River to the Bayfield Peninsula. The area

shown lies in the southwestern comer of Douglas

County. It illustrates the prevailing situation in the

plain. Not much land is cleared and cultivated. Farming is mainly of the self-sufficing type and many farmers

also do nonfarm work.

152
Red Lake Swamp, Northern Minnesota

^9

PLATE 50.—Swamps dominate the landscape in much

of northern Minnesota. In the aggregate, they total

more than 5,000 square miles. To a large extent, they

are concentrated on the old glacial lakebeds, of which

Lake Agassiz is the largest. Swamps occupy the

eastern extension of this lakebed, where the expansive

flats form the drainage divide between the waters

tributary to the Rainy River on the east and the Red

River on the west. The southern boundary of this

more or less coherent swamp district is formed by the

high beachline of Lake Agassiz, which passes just

south of Red Lake in an east-west direction. In this

area, well-drained land with mineral soil comprises

only a small percentage of the total. Most of it is in

narrow strips along the natural drainage channels.

Some islands above the general level of the swamps

must be included. The soil of the swamps is peat. In

its natural state, most of the swampland was wooded.

Floating bogs or muskegs covered with sedges, rushes,

and dwarf trees were found in the swamps. The

watertable of these swamps has been lowered considerably through drainage operations. Drainage canals

enter them in many places, and as the surface slopes

are frequently only 2 to 3 feet per mile, the ditches

often follow section lines. Large areas of this drained

peat have been ignited by forest fires and have burned

out. The precipitation, which is low for a humid climate, averages around 22 inches annually, although

three-fourths of it falls during the warm season. Summer temperatures are cool and the frost-free season is

around 110 days. A settlement near the northern shore

of Upper Red Lake is shown. Ditch-bank grades that

have been converted into roads make such interior

locations accessible. Not much land is cleared and

used for crops. Farming in areas of this kind is a

pioneering enterprise.

153
Glacial Lake Plain, Northwestern Minnesota

PLATE 51.—The waters of the Valley of the Red River

of the North did not always flow toward the Arctic

into Hudson Bay. During the glacial period, glaciers

blocked the northern end, damming up the waters that

collected in the valley into an immense lake that discharged its overflow to the south into the Minnesota

and Mississippi Rivers and through them into the Gulf

of Mexico. Lake Agassiz, as this former lake is now

called, was rather shallow and the lakebed is now a

distinct feature of the landscape. Beachlines indicate

the different stages of the lake and separate the lower

from the upper levels. The bottom land along the Red

River is nearly level. Before the settlers arrived, it

was predominantly open prairie. Natural tree growth,

mainly oaks, is confined to the banks of the sluggish

streams that meander through the lowlands. The

soils, which are dark and very productive, contain

much humus. In the lower portions, they are usually

clay that becomes lighter in texture toward the beach

154

where the soils may be sandy loams. Northwestern

Minnesota is drier than any other part of the State.

Annual precipitation in the Red River Valley ranges

from 20 to 22 inches, although from 16 to 18 inches

fall during the summer. The mean length of the frostfree season ranges from 110 to 120 days. The tract

shown lies on Buffalo River, near Georgetown in Clay

County. Drainage over much of this lowland has been

improved through ditching. Agriculture is mainly of

the cash-grain type. Farms are large, and fields of

160 acres are not uncommon. Oats, barley, and wheat

are the chief crops, and production is mechanized. Flax

is grown mainly as a seed crop, and the fibers furnish

the raw material from which cigarette paper is manufactured. On the lighter soils, farming is more diversified. As protection against the wind, the farms that

border the river have their farmsteads in the shelter

of the tree belt, while on the open plain, farmsteads

are in planted tree shelters.
Prairie-forest Transition Belt, South-central Minnesota

PLATE 52.—In south-central Minnesota lies a zone

that marks transition in more than one respect. One

of the transitions is from prairie to forest; the other is

from the smoother plain to a more diversified surface

configuration associated with terminal moraines, outwash plains, lacustrine beds, and till plains. All of

these landforms have resulted from glaciation, which

has also affected the soils to a considerable extent.

This area lies near the fringe of the Corn Belt, which

means that the summers are comparatively warm. The

frost-free season averages around 140 days. The annual mean precipitation ranges from 24 to 26 inches,

and the larger part falls during the warm season. Some

of the surface characteristics mentioned above may be

detected in the cultural landscape as recorded by

aerial photography. The tract shown lies in Meeker

County, 2 miles east of Forest City. It includes a number of these surface features. The smooth stretch of

land south of the Crow River, most of which is cultivated, is part of a glacial lakebed that was originally

prairie. The soils are heavy. The belt north of the

river is part of the lakebed but has lighter textured

soil and was forested. Immediately to the north of

this lakebed is a rolling till plain with some woodlots

and wet spots, which becomes more rolling and choppy

toward the northeast until it approaches the characteristics of a strong terminal moraine. The agriculture

of the area is diversified. Com is the chief crop, but

oats, barley, alfalfa, and ñaxseed are also important.

Some of the crops are sold but the major proportion is

used on the farms. The farm income is derived largely

from animal husbandry, with dairying, hogs, poultry

products, and cattle important.

155
Dissected Plain, Southeastern Minnesota

PLATE 53.—Southeastern Minnesota and the adjoining counties of Iowa have a rather hilly topography.

The district is located within the glaciated regions, but

this part was not overrun by the ice sheets of the

Wisconsin period. On the whole, the area consists of

a rolling upland, deeply incised by the creeks and rivers

that drain it. Differences in elevation between the

valley floors and the upland exceed 500 feet only

along the Mississippi bluffs: Upstream on the tributaries, the differences are smaller. Although the land

is divided into sections and townships, the land use

pattern is mainly controlled by the relief features.

Loess covers much of the more hilly section, where it

provided the parent material from which the soils

developed, while the old and leached glacial till provided the parent material for the loess-free areas.

The upland soils are predominantly silt loams, rich in

humus and dark in color. The prairies that originally

156

extended over the rolling upland account for the dark

soils. The lighter colored soils are confined to the

wooded areas on the valley slopes. The valleys are

warmer than the upland plains. The frost-free period

in the Mississippi bottoms is around 160 days; on the

rolling plains farther back it averages 140 days. The

annual average precipitation is approximately 30 inches. The tract shown lies in the southeastern part of

Winona County near the boundary. Most of the land

is in farms, but only the valley bottoms and the rolling

uplands are used for crops and pasture. The steeper

portions of the valley slopes are left in woods, which

occupy about a third of the area. Farming is concerned primarily with livestock. Cattle, hogs, dairying, and poultry and its products provide most of the

farm income. Crops, of which corn, oats, and hay lead,

are grown mainly for use on the farm.
Prairie Land, North-central Iowa and Southern Minnesota

DN-I46S

PLATE 54.—The plains of north-central Iowa and

southern Minnesota were overrun by the ice sheets of

the Wisconsin glaciation. They emerged from the

glacial period with a slightly rolling surface, which

has been modified greatly since. Much of the land

consists of shallow depressions, in which natural drainage is poor. Consequently, its use for cultivated crops

was formerly at the risk of crop failure. Most of the

land is now included in drainage districts. With the

straightening and deepening of drainage channels, as

shown, and the tiling of wet places, most of the land

can now bi used for crops. Before settlement, the land

of this region was open prairie. The soils developed

from calcareous till under grass cover. As a result,

they have a high humus content, which makes them

dark gray or almost black, but as they do not have

the accumulated lime horizon in the substratum, they

do not belong to the chernozem group. Except for the

soils on the outwash plains, the prevailing types range

from loams to silt clay loams. The climate is of the

midcontinental type with warm summers and not really

severe winters. The growing season averages around

150 days. The annual average precipitation is 30

inches, of which more than 20 inches falls during the

warm season. The land is highly productive and is

used largely for crops. The tract shown lies about

5 miles south of Britt in Hancock County. The principal crop is com, followed by oats, soybeans, and tame

hay. Only minor portions of the crops reach the

market. Livestock is the main item in the farm

economy. Hogs lead, but cattle, poultry and its products, and dairy products are also important. The

tree groves or shelterbelts planted on the northern

and western sides of the farmsteads as protection

against the northwesterly winds are characteristic of

these otherwise treeless plains.

157
Loess Plain, Western Iowa

PLATE 55.—In western Iowa, the physical background, especially in regard to lay of the land and

character of soils, has meant adjustments in land use,

which in spatial order and composition differ from

those in other parts of the State. Although the area

is within the glaciated region, the glacial drift deposits

belong to the older period. They were later covered

by a mantle of loess, from which the soils developed.

The upland is tilted toward the Missouri River. As a

result of the erosion and stream action of the greatly

ramified tributaries of the Missouri, it represents a rolling to strongly rolling plain with rough spots in places.

The rounded ridgetops were originally prairies while

woodland occupied the lower slopes and creek bottoms.

As this part of the Missouri slope lies near the western

fringe of the humid zone, precipitation is moderate.

The annual average ranges from 26 to 30 inches, but

two-thirds of this falls during the growing season of

158

approximately 160 days. Dark silt loams, which are

fertile but easily eroded, are the predominant upland

soils. That erosion is taking its toll, especially at the

upper draws of the creeks, may be recognized in the

tract shown, which lies on the Missouri slope 4 miles

southeast of Logan near Hard Scratch in Harrison

County. Much of the land is used for crops, and fields

and operations are adjusted to the rectangular division lines. Following these lines on strongly rolling land

entails difficulties. To ease the grades, roads are deflected, and on the steeper slopes near the creeks,

fields are more irregular. More land is left in pasture,

upon which woodland frequently encroaches. Agriculture is diversified. Corn is the leading crop, followed by oats, wheat, and alfalfa. A good share of

the crops reaches the market but the main income of

the farmers is derived from livestock, chiefly hogs,

cattle, and dairy products.
Loess Hills, Southern Iowa

PLATE 56.—The physical environment of southern

Iowa differs in more than one respect from that of the

northern part of the State, and the use made of the

land reflects these differences. The glacial till deposits

in southern Iowa and northern Missouri belong to the

pre-Wisconsin period; thus they are much older than

the deposits in northern Iowa. The glacial till itself

is covered by a mantle of loess, the parent material

from which most of the soils developed. Streams have

dissected the former plain, leaving remnants in the form

of flats along the divides. A strongly rolling to hilly

topography characterizes much of the area. Most of

the soils are silt loams in texture, but they are not

uniform in other respects. On the divide flats, where

the soils developed under grass cover, they are almost

black and have a heavy plastic subsoil. Artificial

drainage of flat fields is necessary to obtain the best

yields from crops. The soils on the slopes, which developed under tree cover, are gray or brown. Frequently, they have excessive surface drainage and

erode easily. The annual average precipitation of 34

to 36 inches is slightly higher than that in the rest of

the State. The growing season of 160 to 170 days is

somewhat longer. The land use pattern has its own

distinctions. As may be noted in the tract shown,

which lies in the southeast comer of Monroe County,

some of the steeper slopes have never been cleared.

Pastures and cropland are dominant uses of the land,

but a good share is in woods; in fact, trees and brush

encroach on the pastures. Corn, leguminous hay, soybeans, and oats are the more important crops, but

only a small part reaches the market. The farm income is derived mainly from animal husbandry, in

which cattle leads. Hogs and some sheep are raised

also.

159
Ozark Border, East-central Missouri

PLATE 57.—In the main, the Ozark Highland of Missouri and Arkansas is a well-dissected plateau with a

strongly rolling surface. Occasional hills and ridges,

meandering streams with sharply incised valleys, and

some remnants of the former plain, break the distributional regularities of the terrain forms. In Missouri,

the underlying stratified geologic formations are mainly

limestone with igneous rocks protruding in the center.

Originally, the Ozark Plateau was largely covered by

a heavy deciduous forest. Silt loams, the prevailing

soil types that developed from the disintegrated rock

material, are gray or grayish-brown and are rocky in

many places. Elevations on the Missouri Ozark Dome

surface vary from approximately 900 to 1,800 feet.

This part of the plateau is higher than the country to

the east and the west. As a rule, summers are not oppressively hot nor are winters severely cold. The frostfree season averages from 170 to 190 days, and the

160

annual precipitation increases from an average of 40

inches in the north to 50 inches in the south. The

tract shown lies about 3 miles southeast of Washington

on the Missouri River in Franklin County. Although

the tract is on the Ozark Border on less rigorous terrain, the difficulties of cultivating the land are apparent. Erosion is active on the sloping land, and soilconservation practices are needed in much of the

Ozarks. Land ownership is controlled by the rectangular system of land division, but roads, fields, and

cultural practices are frequently adjusted to the lay of

the land. The acreage of cropland decreased considerably during the last half century, while the acreage

of pasture increased. Corn is the main crop, followed

by wheat, lespedeza, and clover, all of which are grown

primarily for use on the farm. Livestock and livestock products are the chief sources of farm income.
Ozark Center, Missouri

PLATE 58.—Near the eastern end of the Ozarks,

where the intrusive granites form knobs and mountains, the surface is rugged. This area is also the

highest part of the Ozarks on the Missouri side. No

climatic records are available from the higher levels,

but even those from the valley stations indicate that

the climate is cooler than in the surrounding country.

The average length of the frost-free period is 170

days. Precipitation, which averages from 42 to 46

inches, differs from that of adjacent areas. Most mountain slopes are rough and stony, and forestry is the

best use that can be made of the land. A number of

purchase units of the national forest are located in the

area. The State parks in these mountains are an

indication of their recreational value. Settlement and

agricultural use of the land are confined to the scattered basins and the alluvial floors of the valleys. How

settlement in these narrow valleys has penetrated the

wilderness is illustrated in the tract shown, which lies

at the fork of Carver Creek, about 3 miles northwest

of Sabula in Iron County. Farming in these mountains is largely self-sufficing and livestock is the main

source of the meager farm income. Many farmers

work part time off the farm.

161
Bottom Land and Bordering Upland of the Missouri River, Missouri

PLATE 59.—Missouri is divided by the Missouri River

into two dissimilar parts. The northern division lies

almost entirely within the glaciated region of the preWisconsin period. It is a dissected rolling plain, hilly

at the fringes, which frequently rises from the river

bottoms 100 feet or more within a short distance.

Originally, the smoother, slightly rolling drainage divides were prairies, and the more rolling valley slopes

were wooded. Certain soil distinctions have resulted.

The upland soils are mainly silt loams developed from

loess and to some extent from underlying drift deposits. The distinctions derived from the vegetative

cover are expressed mainly in humus content and color.

Because of their high humus content, the grass soils

are dark. Conversely, the woodland soils are light.

There are no pronounced climatic distinctions between

lowland and upland. The frost-free period averages

180 to 190 days, and precipitation normally ranges from

36 to 40 inches annually. Erosion is rather active on

162

the sloping land. Because of the difficulties of cultivating the sloping land, the acreage of cropland has

decreased during the last few decades and the acreage

in pasture has increased. Some of the pasture has

been invaded by brush and trees, as may be noted in

the tract shown, which lies west of Camden in Ray

County. The bottom fields of the tract are about 20

feet above the normal water level of the river. To prevent flooding, the upland creeks have been channeled

from the points at which they enter the bottoms.

Much of the upland is in pasture. All well-drained bottom land is in crops. Corn is the main crop in both

areas but wheat is important in the bottom lands,

while oats are included as a rotation crop on the uplands. The type of farming is adjusted to these conditions. Farming on bottom land is based on cash

crops, and that on upland on livestock, particularly

hogs and cattle.
Rolling Prairie, Eastern Kansas

PLATE 60.—The smoothly rolling country that extends from eastern Kansas to the Missouri Ozarks usually is included in the eastern humid portion of the

Central Plains. However, these plains lie near the

western fringe of the humid zone, and precipitation may

depart considerably from the annual averages of 36 to

40 inches. Normally, the growing season is close to 190

days. Limestone and close-grained sandstone are the

prevailing rock formations that provided the disintegrated mineral base from which the soils in the southem part of the area developed. Loess furnished the

parent material of the soils at the northern end. In

its natural state, the area was prairie. Along the

watercourses were belts of woodland, which are still

in evidence. The soils are chiefly silt loams with a

high organic matter content, dark and very productive. Much of the land is used for crops, as may be

noted in the tract shown, which lies near Edgerton in

Johnson County. Arrangement of farms and fields

follows the rectangular land divisions. As a rule,

square sections bounded by roads are divided into

quarter-section farms of 160 acres. The area still is

considered to be part of the Corn Belt and com is the

chief crop. Farming, however, is more diversified than

in the Com Belt proper, probabjy because of the proximity of Kansas City. Other important field crops are

wheat and alfalfa. Vegetables and horticultural specialties also contribute to the farm income. Although

good proportions of the crops are sold, the chief source

of farm income is livestock, mainly animals sold, but

sales of dairy and poultry products are important also.

163
Flint Hills, Kansas

PLATE 61.—The Flint Hills in eastern Kansas appear

from the distance as a swell in the plains longitudinally

interposed between the Arkansas and Kansas Rivers.

As a landform, the Flint Hills are not an imposing

feature of the landscape. In most instances, the difference in elevation between the hills and the plains to the

east and west is not more than 300 to 400 feet. The

case is different when land use is considered. In contrast to the plains, where most of the land is used for

cultivated crops, the Flint Hills proper are used only

for pasture. The reason for this restriction is found

in neither climate nor land relief, but in thé soil. Interbedded shale and limestone are the underlying rock

formations from which erosion has carved the hills. Of

the two, the cherty limestone is more resistant to

weathering than shale, and, as a result, the soils developed from the accumulated material are rocky and

shallow, and thus unsuited to cultivation. However,

they support a luxuriant growth of nutritious grasses.

The Flint Hills are on the western border of the humid region. As they extend for approximately 200

miles in a north to south direction, the length of the

frost-free season normally ranges from 180 to 200

days. Annual precipitation averages from 32 to 38

inches, most of which falls during the growing season.

Draws in the upper re.aches of the hills, about 6 miles

north of Grenola in Elk County, are shown. The land

is sectionalized like the plains country but the dividing

lines are only faintly discernible. To conserve water,

dams have been built across creeks to form ponds and

provide water for cattle. Cattle raising and fattening

are the best use that can be made of this land. Of

particular interest are the contours produced by outcropping limestone ledges. Although these outcrop

lines may not conform strictly to the contour definition

of passing through points of equal elevation, they do

reveal the surface morphology of the hills. Nature

has here provided an example on which the form

characteristics of contours are clearly exposed and can

be studied.

164
Great Bend Plain, Central Kansas

n

-7

PLATE 62.—Land use capability on the plains of

central Kansas is determined largely by climate and

to a lesser extent by land relief and soil. Some tracts

are excluded from arable use because of broken surfaces or stony or sandy soils, but these are not the

predominant land types. The prevailing land relief is

rolling to strongly rolling in places. Soils developed

from the disintegrated bedrock material, which may be

derived from shale, limestone, or sandstone. In the

northern part of the area, the parent material was loess,

but all upland soils developed under grass cover. As a

result, the latter contain much organic matter, which

makes them dark. In texture the soils are mainly silt

loams. Central Kansas lies in the subhumid belt. The

frost-free season normally ranges from 170 to 200 days,

and the average annual precipitation is 25 to 30 inches.

Because of the hot summers and the high transpiration

ratio, this is not sufficient for diversified farming.

Hard winter wheat is the principal crop. It is grown

on a large acreage with mechanized operations on large

fields. Wheat is grown on the .same land year after

year. An upland tract west of Great Bend in Barton

County is sho^vn. As may be noted, the fields frequently contain 160 acres or more. Many farmers have

planted shelterbelts to protect the farmsteads from

wind; some shelterbelts also are planted along roads

or across fields. Winter wheat is the chief cash crop

in this region; livestock, mainly cattle, is a secondary

source of farm income.

471954 0-59-12 165
High Plains, Western Kansas

PLATE 63.—On the High Plains of western Kansas,

physical conditions impose severe handicaps to agricultural use of the land. Climate alone injects a considerable element of risk into crop production. The

area lies in the semiarid region. It has a growing

season of 160 to 180 days, and the average annual

precipitation ranges from 15 to 20 inches. Most of the

precipitation falls during the warm season, but when

considered in relation to the dry winds and the high

daytime temperatures, it is not a true measure of available moisture. Moreover, like most averages, it is not

a reliable indicator of what may be expected. Recurring variations in which a number of humid years

are followed by some dry years, which result in crop

failures, are not uncommon. Erosion from water and

wind is a constant hazard to conservation of the soil.

As a rule, moisture supplied by precipitation is insufficient to grow a crop on the same land every year.

Dry-farming methods, in which land lies fallow for a

year to conserve soil moisture and stripcropping is done

to prevent wind erosion, are commonly followed. Wind

erosion can be severe during protracted dry spells on

unprotected land, as may be observed in the picture

on the fallow land. The tract shown lies in Greeley

County, Kans., near the State boundary. For a long

time, grazing was the prevailing land use of the region. Since the advent of mechanized farm operations,

and a favorable price level for wheat, much of the

sod has been broken for crop production. Production

of grain is now more remunerative than stock farming,

although the annual average yield of wheat for 1926-48

was only 8.2 bushels for Greeley County. In this region, farmsteads are few and far apart. Grain farming of this type is done largely by "suitcase" farmers

who live in town. Some sites of former farmsteads

may be seen in the photograph.

166
Loess Plain, Eastern Nebraska

PLATE 64.—Eastern Nebraska is part of the area

known as the Com Belt. Physiographically, it is an

imperfectly dissected plain, gently rolling with some

depressions on the broad divides, and severely rolling,

with some rough and broken tracts on the slopes

along the drainage channels. It lies in a transition

zone. Rainfall decreases from the humid belt along

the Missouri River westward so that most of the area

is in the subhumid zone. The annual precipitation

averages from 25 to 30 inches with two-thirds of it

falling during the warm season. Usually the growing

season lasts from around 160 to 170 days. Before the

arrival of the settlers, the country was grassland. Narrow belts of hardwood were to be found along the

drainage channels, and remnants of these belts still

exist. As a result of the unequal distribution of precipitation over the seasons, these upper drainage channels do not carry water throughout the year. Most of

the upland soils are silt loams developed from the

loess that covers the area. They are dark colored

and have the calcareous subhorizon characteristic of

the chernozems. Erosion is active over much of eastern Nebraska. The tract shown is on rolling land in

Thayer County between Chester and Hebron. The

track of an abandoned railroad that formerly connected

these two places is recorded in the photograph. Roads

usually follow the land-division lines; each mile-square

section is bounded by a road. Farming is diversified.

Corn is the main crop, followed by wheat, oats, and

hay. Cash crops and livestock are of approxirnately

equal importance in the farm economy of the region.

167
High Plains, Western Nebraska

PLATE 65.—Western Nebraska reaches into the semiarid high plains, where climate restricts land use

possibilities on the best land to either cropland or

grazing. When it is not broken by sharply incised

water channels or valleys, the surface is a slightly

rolling plain or tableland. The annual average precipitation ranges from 15 to 20 inches. This average,

however, is derived from records in which the upper

and lower extremes are far apart. Consequently, it

contains an element of uncertainty. Precipitation may

vary greatly from year to year. The frost-free period

usually lasts from 140 to 150 days. Summers are hot,

and the evaporation-transpiration ratio is correspondingly high. Winters are cold, and strong winds frequently sweep the plains. Soils vary in texture from

fine sandy loams to silt loams, and the subsoil horizon

is calcareous. As these soils developed under short

grass cover, they do not have the high organic-matter

content of the chernozems or the prairie soils farther

east. Brush and scattered tree growth are confined to

the breaks where ground moisture conditions are somewhat more favorable. Much of the land is used to

grow grains, chiefly hard winter wheat, with dry farming methods. The tract shown lies in the western

part of Banner County and touches the rim of Scotts

Bluff Basin to the north. Dry-farming methods are

combined with stripcropping to prevent wind erosion.

As may be observed, strips of land 350 to 660 feet

wide, perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction,

are alternately cultivated or left fallow. They give

the area its characteristic land use pattern. The average annual yield of wheat per acre in Banner County

for 1926-48 was 14.8 bushels. •

168
Sand Hills, Nebraska

PLATE 66.—The Sand Hills of Nebraska are a unique

terrain feature both morphologically and in extent.

The Sand Hills occupy an area of 19,000 square miles,

of which 18,000 square miles are in Nebraska. The

remaining 1,000 square miles are in South Dakota.

Roughly a fourth of Nebraska is taken up by the

Sand Hills. No semblance of order is apparent in the

arrangement of the hills over much of the area, although in some parts, particularly in the center and

along the eastern border, a nearly east-west orientation

of ridges and valleys is noticeable. The Sand Hills

are frequently referred to as sand dunes, but this is

not always fitting. Although they are the product of

wind action on the disintegrated material of the local

Tertiary formation, some of the larger ones still contain cores of the old formation. Wind has moved,

sifted, and redeposited the loose material in the form

of hills and ridges up to 100 feet high in the western

sector decreasing to swells on the eastern spurs. The

soils of the hills are loose sand, but those in the depressions are chiefly loamy sand and, infrequently, sandy

loam. The vegetative cover consists of tall native

grasses, which protect the sand from blowing and provide a means of using the land. Normally, precipitation ranges from 18 to 22 inches a year; the frost-free

season runs around 140 to 150 days. Little or no

surface runoff occurs in the Sand Hills. Precipitation

readily infiltrates the sand and is transmitted to the

ground water. In many of the depressions, lakes are

formed on the ground-water level. Almost the only

use that can be made of the land is pasture; very little

is used for cultivated crops. Wild hay is cut in the

depressions; it is the main crop of- the region and is

used as feed for cattle during the winter. Cattle

ranches are large and thinly scattered. The tract

shown, which includes a ranch and some small lakes,

lies in the heart of the Sand Hills, in Sheridan County.

169
Glacial Till Plain, Southeastern South Dakota

PLATE 67.—The part of South Dakota that lies east

of the Missouri River is within the region that was

invaded by the glaciers of the Wisconsin period. The

landforms left by the glaciers have not been greatly

modified. The surface consists of a slightly rolling

plain, which terminates at the Missouri River bluffs in

the west and south. The James River and its tributary

creeks that drain the area have cut only shallow channels. Many small depressions and lakes are scattered

over the plain, but the morainic belts in the southern

half have no strongly expressed relief features. The

climate of eastern South Dakota is not uniform

throughout, and this necessitated adjustments in type

of farming. The southern part, where the frost-free

season lasts normally up to 150 days and precipitation

averages 24 and more inches annually, three-fourths

of which falls during the growing season, is part of

the Com Belt. Farther north and west, where the

normal annual precipitation falls to 18 inches and the

growing season gets shorter and the temperatures

cooler, farming is of the Wheat Belt type. Most of

the soils developed from glacial till under grass cover

and subhumid conditions. Consequently, they belong

to the chernozem group and are mainly of the mediumtextured types. Much of the land is used for crops.

The tract shown is in Davison County, south of the

road that connects Mitchell with Mt. Vemon. Farms

and fields are large, and operations are mechanized.

Planted shelterbelts for wind protection may be recognized near some of the farmsteads and in places along

the roads. Farming is diversified, and although this

is the northwestern fringe of the Com Belt, corn is

still the main crop. Other important crops are barley,

oats, wheat, and tame and wild hay. Some of the

crops are sold but most are used on the farms; livestock is the principal cash product.

170
Great Plain, Western South Dakota

PLATE 68.—Aside from the Black Hills uplift, westem South Dakota represents an extensive plain adjoining the glaciated region. It has been exposed to

geologic erosion for a long time, and as a result, it is

badly dissected by drainage channels. The valley floors

of the major streams and their tributaries, at the most,

are not more than a few hundred feet below the general

level of the plain, but they are flanked by a belt of

rough land, which frequently approaches Bad Land

conditions. Most of South Dakota west of the Missouri

River is semiarid. Annual precipitation ranges from

15 to 22 inches, of which about three-fourths falls

during the warm season. Normally, the frost-free

period lasts from 130 to 150 days. Soils have developed

from the weathered material of the underlying sedimentary formations of shale, sandstone, and cherty

limestone. They range in texture from sand to clay

with the heavier types predominating. Short grasses

are the prevailing vegetation cover; tree growth is

confined to the banks of the streams and the Black

Hills. Nonmigratory grazing is the most extensive

use of the land, as only a relatively small part of the

smooth upland is used for cultivated crops. Outside

the irrigated areas, small grains, mainly wheat but

some oats, barley, rye, and seed flax, are grown with

dry-farming methods. The photograph illustrates the

situation along the northern tributaries of the Belle

Fourche River in the center of Meade County. The

raising of livestock, mainly cattle, is the principal farm

enterprise; production of crops is secondary.

171
Strong Moraine, Northeastern South Dakota

PLATE 69.—Northeastern South Dakota has several

physical features that are not shared by other sections

of the State. Taken as a whole, it is still a wide, open

plain, varied only by landforms associated with glaciation. Near the northern boundary of the State, the

James River passes through the almost level bed of

the extinct glacial Lake Dakota. Morainic belts flank

the basin on both sides; they rise gently not more than

a few hundred feet above the general level of the basin

floor. The morainic belt to the east, however, has a

stronger relief expression than the western belt. It

consists of a chaotic assembly of knolls, ridges, lakes,

and depressions, which reduce the crop-use capability

of the land. Precipitation, which averages from 18 to

22 inches annually, is not quite as high as in the

southern part of the State, nor, are summer temperatures. The frost-free period, which normally lasts

from 130 to 140 days is not quite so long. The welldrained soils of the area, whether they have glacial

till or lacustrine deposits as parent material, developed

under grass cover and fall into the chernozem group.

The proportion of land that can be used for crops is

greatly reduced in the belts of strong morainic topography, as illustrated. The tract shown lies in the

Sisseton Indian Reservation, about 4 miles west of

Veblen. Most of the land is in pasture. Fields are

scattered, and they are neither as large nor as regular

in shape as those on the smoother land. The wooded

belts along the streams, which originated in the morainic belt, are an outstanding feature of the landscape.

Farming is diversified. Some corn is grown, but small

grains, particularly wheat and oats, are the leading

crops. Livestock and cash grains are the main sources

of farm income.

172
Beach Ridges of Lake Agassiz, Red River Valley, North Dakota

PLATE 70.—The eastern tier of counties in North

Dakota, or at least a large proportion of the land they

contain, lies in the Red River Valley. During the

glacial period, this valley was the lake that is now

referred to as Lake Agassiz. When agricultural products of the different sections of the State are compared, the Red River Valley ranks among the highest

and most reliable producers, which indicates that physical conditions are favorable to farming. The lay of

the land over most of the basin is almost level. Exceptions are the beach ridges, which mark the different

stages of the lake water level. Usually, these ridges

are not more than 20 to 30 feet high and 1 to 3 miles

apart. They divide the basin into a lower bed and terraces. The slopes of the beach ridges are gentle and

do not prevent cultivation. Soil distinctions correspond

largely to these divisions. On the lower valley floor,

the soil is a heavy black clay loam. Between the beach

ridges, the soil is a black loam, whereas the belt between the upper beach ridge and the shoreline of the

lake has a black sandy loam. The beach ridges themselves are sandy loam with gravel. Precipitation averages only 20 to 22 inches annually, but as approximately two-thirds of this falls during the warm season, it is

usually adequate for the crops g^own in this latitude.

The frost-free period is comparatively short, and usually lasts around 110 or 120 days. Winters are cold. Much

of the land is used for crops; farms and fields are large

and operations are mechanized. A beach-ridge sector

4 miles north of Arvilla in Grand Forks County is

shown. Field operations along the ridges are deflected in the direction of the ridges. Windbreaks are

commonly found near the homesteads and some appear

along the borders of the fields. Farming is centered

on cash crops. Wheat, oats, barley, flaxseed, and potatoes are the principal crops for market, but livestock

contributes to the farm economy to some extent.

173
Drift Plain with Kettleholes, Northeastern North Dakota

PliATE 71.—Except for the southwestern part, all of

North Dakota lies within the glaciated region, but the

signs of glaciation are more in evidence north and east

of the Missouri River than south of it. The Missouri

Plateau that borders the river to the north is fringed

by a strong terminal moraine, and much of the land

is too rough for cultivation. Terminal moraine belts

also traverse the drift plains farther north, but the

rough morainic landforms are not the only obstacles

to arable use of the land. In places sparingly, but in

others densely, drift plains are spattered with depressions and sloughs, which frequently contain water or

are wet ground but which cannot be drained readily

to permit cultivation. These depressions, or kettleholes,

usually resulted from the melting of ice blocks that

were imbedded in the drift, or they are excavations

made by the rushing water from the ice sheets. Climate imposes its own restriction on the crops that can

be grown. Precipitation averages only 14 to 16 inches

annually, and the frost-free season is approximately

110 to 120 days. How cropping can be restricted by

these depressions is illustrated in the tract shown,

which lies 4 miles south of Munich in Cavalier County.

By means of a grid estimate, it was found that in the

4 square miles in the center, 11 percent of the land

area was taken up by the depressions, but that their

irregular distribution interfered with field operations

to the extent that an additional 18 percent of the dry

land has not been cultivated. Productive brown sand

and silt loams are the predominating upland soils.

Agriculture is centered on cash crops, but livestock is

also important. Wheat, barley, oats, flaxseed, and

wild hay are the more important crops. Most of the

wild hay is cut in the wet depressions.

174
Bad Lands Along the Little Missouri River, North Dakota

PLATE 72.—Southwestern North Dakota has practically no landforms that can be attributed to the action

of glaciers. The thin layers of till on some of the

smooth plains and the occasional boulders south of and

adjacent to the Missouri River indicate that at one

time the continental ice sheet crossed the river for a

short distance. However, the principal surface features

are the result of weathering and erosion. The underlying stratified deposits of silt, sand, and clay, with

interbedded lignite coal seams, have retained a gently

rolling surface on the broad divides but are badly dissected along the drainageways. The soils developed

from the weathered material of these formations are

brown, medium to heavy textured. With sufficient

moisture, they are quite productive. Precipitation,

however, averages annually from 14 to 16 inches, and

most of this falls during the warm season. The frostfree period, which normally lasts from 120 to 130 days,

is favorable for all the small grrains. Because of the

physiographic setting, a large acreage of the smoother

land is used with dry-farming methods to grow cash

crops, mainly wheat, while the rougher land is grazed.

Bad Lands, as the roughest portions are called, are

rather extensive in this end of the State. According

to a reconnaissance survey, they comprise more than

3,600 square miles. The most extensive areas are located along the Little Missouri, of which a tract in

Slope County is shown. Intermittent tributary creeks

have cut ravines into the geologic formations and have

dissected the land minutely. The walls of the ravines

are steep and largely barren, although some cottonwoods grow along the creeks. In places, hay is cut

on the broader bottom of the river but ranches are

widely spaced, as the Bad Lands themselves have only

a low grazing value.

175
Missouri-Yellowstone Plain, Eastern Montana

DN-I4e2

PLATE 73.—On the plains of eastern Montana, outside the glaciated region, a large expanse of country

must be considered as lying on or near the border of

tillable land use. Much of this land is badly dissected

by sharply incised channels. The ravines are frequently so numerous and so closely spaced that they

do not leave smooth tracts large enough to accommodate fields for mechanized operations. Even the less

dissected part of the plain has a rolling, somewhat

choppy, surface. It is not favorable to the long

straight-lined field operations customary in this part

of the country, where stripcropping is followed to prevent wind erosion. The principal drawback of the

region, however, is the climate. The average annual

precipitation is around 15 to 16 inches. This is low

in itself, but it also has considerable plus and minus

departures. Summers are mild and not very long; the

frost-free period normally lasts from 3 to 4 months.

Winters are likely to be severe. An economic factor

is involved in the cultural use of the land. High market prices for wheat, the chief crop grown with dryfarming methods, tend to encourage expansion of crop

acreage, which has increased considerably in the last

few decades. As an example, from 1939 to 1949, the

acreage of cropland harvested increased in McCone

County by more than 130,000 acres, or 130 percent,

although the 1926-48 average yield of wheat per acre

for the county was only 8.9 bushels. The upland tract

shown lies about 6 miles southeast of Weldon in the

center of McCone County. It illustrates the physiographic background and certain fields that are of

recent origin. As may be noted, there is room for

additional expansion. With the land used as it is now,

livestock and cash crops are almost equally important

in the economy of the area.

176
Triangle Area, North-central Montana

DN-I4e3

PLATE 74.—North-central Montana has a diversity of

landscape features. The horizon of the plain is pierced

by isolated mountains or is interrupted by valleys and

basins. The northern part is in the glaciated region

and has landforms not found in the southern part. The

climate is more spotty, particularly so far as precipitation is concerned. The annual average is less than 12

inches in some places and more than 18 inches in other

places. Summers are moderately warm, with a frostfree season of approximately 120 days, but winters are

cold. The Judith Basin receives the greater amount of

precipitation so that crops can be grown there without

resorting to dry-farming methods. Elsewhere dryfarming methods are followed for production of grain.

In such a diversified region, it is therefore not possible

to select a small tract and present it as a typical

sample of the land use pattern of the whole region.

The tract shown here is on glaciated land and lies in

Chouteau County, 3 miles west of Big Sandy. The

average annual precipitation in these environs is only

12 to 13 inches, so that dry-farming methods must be

followed to grow small grains, mainly wheat, as a

cash crop. The 1926-48 average yield of wheat for

this county was 14.8 bushels per acre. Field patterns

on the smooth tableland and the rolling valley land

diflfer noticeably, however. Alternate stripcropping is

prevalent on the smooth upland to prevent wind erosion.

Some of the strips are a mile long but only 140 feet

wide. Shorter and wider strips or compact fields are

the order in the valley, which is the preglacial bed of

the Missouri River. The Great Northern now follows

this old bed from Virgelle on the Missouri to Havre and

down the Milk River to its junction with the Missouri

River. Although much of the land can be used only

for grazing, cash grains dominate the farm economy.

177
Continental Divide Along the Idaho-M<nitana Boundary

PLATE 75.^Westem Montana is mountainous throughout. Ranges of the northern Rockies traverse the

area from the southern boundary northward into Canada, but they are not everywhere so closely spaced as

to occupy the entire area. Wide, open valleys and

basins are interspersed. The mountains are not as

high as in some other parts of the Rockies. The valleys themselves are high, especially at the headwaters

of the Missouri, where they range in elevation from

4,000 to 6,000 feet. As a result the frost-free season

averages only 40 days a year on some of the higher

levels. Precipitation varies considerably with location

and elevation. Annual averages range from 10 to 40

inches. Thus, the land use potentiality, especially the

tillable use, is necessarily restricted. In the open valleys, the lower slopes are used for grazing during the

cooler seasons. During the summer, livestock, mainly

cattle and sheep, are gnrazed in the mountains, large

proportions of which are in national forests. On some

irrigated land on the lower levels and benches in the

valleys, small grains, potatoes and sugar beets are

grown. The main crop, however, is hay, both wild

and tame, which is needed for winter feeding. Livestock is the principal source of farm income. The

ruggedness of some of the country may be seen in the

tract shown, which represents a section of the Continental Divide on the Montana-Idaho State boundary.

The sharp crested range that runs through the southwest comer of the tract is the Continental Divide.

Dolomite and limestone are the rock formations of this

part of the Beaverhead Mountains, which rise here to

more than 9,000 feet at the crest. Although it is considered forest, the tree growth is comparatively sparse

and is confined largely to eastern and northern exposures. Nutritious grasses provide the summer range

on the accessible moimtain meadows and slopes.

178
Big Horn Basin, Wyoming

PLATE 76.—The Big Horn Basin in Wyoming is almost entirely surrounded by mountains. Drainage is

provided by the Big Horn River, which enters the basin

through the Wind River Canyon in the south and leaves

it through the Big Horn Canyon in the north. Because

of this all-round sheltered position, precipitation is

lower here than in any other part of Wyoming. In

some of the lower elevations, the annual average precipitation is less than 5 inches, although for the basin

as a whole, it ranges from 5 to 10 inches. For the

same reason, summers are longer and warmer; the

frost-free season normally lasts from 120 to 140 days,

or about 20 days longer than elsewhere in the State.

Because of the low precipitation, crops cannot be grown

without irrigation. With grazing as the only possible

use of most of the land, agriculture is centered on

animal husbandry, particularly cattle and sheep, even

though large irrigation projects are located in the

basin. The center of the basin is largely hills and

ridges, but there are also basins and benches on which

the water has been diverted for irrigation. Small

grains and hay in addition to potatoes and sugar beets

are the main crops grown on the irrigated land. In

the outer belt of the basin, cropping is confined to the

bottoms of the larger creeks. The outer belt consists

of a series of ridges and mesas produced by the inwardly tilted stratified formations with clifflike slopes

that face the mountains. The section shown lies about

4 miles northwest of Thermopolis, where Owl Creek

passes through the belt. Hayfields and a number of

ranches are located in the creek bottom. Sagebrush

plus some grass is the dominant vegetation on the

sharp crested ridges, some of which have tree growth

on the upper levels and northeastern exposures.

179
High Plains, Wyoming

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PLATE 77.—On the High Plains, production of grain

with dry-farming methods extends from Nebraska into

the three Piedmont counties in southeastern Wyoming.

Farther north on a few of the higher and smoother

spots of the plains, grain farming is attempted. In the

interior basins of Wyoming, crop production is confined entirely to irrigated land. The crop is usually

harvested hay, which is needed as winter fodder. This

is arid range country. The annual precipitation usually

does not exceed 10 to 15 inches. To utilize the scanty

water supply most effectively, water management has

become a ranch practice. Except for those that have

their sources in the mountains, creeks carry water

only intermittently. To retain some of the water

for livestock the creeks are dammed up in many places.

Also, flush water is frequently diverted from creeks

by means of ditches. The tract of land shown lies

in Converse County near the junction of LaBonte

Creek with the North Platte River. The creek has a

half-mile-wide bottom and trees grow along its banks.

A ranch with hayland and fields is located on the bottom. LaBonte Creek, which has its source in the Laramie Range, is perennial. Sand Creek, 2 miles to the

east, has its source in the plain. Most of the year,

it is only a dry sandy draw. Prairie grasses and sagebrush predominate in the native vegetation. Cattle

trails traverse the plain but the braided field road in the

southwest corner is part of the Old Oregon Trail. The

almost straight lines across the country are pipelines

that may carry either gas or oil.

180
Mountain Crossing, Southwestern Wyoming

PLATE 78.—The mountains of the West imposed formidable obstacles to the westward movement of the

pioneers. Not until the low points in the mountain

chains had been found could settlers from the East

occupy the western basins. Wyoming contains a number of basins connected by comparatively low crossings

through which the wagon caravans of the settlers

moved. One of these, the mountain saddle that separates the Green River Basin from the Great Basin of

the West, was a concentration point for the roads

along which the early pioneers moved westward. Brigham Young and the Mormon pioneers went through

here in 1847 on their way to Utah. Many of the

Forty-niners passed this way to Oregon and California,

and later the Pony Express used this low ridge as a

crossing place. Its central location makes this mountain saddle one of the principal gateways between the

East and the West. The first of the East-West rail

connections—the Union Pacific—to run through it, was

opened in 1869. The approach to the saddle in the

mountains, which to the north are known as the Bear

River Divide, and to the south are spurs of the Uinta

Mountains, is provided by two valleys, one from the

east and the other from the west. These valleys are

used by the railroad, and at their head they are connected by a short tunnel. The western approach to

the tunnel is shown. The highest rail pomt, 7,217

feet, is at Altamont, the tunnel's western portal. Land

use in this rugged country is confined almost entirely

to seasonal grazing. Winters are cold and precipitation is low, although it varies considerably with elevation. A few miles to the northwest, in Evanston, the

annual average is around 14 inches. In the basins east

and west of Evanston, it is much less. The native vegetation of the lower levels consists mainly of sagebrush

and some grasses. Grasses are more common on the

higher levels. Aspen appear on the ridges and fringe

the coniferous forests of the mountains.

471954 0-59-13 181
Northern Colorado Irrigation District

PLATE 79.—The Colorado Piedmonts are in the rain

shadow of the Rockies, where western winds prevail

during the colder season. During- the warm season,

only the dehumidified air currents from the Gulf reach

them. Deficiency of moisture was the main drawback

to more intensive use of the alluvial basins at the foot

of the mountains. To improve the situation, irrigation

systems have been built, mainly in the basins and on

the terraces of the larger rivers. One of the largest

areas developed through irrigation is the Northern

Colorado Irrigation District, of which the more compact portion is confined to the basin north of Denver.

Irrigation was developed with the runoff from the

eastern slopes of the Rockies, where heavy snowfall

during the winter stores and releases water for use in

the valleys during the summer. With the increasing

water needs of Denver and the chronic shortage of irrigation water on the lower levels, an additional supply

of water was needed. It was obtained through transmountain diversion from the other side of the Continental Divide. The Moffat Tunnel brings additional

water from the western slope of the Rockies to Denver, and the Big Thompson Tunnel farther north brings

more irrigation water to the district. With the normal

annual precipitation ranging from 12 to 16 inches and

the frost-free season from 140 to 160 days, dry farming is feasible. Actually, dry and irrigated farming are

sometimes carried on adjoining tracts, as shown. This

tract is east of Niwot and north of Gun Barrel Hill in

Boulder County. It is in the Northern Irrigation District, where low hills form islands in the basin. Here,

dry farming on the smooth hill slopes ends at the

upper irrigation ditch. As Denver provides a market,

farming is diversified. Small grains as a cash crop

are the main products of dry farming. On the irrigated land, livestock, dairy products, and poultry and

its products are the main items in the farm economy.

Among the important crops are barley, corn, wheat,

and alfalfa and other hay, but dry field beans, Irish

potatoes, sugar beets, vegetables for sale, and nursery

products also add considerably to the farm income.

182
South Platte-Arkansas Divide, High Plains of Colorado

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PLATE 80.—On the High Plains of Colorado, land is

not used for cultivated crops to the same extent as is

done farther east. Along the eastern boundary of the

State, cash-grain farming, mainly wheat produced with

dry-farming methods, is about as dominant as it is in

western Kansas. Westward, however, fields become

more scattered, and in many places they are absent

altogether. The land is used predominantly for grazing, primarily as a result of the terrain. Rivers and

creeks, most of which have flowing water only intermittently, have dissected the land, leaving only remnants of the former plain or tableland. Precipitation

on the divides of the rivers that traverse the High

Plains hovers around 16 to 18 inches annually. This

is somewhat higher than on the lower lands. Inversely,

the growing season is slightly shorter. The frost-free

period is around 140 days in the center of the High

Plains. Although the country js prairie, trees appear

on the escarpments and the rough land on the headwaters of streams. The tract of land shown is on the

South Platte-Arkansas divide in El Paso County, north

of Rattlesnake Butte. All this area is above 7,000 feet

in elevation. A belt of trees on the low escarpment

delimits the tableland. Most of the land is used for

grazing, and fields are confined to the smoother ground.

Soils developed mainly from sedimentary formations

of the Tertiary age; they fall into the brown prairie

group. Crops are grown largely as feed for livestock.

Corn is a leading crop, but wheat, sorghum, barley, and

hay are grown also. Dry beans are grown for the

market. The major proportion of the farm income,

however, comes from the sale of livestock and dairy

products.

183
Eastern Section of San Luis Valley, Colorado

PLATE 81.—In the Central Rockies of Colorado are a

number of basins, usually called parks, of which the San

Luis Valley in the south is the largest. It contains

more than 3,000 square miles of slightly rolling country. As it is surrounded by mountains, little precipitation reaches the valley floor. For a large part of the

valley, the average annual precipitation is less than 8

inches, too little to grow crops without irrigation.

Much of the valley has been reclaimed through irrigation by using the waters of the Rio Grande, which has

its source in the San Juan Mountains to the west. The

valley lies at an elevation of more than 7,500 feet,

which shortens the frost-free season to around 100

days. Crops grown under these conditions are mainly

feed crops, but Irish potatoes and vegetables are important cash-crop specialties. Not much water is

available for irrigation from the Sangre de Cristo

Range to the east. On the eastern side of the valley,

only a few spots are irrigated. The rest is arid grazing land or, as in the case of the Great Sand Dunes,

it has no productive use. Much of the mountain land

and the arid land in the valley is in State and Federal

ownership. The tract shown is at the northern boundary of Alamosa County; it includes the foot of the

mountain and part of the sand dunes. North of this

point, the drifting sand is stopped by the mountains.

Although the sand dunes have no productive use, they

have recreational value and are now included in the

National Monuments. As in other places, the sand

dunes act as catchment areas of precipitation and as a

water reservoir which feeds the springs at the encampment place below the dunes. Forestry and grazing are the use potentialities of the mountains that are

included in national forest. Scanty grazing is provided

by the land on the lower levels. The lower limit of

tree growth is well defined; it follows the talus slope

of the mountains at an elevation of 8,100 to 8,200 feet.

Alluvial fan formation and disappearance of the intermittent streams when they reach the valley floor are

additional features.

184
Grand Valley Irrigation Project, Western Colorado

PLATE 82.—Western Colorado is so mountaii-ious that

for one mountain county (San Juan) no farms were

reported in the latest census. Most of the high mountain areas are included in national forests, and forestry

and summer grazing are the principal land use. Cattle

ranches are scattered along creeks and rivers in the

valleys, where the livestock range during the cold season. To a considerable extent, irrigation is tied in with

the livestock industry, but on the larger projects, crop

specialties are grown. This is true in the valleys as

well as on the plateaus. On the Mesa Verde in southwestern Colorado, where dryland and irrigated farming are closely connected, dry beans are a main crop.

Farming is more diversified in some of the irrigated

valleys. The tract shown lies between Grand Junction

and Clifton in the Grand Valley Project in Mesa County. From the many small fields, it is apparent that

the land is used intensely. Not only are many different

field crops grown but deciduous fruit orchards are an

outstanding feature of the landscape. Operators of

commercial orchards must consider location with regard to unseasonal frosts. On this project, air drainage through the mouth of Hogback Canyon is better

at the upper end, and most of the orchards are in this

section. The elevation of the project is around 4,500

feet, somewhat lower than projects in other valleys.

This has prolonged the frost-free season to 180 days

as an average and permits more intensive use of the

land. In addition to corn, small grains and alfalfa,

sugar beets, dry field beans, potatoes, and vegetables

are grown. Of the orchard fruits, peaches predominate

but other tree fruits and grapes are also represented.

In the orchard section, farms are small but with the

more general type of farming their size increases. For

the region as a whole, the major part of the farm

income is derived from livestock and its products.

185
High Plateaus, Southern Utah

PLATE 83.—Land use on the high plateaus in southern

Utah is severely restricted when crop production is

considered. For the most part, the land is mountainous,

rough, and stony. Precipitation is not as high as it is

in the northern mountains. Usually it averages only

10 to 12 inches for the year. Exceptions occur in

small areas, as in the vicinity of Orderville, where the

average is 15 inches. Because of the low rainfall,

forest veg3tation over much of the area is not in closed

stands. On the plateaus, woodland has a more parklike composition. The area is primarily range country

with a few spots of irrigated land or dryland fields

scattered over the region. With this as the resource

base, the area is sparsely populated, and only occasionally have small towns grown up in the valleys. One of

these spots, the surroundings of Orderville in Kane

County, is shown. Orderville lies at an elevation of

nearly 5,500 feet, but parts of the mountains to the

north rise to more than 10,000 feet. Most of the

mountain and plateau land is in public ownership and

is used for grazing. The more or less open woodland

on the plateaus to the south can be grrazed almost the

year round, but on the higher mountains and plateaus

to the north, grazing is restricted to the warmer season.

Farmers raise mainly cattle and sheep. In the valleys,

some irrigation is practiced to produce hay, mainly

alfalfa. Although it is not particularly an agricultural

area, the area is rich in natural attractions and is a

well-known summer vacation ground. Several national

parks and monuments are located in this part of Utah.

186
Wasatch Front near Logan, Utah

PLATE 84.—^Utah may be roughly divided into two

sections; one from which a certain amount of water is

available, and the other in which the demand for water

exceeds the local supply. The first can be identified

with the mountains and plateaus in the east. The

second is the part that belongs to the Great Intermountain Basins and Ridges to the west. Precipitation in the mountains, expressed in annual averages,

is as high as 30 inches. In the basins, it is as low as

6 inches. A similar difference exists in the length of

the growing season. In the mountains, the normal

lengfth of the frost-free period may be as short as 60

days. In some parts of the basin, it is as long as 180

days. Along the contact line of these two regions,

which is usually referred to as the Wasatch Front,

the changes are most marked. It is here that the

larger settlements and irrigation projects are located.

Because of their concentrated needs for water for domestic use, most of the cities in the area have grown

up at the foot of the mountains where an adequate

water supply is available. Logan is an example. As

may be observed, the water of Logan River is used as

soon as it leaves the gorge. An irrigation ditch branches off in the gorge. All the more intensively used land

lies below the irrigation ditches, which follow the mountain base. The agricultural college is on the higher

level just outside the gorge, and the city and irrigated

land are below. Above the ditches, some benchland is

cultivated but most of the land, including the mountainsides, is grazed. Tree growth is rather sparse on the

lower slopes of the mountains; it becomes denser with

the increase in elevation and the northern exposure.

Similar settings are repeated all along the Wasatch

Front. Agriculture receives its orientation from livestock; dairying and poultry raising are iniportant.

Small grains, sugar beets, fruits, and vegetables are

grown as cash crops.

187
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Utah

PLATE 85.—Changes in the natural environment began with man's appearance on the scene. Usually,

they are made for his benefit. Man's activities, however, are so far-reaching in their reactions that they

may change biological conditions. This is true especially in urban and industrialized areas, but it happens

also in rural districts. One of the rural instances

is illustrated. The name. Great Salt Lake, was truly

descriptive when the settlers first used it, but with

Bear River Bay a part of the lake, the name is less

accurate now. With construction of the South Pacific

railroad embankment across the lake in 1902 and 1903,

the waters of the bay were separated from the waters

of the lake. The bay received a continuous supply of

fresh water from Bear River; it discharged the salt

water into the lake through the opening in the embankment. Within a short time, the salt content of the

bay water and the alkalinity of the flats along the

shore were lowered to the extent that marsh vegetation, which was originally confined to the Bear River

Delta, spread along the northern shore of the Bay.

Migratory waterfowl in great numbers had made Bear

River a resting place in their long fiights. But upstream diversion of the water introduced diseases

which, in addition to the hunting of the birds for

market, reduced the fiocks by hundreds of thousands

annually. In 1928, to conserve and protect waterfowl,

the Congress established the Bear River Migratory Bird

Refuge by setting aside 66,000 acres of land and water

at the delta shore. But as the water level of the lake

fluctuated as much as 16 feet and a reduced inflow

readmitted the salt water of the lake into the bay,

stabilization of the water level was necessary. To do

this, about 26,000 acres around the delta were diked to

produce shallow basins which retained the water of the

river. The flocks of the flyways have again increased

by 1% to 2 million birds a year. Ducks, geese, herons,

swans, pelicans, and ibis make the refuge their stopping or nesting place.

188
Open Rangeland, Eastern Nevada

PLATE 86.—Most of the State of Nevada lies in the

arid region. Only a few of the higher mountains receive an annual average precipitation of more than 15

inches. By far the larger part of Nevada receives less

than 10 inches. Of the rivers and creeks, only those

that have their headwaters in the higher mountains

contain water the year round. The others are dry for

long periods at a time. Under these conditions, arable

land use is reduced to places where water can be diverted for irrigation. For the rest of the State, land

use depends on the use that can be made of the natural

vegetation, and this is mainly grazing. On the lower

levels, the natural vegetation consists largely of sagebrush with a sparse admixture of grrasses. Open

stands of arid woodland, pinyon and juniper, with a

larger proportion of grasses in the sagebrush cover,

appear on the higher levels. The tract shown lies in

the northeast corner of White Pine County. The draws

are dry, and stock water is impounded on the larger

run. On the knobs and ridges a scattering of arid

woodland appears. Faint livestock trails traverse the

open range. Compared with eastern pasture, the carrying capacity is low and frequently seasonal, which

makes the land unsuited to individual homesteading.

Most of the land is publicly owned and is used with

permits for grazing. As for its use potentiality, it is

the undisputed domain of cattle, sheep, and coyotes.

189
Carson River Basin, Western Nevada

DN-1496

PLATE 87.—In Nevada, crop production is confined

mainly to irrigated land, and it occupies only a comparatively small acreage of the total land area. That

so little land is irrigated is primarily a result of water

scarcity. The Humboldt and Carson Rivers are the

larger ones but even they do not carry enough water

to irrigate all the land along the valley and basin

floors that might be reached. Both rivers converge on

Carson Sink in the western part of the State. This

is the part of Nevada that contains the lowest, driest,

and warmest spots in the basin. Average annual precipitation is less than 5 inches over much of the basin

floor, and the frost-free season runs normally from

130 to 160 days. The evaporation rate is high. Alkali accumulations in low places make the soil unfit

for crop production. A sample of irrigated valley

land, in Carson Valley, 5 miles north of Minden in

Douglas County, is shown. Of the approximately 115

square miles of valley floor in Carson Valley, only 29

square miles are irrigated cropland; 51 square miles

are irrigated pasture, which is mainly only wild grass

pasture. Although no detailed study has been made,

indications are that the salinity of the soil is one of

the factors that prevent expansion of arable land use

in this locality. Agriculture here is concerned mainly

with the raising of cattle and sheep for the market.

Dairy and poultry products also contribute to the farm

income. The principal crops are alfalfa and clover

hay, followed by small grains as feed crops.

190
Lake Walcott Dam, Snake River, Idaho

PLATE 88.—From the point at which the Snake River

enters the plain down its nearly 300-niile-long course

to the junction with the Boise River, its waters are

used in places either for irrigation or for the generation of hydropower. Along almost its entire course

through the plain, the Snake River flows in a canyon

that ranges in depth from 150 feet near the American

Falls to 500 feet at the lower end of the plain. The

climate of the plain is arid. The average annual precipitation ranges from 8 to 12 inches, and the frostfree season lasts around 140 days. Irrigation is essential for crop production. Wherever the waters of the

Snake River are used for irrigation in the plain, they

must ñrst be lifted above the rim of the canyon. This

is done in several places by means of dams. Lake

Walcott is used as an illustration. Canals on both

sides of the river convey the water by gravity from the

lake formed behind the dam to the benches below.

Aside from functioning as a reservoir of irrigation

water, the lake has been set aside as a national wildlife refuge. The number of farms on irrigated land

and the size of the fields are indications that the land

is used intensively by greatly diversified farming enterprises. Rectangular land-division lines define landownership, but both large and small fields may be

adjusted to these divisions or may have irregular

shapes to conform to the contour of the land and the

water-supply system. Among the crops grown are

specialties such as Irish potatoes, sugar beets, and

dry beans, but alfalfa and small grains are also grown.

Livestock enterprises supplement the crops. A considerable quantity of feed is grown and used in these

areas. Dairying is connected with many farms and

winter feeding of range cattle and sheep, m which

beet tops provide a share of the feed, is a significant

segment of the farm industry in the irrigated areas.

191
Snake River Plain, Southern Idaho

PLATE 89.—The Snake River Plain in southern Idaho

is one of the largest plains west of the Rockies. In

all, it covers more than 16,000 square miles. Aside

from some isolated crater cones and low hills at'the

foot of the mountains, no outstanding surface features

break the undulating horizon. These general impressions, however, must be modified when the local details of landforms are considered. A large part of

the area is rough, rocky, and broken, characteristics

that can bo identified with the kind of land the Spanish

settlers farther south called "malpais"—^bad country.

In both instances, this is the result of lava flows. The

rough basaltic rock has not yet sufficiently weathered

and disintegrated to produce a smooth surface with an

adequate soil cover. It is only the pockets in these

lava sheets that have smooth surfaces and soil deep

enough for arable use of the land. Aridity also prevents use of the land for crops. Precipitation averages

no more than 8 to 12 inches annually and crop production calls for irrigation. This rough land can be used

only for grazing, and even this is not possible everywhere. The pockets in which water is available harbor the farms, which are usually stock farms. Hay

is grown to provide fodder for the winter. The tract

shown lies about 3 miles northeast of Burmah in the

northern part of Lincoln County. The canal shown

in the photograph carries water from Big Wood River

across the divide to an irrigation project on Little

Wood River.

192
Upland Benches, Eastern Snake River Valley, Idaho

PLATE 90.—On the eastern end of the Snake River

Valley and the divide of the Great Intermountain Basin, which extends from eastern Idaho into northern

Utah, are extensive upland benches or tablelands that

are used for dryland farming. The benches resulted

mainly from basaltic lava flows, but the soils developed

from the loess that covers them. Light brown silt

loams, some of which are calcareous even in the surface layer, prevail. The surface is slightly to strongly

rolling and is sharply incised by creeks. Precipitation

averages annually from 14 to 16 inches, and crops are

produced by dry-farming methods. The land is treeless, except in the creek bottoms, where cottonwood,

willow, and poplars grow in a narrow belt along the

watercourses, or on the breaks or mountains, where

scanty growths of pines and junipers are found. Sagebrush with some bunchgrass is the native vegetation

of the benchland. The tract shown lies at the confluence of Willow and Meadow Creeks in Bonneville

County. Here, the canyon-like valley of Meadow Creek

is from 300 to 400 feet deep. Although most of the

upland is used for crops, few farms are located on the

benches. More often, farms are located in the creek

bottoms, where they are more sheltered and where

water is readily available. Winter and spring wheat

are the leading cash crops but barley and oats are also

grown. Field operations are mechanized, and large

fields are the rule. The customary practice is to crop

the land every other year, allowing it to lie fallow

between. For the 192&-48 period, the average annual

yield of wheat per acre for Bonneville County was

24.4 bushels.

193
Nez Perce Prairie, Northern Idaho

PLATE 91.—In northern Idaho, farming is mainly

dryland farming. It is carried on for the most part in

a belt at the foot of the mountains adjoining the Palouse country to the west. This belt has a southward

extension on the tableland of the Clearwater River

bend, but the extension cannot be considered true Palouse country. It consists of a high plain at an elevation of approximately 3,000 feet. The plain is deeply

incised by river canyons, and in contrast to the greatly

dissected and strongly rolling to hilly Palouse country,

the surface is smooth and only slightly rolling. The

soils of the two areas also differ. A mantle of loess,

from which the soils developed, covers the tableland;

but over some stretches it is thin and the subsoil developed from the weathered material of the underlying basaltic rock. The soils of these prairies are

silt or silty clay loams, dark in color but leached.

Only on the western edge of this region have the soils

acquired one of the Palouse soil characteristics—a

calcareous subhorizon. Precipitation is higher than

in the Palouse country to the west. It is sufficient to

prevent accumulation of calcium in the lower soil horizon. The annual average is around 20 inches, of which

most falls during the cool season. Usually, the frostfree season lasts 140 days or more. The tract shown

is on the Nez Perce Prairie in the environs of Craigmont in Lewis County. Mechanized cash-grain farming, mainly wheat and barley, predominates, although

dry field peas are also grown on a commercial scale.

Summer fallow is not practiced to the same extent as

on the lower land farther west. Livestock and livestock products play a minor part in the farm economy

of the area.

194
Blue Mountain Plateau, Washington

PLATE 92.—South of the Snake River, in Washington,

a tilted plateau skirts the Blue Mountains. With reference to land use, it may be considered a southward

extension of the Palouse country. This plateau is so

deeply dissected by creeks that in places the walls of

the gulches occupy as much space in the areal composition of the landscape as do the smooth remnants

of the plateau itself. In this region, land relief greatly

affects land use. Precipitation on these plateaus, especially on the higher levels at the foot of the mountains, is higher than it is north of the Snake River.

Annual averages range from 20 to 30 inches, and the

frost-free season may last from 140 to 180 days. The

plateau section shown lies 5 miles by air southwest

of Asotin in Asotin County. The difference in elevation between the Asotin Creek, which touches the

northern margin of the photograph, and the point at

which the Cloverland Road in its winding ascent from

the valley gains the plateau level and straightens out

is more than 1,000 feet. The absolute elevation at this

point is more than 2,000 feet; from there it rises

gradually to the south and west. Up to an elevation

of 4,000 feet, these plateaus are treeless. Only in

the gulches does tree growth start at a lower level;

some trees fringe the watercourses. Land use is divided between grazing and dry farming. On the

smooth plateaus, which have a silt loam soil developed

from loess, small grains, mainly wheat and barley,

are produced by dry-farming methods. Summer fallow is practiced extensively. The rougher land can

be used only for grazing. A combination of cashgrain farming and livestock production provides the

foundation for the farm economy of the areas. The

land is divided into townships and sections, but only

on the plateau is land use adjusted to these divisions.

195
PLATE 93.—The Columbia Plateau has been called

the "Granary of the West." Commercial production

of grain, mainly wheat, as the prevailing type of

farming indicates the dominant use of the land. Land

use, however, is not uniform throughout the region,

mainly because of the variations in terrain, soils, and

climate. There are tracts of smooth highland but large

streitches of land are strongly rolling to hilly and are

traversed by broad and braided channels of scabland

in which the soil is thin and rocky. This land can be

used only for grrazing. Upland soils are mainly loams

and silt loams developed from loess, which at one time

covered the entire plateau. During the Wisconsin

period of glaciation, ice sheets advanced to the northern

border of the region where rushing streams of water

from the melting ice cut the scabland channels. Erosion also has greatly dissected the eastern belt of the

plateau and has produced the strongly rolling to hilly

surface of what is known as the Palouse country. The

name is taken from the Palouse River, which traverses

the belt. Climatically, the Columbia Plateau forms a

transition zone that ranges from semiarid in the lowlands to subhumid in the highlands. The average

annual precipitation is from 8 to 10 inches, and the

frost-free period lasts from 120 to 160 days. Dryfarming methods are practiced. Usually the land

lies fallow every other year. As a rule, this is not

combined with stripcropping, as may be noted in the

Palouse land shown, which lies on Pine Creek near the

southern boundary of Spokane County. Contoured

stripcropping would no doubt be effective in checking

soil erosion but it is not in universal use. The slopes

are fairly steep—in the area shown, the slope gradient

is nearly 400 feet per mile—and are incised and

ridged. This makes adjustment to contoured stripcropping more difficult. The farm economy is dominated by cash crops, and livestock is secondary.

Winter wheat is the leading crop, followed by spring

wheat, rye, oats, and dry field peas.

196
Eastern Slope of Cascade Mountains, Washington

PLATE 94.—The Cascades are forest-clad mountains

but from the viewpoint of land use, forestry in these

mountains is a one-sided industry. The term "onesided" is used here in its literal sense. Commercial

forests are largely confined to the western side or

slopes, while the eastern slopes have more open stands,

usually of timber that is unmerchantable either because of small size, poor quality, or insufficient volume

per areal unit. Only more or less disconnected sites

on the eastern slopes of the Cascades can be classified

as producing commercial stands. This difference is

due to climatic conditions. On the western side, precipitation is heavy and supports a dense forest stand.

The eastern side is in the rain shadow of the moisturecarrying westerly winds. Precipitation is comparatively light; it decreases from about 70 inches along

the divide to 20 inches at the foot of the mountains

in terms of annual averages. The heavier stands of

timber are therefore confined largely to the northern

and eastern exposures, where the évapotranspiration

ratio is low. The spur of the Cascades shown provides

a setting of this kind. It is about 12 miles east of the

divide, and, if the landlines were surveyed, it would

fall in T37N, R20E. The crest of the spur has an

elevation of around 8,000 feet, which is close to the

upper limit of tree growth in this latitude. Tree

stands are mainly open so that grasses are also able

to grow. Summer grazing is the chief economic use

made of this land. Grazing is not possible on the

western slopes where the dense canopy of coniferous

trees eliminates forage plants.

471954 0-59-14 197
Logging^ Operations, Anderson Mountain, Washington

PLATE 95.—For a long time, western Washington

was the chief lumber-producing State of the West.

Even now, the regional economy is tied up with the

products of the forest to a large extent, and indications

are that this relationship is not likely to change profoundly in the future. The reason for this supposition

is supplied by the natural environment itself. From

the divide of the Cascade Mountains down to the shore

of the Pacific, most of the land must be classed as

hilly and rough or mountainous, and consequently not

suited to arable farming. As it is exposed to the

moisture-carrying winds from the Pacific, precipitatfon

ranges on the average from 20 to 100 or more inches

annually. The summers are long and moderately warm.

On the lower levels, the frost-free season usually lasts

200 days or more; and the winters are mild. Under

these conditions, the land is able to produce a dense

stand of commercial forest. The denseness of the timber

stand may be observed in the virgin forest tract north

of the cutover land shown. The photograph illustrates

logging operations on the eastern slope of Anderson

Mountain in Skagit County and shows some farms in

the Samish River Valley. The logging road zigzags

up the mountain. It starts at an elevation of 200 feet

in the valley and ends at 2,500 feet, the highest central

loading point on the crest of the mountain. As the

converging skid tracts indicate, under favorable conditions, the logs are pulled as far as a third of a mile to

the central loading point. Farming in this area is

diversified. Many of the farms are small and are of

the noncommercial type. Dairy and poultry farms

are prevalent, although vegetables, tree fruits, and

berries are also grown on a commercial scale.

198
Rolling Foothills, Willamette Valley, Oregon

PLATE 96.—Within the Willamette Valley in Oregon

are hills and mountains with eminences that sometimes

rise 1,000 feet or more above the valley floor. These

hills take up a good part of the valley; they have prevented development of the geometric regularity in the

land use pattern so often found in plains. Not all the

land is suitable for crops because of the rough, steep

slopes with their attendant danger of erosion. As a

whole, the climate of the valley is favorable for intensive usü of the land. Annual precipitation averages

from 35 to 70 inches, but it is not equally distributed

over the seasons. Precipitation is heavy in winter,

but during July and August less than an inch a month

may fall in the lower places. The frost-free season of

180 to 200 days is long enough for all temperate crops.

Farming is diversified, especially in the more rolling

country. The area shown lies at the foot of the Chehalem Mountains in Washington County. Dairy,

poultry farms, fruit, and nut farms, among others,

are found here. Some small grains and leguminous

hay are grown, and red clover, vetch, dry field peas,

fescue, and other seeds are produced also. Among the

deciduous tree fruits, peaches, prunes, and cherries

lead, but nuts, particularly walnuts and filberts, are

also grown extensively. In addition to orchard crops,

strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, grapes, and

vegetables are grown commercially. The farm income

of this region is about equally derived from livestock

and its products, and crops grown for the market.

199
Level Floor. Willamette Valley, Oregon

PLATE 97.—At the southern end of the Willamette

Valley, the floor spreads out to an almost level plain,

20 or more miles wide in places. This wide alluvial

terrace is bordered by the rolling slopes of the foothills, which also extend into the valleys that penetrate

the Coastal Range and Cascade Mountains. Differences

in climate are not pronounced enough to change the

land-use capability of the rolling country as compared

with the flat valley bottom. Summers are long; the

frost-free period normally lasts around 200 days.

Annual precipitation averages from 35 to 40 inches

over the lower parts of the valley, but it is not evenly

distributed among the seasons. Dry summers and wet

winters are characteristic of the entire valley. No such

broad statement can be made as to the character of

the soil. Because of physiographic and soil distinctions, there are marked differences in the use of the

land between the rolling margin and the flat center

of the valley. A more diversified type of farming,

which includes orchards, is practiced on the rolling

margin, while livestock farming is centered on the

alluvial bottoms, where some crops are grown also.

The soils of the level center are mainly heavy textured. Together with the inadequate surface drainage,

this impairs internal drainage and makes cultivation

difficult. Much of this level land was originally open

country covered with grasses, perhaps more of the

savanna or park vegetation type than prairie. Trees

are scattered over much of the pasture and fields. The

area shown lies in the center of the valley, about 2

miles west of Shedd in Linn County. Surface drainage

has been improved in places by straightening out the

drainage channels. In the flat part of the valley, agriculture is centered largely on livestock farming. Dairy

and poultry products, in addition to the animals sold

on the market, provide the main share of the farm

income. There are also crop specialties of importance.

One of them is seed production, with ryegrass seed

as the outstanding representative. Another is mint

grown for its oil content.

200
Jordan Valley, Southeastern Oregon

PLATE 98.—Southeastern Oregon is part of the Snake

River drainage basin, but it shares the physical characteristics of the Great Intermountain Basin. ' The

chief drawback to more intensive use of the land is the

climate. Precipitation averages from 8 to 12 inches

annually, and although elevations in the basins usually

range only from 4,000 to 5,000 feet, the frost-free

season is comparatively short. On the higher plateaus and ridges, frost may occur in any month of the

year. Under these conditions, grazing, the only use

made of the land, depends on the natural vegetation,

which is largely of the sagebrush type. A desert shrub

vegetation with a sprinkling of grasses has at best

only a low carrying capacity, and the grazing is only

seasonal. During the winter, livestock usually are

kept near the ranch and supplied with additional feed.

Ranches are located where rights to the use of water

have been acquired, and where the water can be used

for livestock and for irrigation. Most of the land in

the open-range country is in public ownership. It has

been organized into grazing districts in which grazing

is regulated through the permit system. The site location of a ranch headquarters is represented in the

photograph. The small village is Jordan Valley on

Jordan Creek, a mile west of the Idaho boundary.

Ranches are sparingly spaced along the valley bottom and the water of the creek is diverted in a number of places for irrigation. Hay, both wild and tame,

is the principal crop harvested in this range country.

201
Coast Ranges, Northern California

PLATE 99.—The northern part of the Coast Ranges

in California differs in some respects from the central

and southern parts. No wide-open valleys separate

the mountains. Hilly and mountainous land is the

dominant feature of the landscape. Climate provides

another distinction. Seasonal variations in temperature are moderate. The summers are not dry and

hot nor are the winters cold. The growing season is

long. Normally, it lasts from 120 days near the crest

of the mountains to 260 days at the coast. Precipitation over much of the area is high; it ranges from 60

to 100 inches as the annual average. A heavy coniferous forest, the well-known redwoods of northern

California, is supported by it. How large the mature

redwood trees are, and how dense the forest stand is,

may be perceived from the appearance of the virgin

forest cover in the photograph. The area shown lies

about 20 miles inland from the coast, on the Eel

River, with the village of Homes on the river terrace.

The settlement and land use patterns may be seen.

Clearings and settlements are confined to nearly level

spots in the hills and on the river terraces. The cost

of clearing the land of these large stumps is almost

prohibitive. Frequently, the cost of removing the

stump is considerably more than the cost of the land

itself. Most farms are not of the commercial type;

they produce only for home consumption. Dairying

on a commercial scale is confined mainly to coastal

areas. Forestry will no doubt remain the prevalent

use of the land, as the redwoods produce desirable

lumber. Some redwood tracts are included in the

Humbolt Redwoods State Park.

202
Chaparral, Lower Sacramento Valley Slope of Trinity Mountain, California

^-**u

PLATE 100.—California has a woodland belt that

represents a transition from grassland to forest and

is usually referred to as chaparral. The belt surrounds

the plains of the Central Valley and spreads out over

the hills of the Coastal Range in southern California.

Chaparral, or the brushfield belt, occupies in the aggregate a considerable acreage which, in round figures,

approximates 20 million acres, or 20 percent of the

total land area of the State. Chaparral may be divided

into a number of types according to density and composition of shrub, tree, herb, and grass cover. The

chaparral shown is of the open woodland type which

Erevails on the lower slopes of the Sacramento Valley,

ive oaks, grass, and sagebrush make up the usual

plant cover. The site shown lies on Beeg^um Creek

Fork, which forms the northern boundary of Tehama

County, halfway from the Sacramento River to the

Trinity Mountain divide. The locality is around 1,500

feet high, some 2,000 feet below the forest boundary

on this side of the mountains. No weather station is

located nearby, although by interpolation, the annual

mean precipitation would be near 25 inches, of which

only 4 inches fall during the warm season.. As may

be seen, the land is badly dissected, and grazing is

the only use that can be made of it. Cattle and sheep

are able to use the range the year round, although

few ranches are located in the area. A large proportion of the livestock is transferred to the valley for

winter feeding.

203
Ricefields, Sacramento Valley, California

PLATE 101.—A favorable combination of physical

factors in the natural environment, mechanized operations, and economic opportunity, permitted the conversion of large tracts of California land, which formerly were used only for grazing or for production

of barley and wheat by the dry-farming method, to

flooded ricefields. Most of the basin floors along the

Sacramento River were transformed in this way.

Climatically, the Interior Valley of California provides the high summer temperatures and the long

growing season, approximately 240 days, needed by

rice. Precipitation averages annually from 15 to 20

inches, of which only 2 to 4 inches fall during the

warm season. Land used for production of rice is

flat; frequently the slope gradient is not more than

3 to 5 feet per mile. The soils of this area have developed under grass cover, are dark gray to black,

and heavy textured with an adobe subsoil. Water for

irrigation is obtainable upstream from the Sacramento

River; it is distributed chiefly by gravity through a

system of canals. Power equipment is used to prepare

fields for rice culture. Fields are large, as shown in

204

the tract pictured, which lies in the Colusa Basin on

Sycamore Slough, 6 miles south of Grimes. For rice

culture, the fields are usually subdivided, provided

with irrigation and drainage ditches, and levees to

hold the water on the fields. The riceland is ploughed

and the seedbed is prepared while the land is dry.

Rice seeding in California is now done mainly by

planes over the submerged fields. Seed rice is soaked

for a day or two so that it will sink immediately when

broadcast over the water. The ricefields remain submerged until harvesttime approaches. Then the land

must be drained to dry it out and make it firm enough

to support the tractor-drawn combines that harvest

the grain. Yields average around 4,300 pounds of

paddy rice per acre, and 8 man-hours of labor are

required per acre. Riceland is rotated with wheat

or barley, or it is left fallow and used as pasture.

In contrast to other farming areas, few or no farmsteads are located in the ricefields of California. Rice

growing has ceased to be a family occupation but

has become more of an engineering enterprise.
Delta of the Sacramento and San Joaquín Rivers, California

PLATE 102.—The delta at the junction of the Sacramento and San Joaquín Rivers is a distinct geographic

unit when physiography, soils, and land use are considered. Physiographically, the area consists of numerous islands formed by the sloughs that meander

through this lowland. Originally, most of the land

was tule-marsh. Over most of the area, the land surface lies close to the mean sea level. The natural

levees usually are a few feet above, while the center

of the island may be a few feet below, mean sea level.

The land was subject to flooding or was submerged

most of the time. Soils developed under these conditions are composed of mineral alluvium and much

organic matter. The preponderance of either mineral

or organic material in the soil largely determines the

use potentiality of the land when it is reclaimed. Reclamation was necessarily a separate project for each

island. Levees had to be built to protect it from overflow, and drainage had to be installed to relieve it

from surplus water. All the larger islands are now

reclaimed. Twitchell Island on the San Joaquin is

shown. Surface soils on this island are silty clay

loams with an organic substratum; muck is confined

to the lower areas. Much of the land on these islands

is used intensively. The growing season is long, but

the rainfall averages only 15 to 20 inches annually.

Of this, 2 inches fall during the warm season, so that

irrigation is essential. The principal products are

vegetables, which include asparagus, celery, beans,

Irish and sweet potatoes, and onions. Sugar beets

are also grown as a cash crop. Corn, grain sorghum,

small grains, and hay are grown also, and some land

is used for pasture.

205
Lowland on the San Joaquín River, California

PLATE 103.—Irrigation has increased the productivity of the soil on much of the land in the San Joaquín Valley but, paradoxical as it may seem, it has

also decreased productivity over an extensive acreage.

Seepage water from irrigated land on the higher

levels of the valley raises the water table in the

trough from which it rises by capillarity to the surface and evaporates. Groundwater of arid regions

usually contains more salts in solution than does

groundwater of humid regions. In the process of

evaporation, these salts remain in the soil, where they

accumulate. With sufficient concentration, they become

toxic to plants. In popular parlance, the accumulations of salts in the soil are usually referred to as

alkali, although they are not all of the same chemical

composition. Considerable damage has been caused

by alkaline accumulations on irrigated land in arid

countries. In California alone, several hundred thousand acres of formerly productive land have been

reduced to grazing use only because of the alkali

accumulation. Most of this land is in the San Joaquín Valley. Different reclamation methods have been

developed, depending on kind of alkali and soil, but all

require improved drainage. Much of the land can be

reclaimed where adequate drainage can be established

and sufficient water is available to dissolve the alkali

and remove it through leaching. Some alkali land has

been reclaimed in this way. One of these reclamation

projects on the San Joaquin River on the Sanjon de

Santa Rita Grant in Merced County is shown. Drainage canals have been built, old drains have been

straightened or deepened, and manv ditches have been

installed. The first plantings usually are of the more

salt-tolerant crops, such as barley or alfalfa.

206
Eastern Side of San Joaquin Valley, California

PLATE 104.—Agricultural development in the eastem San Joaquin Valley is much more impressive than

in the western part of the valley. The greater development in the eastern valley was made possible by

water management. Temperatures are favorable for

many subtropical and warm temperate crops and

fruits. The growing season is around 280 days; summers are warm and winters are mild. But precipitation, which averages from 10 to 15 inches annually,

is too low to permit intensified and diversified land use

and to support a dense population. With the use of

the water supplied by the heavy precipitation on the

western slope of the Sierra Nevada, the natural obstacle of water shortage has largely been surmounted

for the eastern side of the valley. The land is now

closely settled. The larger towns all lie east of the

San Joaquin River, and the land is divided into small

farms, usually 20 to 40 acres in size. Land use is

intensive. The tract shown lies north of Sänger in

Fresno County. This locality marks the approximate

northern limit of commercial citrus fruit orchards in

the valley. Nevertheless, farming to the north specializes largely in production of fruits and field crops

suited to the warm temperate climate. Vineyards are

extensive; they produce raisins, and table and wine

grapes. Figs, olives, peaches, and plums are grown

also. Cotton is an important field crop. Interspersed

are dairy, poultry, and truck farms. Although this

is not a complete picture of farm activities in the

eastern half of the San Joaquin Valley, it indicates

the diversity of land use for farming purposes. The

major part of the farm income is derived from fruits

and crops, and the smaller part from animal husbandry.

Through the more intensified use of the land, farm

production has increased in recent years to a point at

which California counties lead in value of farm products in the United States. This distinction formerly

belonged to Pennsylvania counties.

207
Western Side of the San Joaquin Valley, California

PLATE 105.—The climate of the San Joaquin Valley

is such that most of the land cannot be used for intensive crop production without irrigation. Precipitation averages only 10 to 15 inches annually. Irrigation with the waters of the Sierra Nevada began

nearly a century ago, and it has expanded continuously. But, until recent years, irrigation was confined

almost entirely to the eastern side of the San Joaquin

Valley as there is little runoif from the coastal range,

and the Sierra does not furnish enough water to expand irrigation to the western side of the valley.

With the development of the Central Valley project,

water from the Sacramento River for the western

side of the San Joaquin Valley will become available

through pumping from the lower to the higher levels

of the valley floor. Rice is already grown in the area.

In the meantime, dry farming is carried on in areas

outside the irrigation installations. Barley and wheat

especially are still grown to a considerable extent with

dry-farming methods. The land is cropped every other

year, and the large-scale operations are fully mechanized. Fields of 320 acres are not rare as may be

observed in the tract shown, which lies about 10 miles

west of Helm on the western side of the San Joaquin

Valley in Fresno County. The large fields and sparse

settlement on the western side of the valley provide

a strong contrast in land use patterns when compared

with the eastern side of the valley in Fresno County,

as illustrated in Plate 104.

208
Corona Basin, Southern California

PLATE 106.—^The coastal ranges in Southern California are rather openly spaced with broad valleys and

basins interspersed. It was mainly in these valleys

and basins that the early Spanish settlers located

their claims and received their grants of land. The

Spanish nomenclature of landscape features is reminiscent of these events. The climate is characteristic

of mediterranean climates. Temperatures are mild

in winter and not too hot in summer. The frost-free

season usually lasts from 200 to 280 days. Precipitation, in terms of annual averages, ranges from 15 to

20 inches; only a few of the higher spots in the coastal

ranges are within the 30- to 40-inch limit, but in these

areas only a few inches fall during the warm season.

In most places, precipitation alone is inadequate for

intensive use of the land. Management of the meager

water resources to supply water for irrigation and

urban needs is essential. Land use varies greatly

with locality, and farming is often specialized. Dairy,

poultry, truck, fruit, and nut farms are represented.

A fruit-grrowing district at the foot of the Santa Ana

Mountains, south of Corona, where good air drainage

favors the fruit-growing industry, is shown. This

tract of land lies within a Spanish Grant, and thus it

is not divided into square townships and sections.

Orchards are located on a gentle slope that rises from

700 to 1,500 feet within 3% miles. The mountains

are included in national forests. The runoff from the

mountains is used to irrigate the orchards, in which

ditches, roads, and plantings follow the contour. Walnuts, almonds, olives, oranges, lemons, grapefruits,

grapes, peaches, apricots, apples, and cherries are

grown in this part of the coastal range. Vegetables,

berries, cotton, small grains, and alfalfa are found

on the lower level valley plains. Fruits and nuts,

however, are the principal cash crops.

209
Imperial Valley, California

PLATE 107.—The Colorado River is the oldest and

most successful hydraulic engineer we have in this

country. For millions of years, it has been at work

sculpturing the upper reaches of its basin and excavating the Grand Canyon. At the same tinie that

it was wearing down the rocks upstream, it was

transporting the spoils of its labor hundreds of miles

downstream to build a broad dam across the Gulf of

California. The part of the gulf that was cut off

from the main body dried out in time to the level of

the Saltón Sea, some 240 feet below sea level, leaving

a desert depression. Not until man diverted a part

of the Colorado water back into the basin and used

it for irrigation, was the regime of the desert broken.

In this way, the Imperial Valley, as it is now called,

was converted into a garden spot with an almost

year-long growing season. The high summer temperatures have been tempered somewhat by irrigation. The

smooth surface of the gently sloping basin floor permits

location of laterals along the rectangular land-division

lines. These named or numbered laterals, which are

usually a half mile apart, distribute the water from

the main canal near sea-level elevation over the

valley. The square 160-acre quarter-sections are frequently individual fields as they appear in the tract

shown, which lies north of Calipatria. Truck farming is the principal enterprise. Lettuce, cantaloupes,

melons, green peas, and tomatoes are the main offseason products. The second most important crop is

flax, which is grown primarily as a seed crop. Some

grapefruit and dates are grown as are alfalfa, sugar

beets, small grains, and hay. Crops provide the larger

part of the $75 million gross farm income reported by

the census for 1949, although animals and animal products contribute a good share. As a farming area, the

Imperial Valley is unique in that most of the cultivated land is from zero to 225 feet below sea level.

210
Phoenix Basin, Arizona

PLATE 108.—The lower end of the Gila and Salt River Valleys in Arizona is a vast desert plain studded with

disconnected mountains and ridges. Most of the time,

the tributaries of these rivers are only dry arroyos or

river wash, as the climate of the region is characteristic of the southwestern desert. Precipitation ranges

from 3 to 10 inches when expressed in annual averages,

although it may be concentrated into a few downpours

occasioned by thunderstorms. Temperatures are high,

and the frost-free season lasts from 240 days to almost

year long on the lower levels near the Colorado River.

Under these conditions, land use depends more on the

water available than on anything else. In the desert

country, grazing is possible, provided springs, wells,

or tanks supply the water needed for livestock. Population concentrations and irrigated agriculture have

used the waters of the rivers since Indian days. With

the increase in population and the expansion in crop

production, it became necessary to regulate the supply

of water. Storage reservoirs were built on both rivers

in the mountains, and now the area supports a diversified agriculture. A tract of irrigated land on the Agua

Fria River west of Phoenix is shown. The Agua Fria

River is only a dry wash. Irrigation water is brought

into the area by canals from the Salt River. Crops of

subtropical and temperate climates are grown; they

include cotton, vegetables, sugar beets, potatoes, soybeans, barley, flaxseed, alfalfa, hay, and seeds. The

fruits—mainly grapes, oranges, grapefruit, and dates

—are largely subtropical. Livestock and its products,

particularly dairying, are also well represented in the

farm economy, but crops are the principal cash

products.

211
Canyon de Chelly, Arizona

PLATE 109.—Much of the highland in the 4-State

comer, which is frequently identified as the Colorado

Plateaus, is Navajo country and is included in Indian

reservations. Most of the Navajo country has an elevation of more than 5,000 feet, but some of the higher

points rise to more than 9,000 feet. Because of the

elevation, the climate is rather cool but fairly dry.

The annual average precipitation ranges from 8 to 14

inches and is rather evenly distributed over the seasons. The frost-free season averages from 140 to 200

days. Land use in this part of the country is not

only an adjustment to natural conditions but is guided

by centuries of custom and tradition. Archaeologists

tell us that some of the present villages were occupied centuries before white men arrived in America.

Other sites were occupied during the first centuries

of our era, but a protracted drought forced the people

to move. The cliff dwellings in the Canyon de Chelly

(a corruption of Navajo, meaning "in the rocks") are

212

in that class. According to one authority (55), these

sites were occupied as early as the middle of the

fourth century A. D. (111). The canyon has been

established as a national monument. A section that

contains Monument Rock is shown. Most of the plateau land is used for grazing. Vegetation consists of

the sagebrush type in the lower valleys, short grass

on the plains, pinon-juniper on the upper levels and

mesas, and yellow pine in the mountains. Pine timber

in the mountains grows to commercial size but is

usually inaccessible to market. The upland vegetation in the photograph is of the pinon-juniper type.

Crops are grown on irrigated or subirrigated patches

on the creeks. Indian corn, vegetables, wheat, barley,

alfalfa, and dry beans are the chief crops. The main

income is derived from livestock and its products,

which include horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, poultry, and

goats.
Rio Grande Valley, Northern New Mexico

PLATE 110.—Irrigated agriculture on the upper Rio

Grande in New Mexico had its beginnings before

white men arrived at the scene. When the Spanish

began to explore and to colonize the region, in the

middle of the 16th century, they found that the Indians

had built community ditches that diverted the water

from streams to irrigate the land. Since then the

irrigation systems have been enlarged and improved,

but the historical connection of land use with the

colonizers is still noticeable in the land use pattern.

North-central New Mexico contains many mediumsized and large Spanish land grants, located mainly

on streams, which mark the area in which the Spanishspeaking population is concentrated. These grants

were not ordinarily subdivided into townships and sections. Consequently, land-division lines do not conform to the rectangular order. Furthermore, the old

custom of dividing the land among the children on

the death of the parents has been followed. As a result, most of the farms contain less than 20 acres.

Elevations along the Upper Rio Grande are above

5,000 feet, and the frost-free season usually lasts from

140 to 180 days. Because of the low precipitation—10

inches in the valleys, rising to 20 inches or more in

the mountains—crop production in this part of New

Mexico is confined largely to irrigated land; the dry

land is used for grazing. A tract on the Rio Grande

above the town of Bemalillo is shown. It contains

both dry upland and irrigated bottom land. Irrigated

farming of the villagers is mainly on a self-sufficing

level or is a part-time occupation. Very few crop

products are sold. The greater part of the farm income is derived from sales of livestock products.

471954 O-59-15 213
Llano Estacado Rim, New Mexico

PLATE 111.—As a rule, regional land use areas are

not delimited by nature. A distinct boundary that indicates the end of one association of land uses and the

beg:inning of another is usually lacking. Ordinarily,

there is a transition zone in which one dominant use

gives way to another. One of the exceptions is the

Llano Estacado, which is well-defined in all directions,

except the south, by a low escarpment. In most places,

the escarpment is not more than 200 to 300 feet high.

It serves as a morphological boundary and defines

land use as well. The seg^ment of the escarpment

shown is on the northwest comer of the tableland

in the southwest comer of Quay County. This is the

highest point of the Llano Estacado; it is almost 5,000

feet above sea level. The average annual precipitation is around 16 inches, and the frost-free season

averages 180 days. The surface of the tableland is

smooth and has many of the shallow saucerlike depressions that are characteristic of this highland. This

comer of the tableland is outside the pump-irrigation

district. Crop production must rely on dry-farming

methods. Wheat is the leading crop, but sorghums

for grain, broomcorn, cotton, beans, and other crops

are grown also. Farm income is now derived mainly

from crops, but cattle and sheep together are a close

second. West of the escarpment, the land is more

dissected and receives less precipitation so that fields

are widely scattered. Most of this land is used for

grazing.

214
Johnson Mesa, New Mexico

PLATE 112.—The range in elevation under which

cultivated crops are produced varies considerably in

different parts of the world. Frequently, it is a matter of latitudinal climate. Near the equator, crops

can be ¿rown at considerable elevations. Near the

Arctic Circle, they must be grown near sea level.

Within this latitudinal span, the lower limits are found

in depressions below sea level, where well-drained

soils and water are available. The upper limit depends

on location. With increasing altitude, the Arctic climate is approached vertically, and is reached in midlatitude at variable elevations.- Moreover, land level

enough for cultivation usually is confined to valleys

or basins and, in some instances, to plateaus. In the

United States, crops are grown in a variety of high

places. In North Park, Colo., some crops are grown

near the 8,000-foot level, but above that the crop usually consists only of wild hay. On the Mesa Verde,

beans, the chief crop, are grown at elevations of from

6,500 to 7,500 feet. From the evidence we have, it

appears that the highest points in the United States

that produced cultivated crops are the mesas in northcentral New Mexico, especially Johnson Mesa, of

which a part is shown. Some of these fields are above

the 8,200-foot level. Although no climatological records are available for the mesa proper, from the

records of nearby stations and from local information,

it appears that precipitation is slightly higher on the

mesas than on the plains below. On the mesas, it

reaches at least 20 inches as an annual average. Inversely, temperatures are lower; the frost-free season

approximates 110 days. The soils are fertile clay

loams of the grassland type. Winter and spring

wheat, oats, and barley are the chief crops grown.

Some small grains and timothy are grown for hay.

215
Rim of Cimarrón Breaks, Oklahoma

PLATE 113.—^The Panhandle of Oklahoma extends

well into the western high plains, where land use is

divided on a physiographic-soil basis between dry

farming and grazing. Average precipitation in these

3 counties decreases from 22 inches in the eastern

county to 18 in the western county. As it is distributed over the year and concentrated in downpours

that have great erosive power, this is not a great deal

of moisture. The frost-free season averages from

175 to 190 days. Much of the surface is still intact

as a smooth slightly eastward sloping plain, but the

rivers and their tributaries have excavated broad ravines and have dissected the surface in places. How

the tributary creeks of the Cimarrón River work their

way back into the upland is illustrated. The rim section of the 10- to 12-mile-wide Cimarrón Valley shown

is about 7 miles northeast of Boise City. The soils

of this part of the plain are chiefly calcareous, darkcolored fine sandy loams or silt loams. When exposed to the strong winds of the plains, they are

subject to blowing. As may be noticed in the photograph, the fields on the upland extend to the rim of

the breaks. Below the rim, the land is more dissected and is used for pasture. Large-scale mechanized grain farming prevails on the upland. Hard winter wheat is the leading crop, but sorghum and barley

are also g^rown for the market. Summer fallow is

practiced to some extent, but it is not general. Livestock contributes a large share to the regional farm

economy.

216
Central Plains, Oklahoma

PLATE 114.—The central plains of Oklahoma are

mainly rolling on the upland divides, but steeply rolling to rough in the belts that border the watercourses.

Rivers and the larger creeks have flood plains that

are sometimes more than a mile wide. Some parts of

these plains are protected from overflow by levees or

creeks, which have been straightened to improve drainage. The region lies in a transition zone from the

subhumid to the semiarid. Precipitation averages from

25 to 30 inches annually. Heavy downpours take their

toll of the land through erosion. Strong winds are an

additional hazard to the land. To break the force of

the wind in many places, windbreaks are planted across

the ñelds. Temperatures are warm in summer and

moderate in winter. The frost-free period averages

from 200 to 230 days. Originally, the rolling upland

was prairie while more or less open woodland, composed partly of mesquite, covered the steeper slopes,

of which some tracts are still in evidence. Soils, which

developed from the weathered material of sandstone

and shale, have a substratum that is mainly calcareous. They are dark colored, fine sandy to silt loams.

Adjustment of land use to these conditions has produced a diversified agriculture. Much of the land is

used for crop production with soil conservation practices, but the rougher land is left in woods and pasture. The land use pattern is illustrated by the tract

shown, which lies on Willow Creek, 8 miles north of

Fort Cobb in Caddo County. Cotton, com, sorghum,

wheat, and peanuts are grown for the market and

produce the major part of the farm income. Income

from livestock, mainly animals sold and dairying,

ranks second.

217
Cove in Ouachita Mountains, Oklahoma

PLATE 115.—Land use in eastern Oklahoma is controlled largely by land-relief features. A number of

counties in this part of Oklahoma are mountain counties. Physiographically, those north of the Arkansas

River belong to the Ozark Plateau and those south of

the river to the Ouachita Mountains. Of the two, the

Ouachita Mountains extend farther into Oklahoma.

Structurally, they are distinct from the Ozarks in that

they consist of a series of long mountain ridges with

interspersed valleys. Ridges and valleys provide the

natural backgrround for the spatial arrangement and

the relative proportions of field and forest in the regional land use pattern. By far the largest proportion of the Ouachita Mountain land is in forest.

Farming usually is strung along the valleys. A sample of this arrangement is shown. The tract lies on

North Boggy Creek, 3 miles west of Limestone Gap,

Atoka County. The concentration of fields marks the

oval end of a valley surrounded by low ridges. This

tract is on the western spurs of the Ouachita Mountains bordering the coalfields of eastern Oklahoma.

This part of the State is in the humid region. Annual precipitation averages 40 or more inches and

the frost-free season lasts for more than 200 days.

Thus a variety of crops can be grown. Accordingly,

agriculture is diversified in the direction of crops and

livestock. Many of the farms are small part-time

enterprises operated near the self-sufficing level. No

great surpluses are produced for market. Peanuts

and some cotton are the principal cash crops. The

larger part of the farm income is derived from livestock and its products.

218
Northern End of Texas Black Prairie

PLATE 116.—In its northern extremities, the Texas

Black Prairie is not the compact body of smoothly

rolling plain that it is in the center. Tributaries of

the Red River have worked their way into the upland, dissecting the plain into lobes separated by

broad shallow valleys. Differences in elevation between upland and valley bottoms usually do not exceed 100 to 200 feet. The valley slopes are mainly

irentle enough for cultivation, but erosion has cut back

mto the smooth prairie surface, washing the silt into

the bottoms. The alluvial bottom lands built up by

the creeks are often more than a mile wide and must

be drained before they can be used as cropland. The

upland soils belong to the rendzina group; they have

developed from highly calcareous marls or chalks

under a grass vegetation, and are dark or nearly black.

Although they are heavy-textured clays, they are

crumbly. These soils are very productive. This part

of Texas lies on the western border of the humid

region. Rainfall is close to 40 inches as an annual

average and is fairly well distributed over the seasons.

Temperatures are relatively high, and the frost-free

period lasts approximately 240 days. The edge of the

Texas Black Prairie is illustrated in the tract shown,

which lies immediately north of Leonard in the southwest corner of Fannin County. Active erosion at the

heads of the creeks may be seen in the photograph.

Here, cotton is still king among the crops. Farms

are mainly small to medium-sized. They are arranged in a rectangular block pattern but follow no

definite system of land division. Aside from cotton

and peanuts, com and other field crops are grown to

some extent. Much of the land is used for pasture.

Livestock and its products contribute significantly to

the farm economy.

219
Limestone Plains, North-central Texas

PLATE 117.—In north-central Texas, a belt known as

Limestone Plains, extends in an almost north-south

direction from the Red to the Colorado River. The

central part of this belt is not so much a plain as a

succession of benches that rise westward in welldefined steps from 100 to 200 feet in elevation. The

surface, therefore, is largely one of smoothly rolling

benchland and dissected hilly escarpments. Climatically, the area falls within the subhumid zone near the

semiarid limits. Of the approximately 24 to 26 inches

of annual average precipitation, more than half falls

with considerable irregularity during the warm season. Normally, the frost-free period lasts more than

220 days. Neither lay of the land nor climate account,

therefore, for the limited use of the land for crops.

The restraining factor over much of the upper benches

are the soils. Dark-colored silty clays or clay loams

predominate but they are of the rocky or stony types

so that cultivation is difficult or precluded. Grazing

is the prevailing land use with some crop fields near

the ranches as illustrated. The ranch shown is 8 miles

north of Albany on Foyle Creek, Shackelford County.

As is true of most of the rangelands in the Southwest, the virgin grassland has been depleted and is

now heavily infested with brush. Overg^razing, and

the consequent destruction of the native grass cover,

are usually regarded as the cause of the brush invasion, which in this area consists mainly of mesquite. A heavy brush cover necessarily reduces greatly the grazing capacity of the range. Eradication of

brush and restoration of the productivity of the range

are costly whether mechanical or chemical techniques

are used. As shown, some good-sized tracts have

been cleared of brush.

220
Rough Land in the Plains, Texas

PLATE 118.—Extensive areas of north-central Texas

are included in the plains as they have no outstanding

relief features that might earn them another designation. Although elevations vary very little, these areas

are so badly dissected that most of them are rough.

The soil of the eroded surface usually is a heavy clay,

which is often rocky and stony. This rough land frequently forms belts along the rivers, but large areas

are found also on the headwaters of creeks. Because

of its roughness, arable use of such land is not feasible.

Small level interspersed spots on interstream divides

are isolated and are inaccessible to wheeled travel.

Summers are warm; winters are mild; and precipitation normally averages around 25 inches annually. As

these rough areas are almost devoid of settlement, no

road system has been developed. The only use that

can be made of the land is grazing, but its value is

low even for grazing, as the natural vegetation has

a comparatively low carrying capacity. Scrubby cedars, mesquite bushes, and hackberry along streams

with a more or less scanty admixture of grasses is

the characteristic plant association. Grazing of such

land is usually managed from large livestock ranches.

As the winters are mild, grazing is year-long, and the

livestock require little care. The tract shown lies

approximately 6 miles west of Pease River on Canal

Creek in Foard County. As may be observed, it is a

wilderness; there is no dwelling within square miles of

land and no road enters the area.

221
Llano Estacado, Texas

PLATE 119A.—Land use on the Llano Estacado has

changed greatly in recent years owing to the introduction of pump irrigation. These changes are illustrated

on the two aerial photographs taken of the same area

with a time lapse of 12 years. The photograph above

was taken early in November 1941, when land use

still was closely adjusted to the conditions of the

natural environment. The picture records typical conditions over much of the north-central plateau. There,

the surface of the Llano Estacado is marked with numerous shallow, saucerlike depressions, irregularly distributed. These, with the square sections into which

the land is divided, controlled cultural operations. The

average precipitation is low; it decreases from 21

inches on the lower eastern side of the plateau to 16

inches on the higher western end; and the frost-free

season usually lasts from 180 to 210 days. Semiarid

conditions made dry farming methods necessary. To

hold the scanty precipitation on the land, field operations followed the contour of the shallow depressions.

This produced the segments of circular patterns interspersed with straight-line fields on the level ground.

As it happened, this picture was taken after a number

of days of heavy rains which converted the lowest points

of the depression into temporary lakes.

222
Llano Estacado, Texas

PLATE 119B.—The locality represented in this photograph is the same as the one shown on the preceding

page. It lies on the Lamb-Castro County boundary

6 miles west of State Highway No. 51. The major

difference between this and the opposite photograph is

that this photograph was taken in the spring of 1953,

nearly 12 years later than the other. During these

intervening years, the installation of pump irrigation

changed not only the land use pattern but the agricultural economy of the region.

In this instance, irrigation is mainly supplemental

to precipitation, because precipitation is irregular in

both time of occurrence and quantity. This climatic

diversity even happens to be recorded in the pictures.

What appears to be lakes in the earlier photograph

are dry bottoms in the later one. With the application of well water for irrigation, the hazards of prolonged dry spells have been largely eliminated. Although this has permitted production of a greater

variety of crops, in the main, the same crops are

grown but their relative importance has changed.

Cotton, in particular, has increased its dominance in

both acreage and value over other crops. Another

notable change is that contour cultivation has given

way to straight-line operations in most instances.

223
Tahoka Lake, Texas

PLATE 120.—Landforms on the Llano Estacado comprise a unique assortment of sandhills and depressions.

Both affect land use, but they did not arise from action

of the same forces. The origrin of the hundreds of

shallow, round depressions scattered over the High

Plains are variously explained. They are thought of as

sinkholes produced by the dissolving action of water

on the underlying limestone and chaliche. Neither of

these formations is encountered over the plateau in

sufficient thickness to account for all these depressions.

Subsidence of the surface deposits over collapsed caverns in the pre-quatemary rock formations is a second

explanation. Both processes may be involved, but

neither can account for the sand dunes on the east

side of the playas. The dunes are built of sand and

silt scooped by the wind out of the playa bottoms.

224

That powerful winds swept over the Llano Estacado

during pleistocene time is evident from the two traverse dune belts and the accumulations of sand below

the western escarpment. The playas, of which there

are a number, are the larger of the depressions. Playas consist of intermittent lakes that receive the runoff

of their surroundings. When dry, they are saline lake

bottoms. Tahoka Lake in Linn County, Texas, is

shown. The land that surrounds the playas can be used

only for grazing; the playas themselves are barren.

As may be seen in the photograph, the playa dunes

are deteriorating. Erosion has cut runnels that dissect the dunes. As an example of ridges built of

material blown out of depressions, these dunes have

their analogy in the spoilfields of sand on the eastern

side of the Carolina Bays.
Concho Basin, Texas'

PLATE 121.—Among the many distinct geographic

units in Texas are basins, of which the Lipon Plats

or Concho Basin is perhaps the best known. Physiographically, the basin belongs to the plains country

of west-central Texas. The approximately 700-square-'

mile basin is traversed by the Concho River with San

Angelo at the western end. Over most of the basin,

the surface is smoothly rolling, and there are few

obstructions to cultural use of the land. Equally

favorable for crop production are the soils, which are

dominantly silty clay loams. They are calcareous in

surface and subsoil and are well supplied with humus,

which gives them their dark brown to black color. The

drawbacks to arable farming arise from the climate

of the area. Temperatures are high in summer and

mild in winter; the frost-free season averages around

220 days. Precipitation is comparatively low. The

annual average is from 18 to 20 inches, and most of

it falls during the warm season. To obtain the full

benefit of local precipitation, any runoff that collects

in the drainage channels is commonly diverted back

to the land through ditches. Some pump irrigation is

also applied in places. The prevalent land use pattern is illustrated. Farms lying some 12 miles east

of San Angelo are shown. To conserve moisture and

prevent erosion, most of the fields are cultivated on the

contour. Cotton is the principal cash crop. Sorghum,

oats, and other crops are also grown to some extent.

Much of the land is used for pasture. Livestock and

livestock products are also an important part of the

farm economy.

225
Farming Frontier, Semiarid Western Coastal Plain, Texas

PLATE 122.—Climate is the chief physical factor that

affects agriculture. Immense land areas are excluded

from arable land use because of the deficiencies of

climate. Climatic hazards are found almost everywhere. These hazards increase in severity and frequency, mainly in the direction of diminished temperature and precipitation until a limit is reached beyond

which use of the land for crops becomes uneconomic.

No definite line can be drawn to indicate the climatic

limit to which cultivated crops can be grown because

variables that cannot be stabilized are involved. Climate is subject to cyclic variations; economic conditions

change; mechanization has changed cultural practices;

plant breeders produce crop varieties better adapted

to withstand deficiencies of climate; and proper management of water can ameliorate precipitation deficiencies, although management in turn, is subject

to physical and economic limitations. At any one

time, the boundary that indicates the limit of arable

crop production toward the arid side is a jagged line

with protruding points and exclaved areas. It is in these

advanced positions that local water resources are frequently tapped and used for irrigation to supplement

the scanty and uncertain precipitation. The environment of Cometa, 12 miles west of Crystal City in

Zavala County, is shown. This is an outpost on the

climatic frontier and part of the land is irrigated.

The annual average precipitation of the area is around

20 inches, and most of it falls during the warm season.

Temperatures are high; the frost-free season runs

from 270 to 280 days. Most of the land is used for

grazing; and livestock and its products provide the

major part of the farm income. Crops grown for

market, however, are important also. Cotton and

vegetables, grown largely under irrigation, are the

chief cash crops. As may be noted:, some of the

cropland is reverting to brush.

226
Balcones Escarpment and Southern Black Prairie, Texas

PLATE 123.—^The Black Prairie of Texas is a wellknown physiographic regional unit, but when land use

is considered, it is not equally satisfactory as a unit.

The acreages of land used for crops vary markedly

between the northern and southern sections. The

Colorado River serves as the dividing line. The distinction between the two sections is mainly of climatic

origin and was brought about largely by diminished

rainfall. Temperatures are comparatively high, and

the growing season, with 260 or more frost-free days,

is long. The average annual precipitation of 20 to 32

inches, however, is barely enough to grow a crop.

Irrigation is resorted to by many for more intensive

use of the land. Not all the smooth land is cleared

and used for crops, as is apparent in the part of the

Black Prairie shown. The tract shown lies about 15

miles northwest of San Antonio. It takes in part of

the Balcones Escarpment and the Black Prairie belt.

The Balcones Escarpment, which rises to 500 feet or

more from the plain, forms the mountainous edge of

the Edwards Plateau. Limestone with interbedded

sandstone and shale are the outcropping rock formations of the deeply dissected escarpment, on which the

woodland vegetation—mainly juniper, live oak, mimosa,

and other shrubs—has established itself along the

ledges, forming a natural contoured planting. Except

in some valley bottoms, the rugged surface with its

shallow, rocky soil can be used only for grazing. Cattle

and sheep are grazed on the more open and less rugged

ground, and Angora goats range through the hills in

great numbers. The mohair produced in the United

States is obtained mainly from these goats. On the

southern Black Prairie, com, sorghum, oats, cotton,

flaxseed, and peanuts are grown, and vegetables are

produced under irrigation. Much of the land is used

for grazing; livestock is an important part of the

farm economy.

227
Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas

PLATE 124.—The Texas side of the Lower Rio Grande

Valley is one of the most intensified and diversified

farming areas of the United States. Such an intensive use of land would not be possible under natural

conditions. Precipitation averages from 20 to 24

inches annually, and average temperatures range from

around 60 degrees in January to around 85 degrees

in July. The frost-free season usually runs for more

than 300 days. Irrigation, for which the Rio Grande

provides the water, is essential to arable use of the

land. Supply, conservation, and use of the waters of

the Rio Grande are regulated through agreement between the United States and Mexico, the two countries

concerned. Irrigation is not confined to the delta or

flood plain of the river; it extends to parts of the adjacent plain to which the water is lifted by pumps.

The plains section shown lies 5 miles southeast of

Edinburg in Hidalgo County. The slightly undulating

plain is a few feet higher than the alluvial bottom.

It is free from overflow, whereas parts of the lowlands

along the river are flooded occasionally. The soils in

the lower alluvial delta are heavy light-colored clays,

while the soils of the plain are prevailingly dark brown

calcareous clay loams. Most of the farms are small

or medium-sized, and their operators specialize in a

diversity of products. Cotton, citrus fruit, especially

grapefruit, and vegetables are grown extensively for

the market. Livestock and livestock products, particularly dairying, also contribute to the farm economy

of the area.

228
Sand Plain, Southern Texas

PLATE 125.—On the southern end of the Gulf Coastal

Plain in Texas, between Baffins Bay and the Rio

Grande delta, a stretch of sandy country extends inland for nearly 100 miles. In areal spread, this sandy

plain comprises some 4,000 square miles, which is

large enough to be considered of regional proportion.

Aside from the gradual rise inland of the plain, variations from the general level are localized. In reality,

the plain is a composite of flats, billowy patches,

mounds, ridges and sand dunes, interspersed with

shallow depressions. Mounds and ridges rise to 50

feet and more above the level of the plain. No drainage channels traverse the plain. All the rain that

falls—some 20 to 25 inches—is absorbed by the ñne

porous sand that covers the plain. Many of the depressions contain water at times and thus form intermittent lakes. Originally, the Sand Plain was prairie

with mottes and groves of live oaks scattered over

the grassland, but is has been invaded by mesquite

and is now largely brushland. The tract shown lies

8 miles inland from the Laguna Madre shore and 11

miles south of Baffins Bay. Sand dunes have their

drift orientation in a northwest direction; they are

more numerous and extensive near the coast than

farther inland. The best use that can be made of such

land is grazing. Large ranches are operated in the

area, and as the winters are mild the livestock, mainly

cattle, can make year-round use of the range.

471954 0-59-16 229
Interior Coastal Prairie of Texas

PLATE 126.—The Interior Coastal Prairie of Texas

is the smaller of the grassland belts, known as Ijlack

prairies, that originally traversed the wooded part

of the coastal plains. This prairie parallels the coast

100 miles inland between the Brazos and San Antonio

Rivers. As on other black prairies, the soils are or

were heavy black or clay loams with a high humus

content developed from calcareous clay. The interior

Coastal Prairie, however, has a, more rolling surface

than either the Gulf Coast Prairie or the Texas Black

Prairie farther inland. Although average precipitation ranges from 30 to 40 inches annually, erosion is

likely to be very damaging unless precautionary measures are taken in the cultural use of the land. The

creeks that emerge from this prairie have little or no

bottom land; they are still cutting and dissecting the

surface. Settlement, division, and use of the land in

the central part of this prairie are illustrated. The

tract shown lies 2 miles northeast of Shiner in Lavaca

County. To prevent erosion, most fields are contoured for the main crops, cotton and com, which otherwise would induce erosion. The diversified farms are

medium-sized. The long frost-free season of approximately 280 days is favorable for production of cotton,

which is the outstanding cash crop of the region.

Livestock and livestock products, poultry, and dairying

combined, however, are a close second in the economy

of the region and aflfect the use made of the land. A

large acreage is used for grazing.

230
Gulf Coast Prairie of Texas

PLATE 127.—The Gulf Coast Prairie of Texas is not

uniform in its physical aspects nor is its inherent productivity everywhere fully developed and used for

agricultural production. Much of the prairie is still

in its natural state and can be used only for grazing.

The interstream flats are extensive; the surface slopes

are so slight that differences in elevation are frequently

less than 5 feet per mile. Heavy soils retard internal

drainage. Aside from the natural levees along the

rivers and creeks, the soils are usually dark gray to

black clays with calcareous nodules in the impervious

clay subsoil. Small sandy mounds 2 to 3 feet high

are more conspicuous in the eastern section of the

Coastal Prairie, and depressions or "hog wallows" as

they are called locally, are more numerous in the

central part. The Gulf Coast Prairie gets progressively drier toward the west. Precipitation is around

52 inches annually at the mouth of the Sabine River

and 26 inches at Baffins Bay, which may be considered

as the semiarid-subhumid boundary. The frost-free

season lasts from 280 to 340 days. Cotton, which

was for some time the main crop of the Coastal Prairie

region, has been almost entirely replaced by rice, production of which is expanding. In the drier western

part of the prairie, cotton is still the principal crop

and its production is expanding. The natural setting

of a central prairie tract in Brazoria County, 5 miles

north of East Columbia, is illustrated. The conversion of the Coastal Prairie to rice culture usually requires community organization, as a system of canals

and ditches must be established to make water available for flooding the rice fields and draining the land

to make mechanized field operations possible. Raw

land is usually held in large tracts. Development of

surface use is frequently complicated by oilfields, which

introduce the question of oil occurrence and value as

one of foremost concern.

231
Central Section, Texas Black Prairie

PLATE 128.—^The central division of the Texas Black

Prairie is located on the western edge of the humid

east. Therefore, its climate is more favorable to agriculture than the southern division. In terms of annual

averages, precipitation ranges from 30 to 40 inches,

which is distributed fairly evenly throughout the seasons. Temperatures are high in the summer—they

average around 84 degrees in July—and mild in winter.

The frost-free season normally lasts from 230 to 250

days. On the eastern side, the land is gently rolling.

On the western side, it is even more rolling and erosion is more of a problem. Soils are predominantly

fertile dark brown to black clay loams or clays, which

developed from limestone, chalk, or marls under prairie

vegetation. The rivers that traverse the prairie belt

have cut channels up to 150 feet deep in these formations. Some, as the Brazos River, have broad terraces of alluvial soil, which are lighter in both texture

and color than the upland soils. Most of the land in

this division of the Texas Black Prairie has good

physical qualities for cropping. It has provided the

background for the concentrations of the farms and

cropland in this part of Texas. The part of the prairie

shown is the smoother black waxy prairie type, which

is found south of Waco in McLennan County. Farms

aré mainly small to medium-sized. Cotton is the chief

cash crop grown; it accounts for nearly half of the

value of farm crops sold. Corn, oats, and other feed

crops are also grown to some extent, as livestock and

livestock products, especially dairy and poultry products, contribute a good share of the farm income.

232
Forest Belt, Eastern Texas

^

PLATE 129.—In the forest belt of eastern Texas, land

use has changed repeatedly since the arrival of the

first settlers nearly a century and a half ago. Land

was frequently obtained from the Spanish government

in large tracts on which the settlers started a subsistence type of farming. Cotton, which was introduced after the War Between the States, became the

cash crop that gave farming its present orientation.

With the opening of the country through railroads and

roads, lumbering spread. Most of the land has been

cut over but lumbering is still a local industry. With

the introduction of sustained forest-yield practices, it

will no doubt increase in importance. The climate is

favorable to cotton growing. Precipitation averages

annually from 40 to 50 inches, and the frost-free season usually lasts from 230 to 260 days. Agriculture,

based mainly on cotton, expanded on the cutover land.

It reached its peak in the early years of this century.

Since then, agriculture has declined. During the last

quarter-century, the acreage of harvested cropland in

32 counties in eastern Texas declined nearly 2 million

acres, or 60 percent, as an overall average. Several

things may have helped to bring about these changes.

One stems from the land itself. As a rule, Coastal

Plains soils are not highly productive inherently; they

need heavy fertilization. Many of the farmers were

tenants who did not follow soil-conserving practices.

Also, industrial employment attracted farm labor. How

this change has affected the land use pattern is illustrated in the photograph. The tract shown is on State

Highway 31, 7 miles east of Tyler in Smith County.

Formerly, most of the land in this locality was used as

cropland. Now the greater part of it is reverting to

woodland. In this county alone, cropland harvested

was reduced in the last decade from 144,000 to 69,000

acres, or 52 percent.

238
Boston Mountains, Arkansas

DN-14D8

PLATE 130.—The Boston Mountains form the southem ramparts of the Ozark Plateau. Rising from the

Arkansas Valley to elevations that approach or even

exceed 2,500 feet, the Boston Mountains constitute the

highest portion of the Ozarks themselves. The former

plateau is here maturely dissected by steep-walled,

V-shaped valleys carved into the formations of sandstone and shale. Little or no bottom land has been

built up along the streams, and only small remnants

of smooth land remain of the old plateau level. As

the land is mountainous and rugged throughout the

region, its cultural use is confined to scattered areas.

The drainage divide in the vicinty of Boston in Madison County is shown. In contrast to most other mountain areas, fields and farms are located at the tops and

crests of the mountains; farms in the valleys, with

fields on the lower slopes of the mountains, are exceptions. The climate is humid; the annual average precipitation is close to 50 inches. Most of the land is in

forest, and some of the old fields are reverting to woodland. Forestry is the best use for most of the land; a

large acreage is included in the purchase area of the

Ozark National Forest. Farming in these mountains is

near the subsistence level. Livestock is the chief source

of farm income. Com and hay are the most important

crops but little of either reaches the market. Some cotton fields are occasionally seen on the lower levels, but

for the region as a whole, cotton is unimportant.

Elevation has lifted the mountains out of the Cotton

Belt by reducing the growing season to less than 200

days. The foot of the Boston Mountains just about

defines the northern limit of the Cotton Belt in this

part of the country.

234
Northern Border, Ouachita Mountains, Arkansas

PLATE 131.—Land use over much of the Ouachita

Mountain region in Arkansas is controlled by the outstanding mountain chains and over large areas by }ow

ridges also. Frequently, the intervening broad valleys

are composed of a succession of low narrow ridges

which, because they are banded groups, are almost

as effective in controlling arable use of the land as

are the higher mountains. The higher chains of the

Ouachita Mountains are in the southern part of this

mountain region, which, in turn, is bordered along the

Arkansas River by a belt of lower ridges. The land

use pattern produced through consistent adjustment

of use, particularly arable use, to the natural background provided by geologic, soil, and physiographic

conditions reflects the influence of these environmental

factors. As in most of the former public-domain territory, the land is divided into rectangular sections,

townships, and ranges, but only fragrmentary lines of

the systems appear in the spatial order of the pattern. The ridges and valleys shown are part of the

Petit Jean Valley in Logan county; they lie between

Blue Mountain on the east and Magazine Mountain on

the west. At the most, the ridge crests rise only

around 200 feet above the valley floor. Roads and

cultivated lands follow the trend of the ridges, but

property lines are oriented north to south and east to

west. As a result, few fields are rectangular. The

soils are chiefly loams and silt loams and the ridge

soils are usually stony. The frost-free season lasts

around 220 days, and the average annual precipitation

is close to 50 inches. Farming is diversified. Livestock provides the principal source of farm income.

Much of the cleared land is used for pasture. Cotton

is the principal cash crop, but corn leads in crop

acreage.

235
Flood Plains of the Mississippi, Arkansas

DN-I406

PLATE 132.—A number of Arkansas counties are located entirely or to a large extent in the flood plains of

the Mississippi River and its larger tributaries. Under

natural conditions, these broad lowland belts along the

rivers were in constant danger of flooding and large

acreages were usually wet or swampy. Only the lands

on the natural levees built up by the rivers and the

higher spots in the plains were settled and used to

grow crops. Not until the land was protected from

overflow by levees on the rivers and a drainage system installed could it be settled and converted to more

productive use. Much of the alluvial soil is medium

to heavy textured. When sufficiently drained, the soils

are fertile, and within the prevailing growing season

of 210 days or more a variety of crops can be produced. With the improvement in flood control and

drainage, most of the land was converted into farms

and is now used for crops. The tract of lowland

shown lies 2 to 3 miles back of the river levees between Holt and Wilson in Mississippi County. A system of drainage canals, with a pumping station at their

confluence to lift the water over a ground swell, has

reclaimed the former semiswampy depressions for crop

production. Agriculture in these bottom lands depends largely on cash crops. Approximately half the

cropland is used for cotton, but soybeans, alfalfa, and

com are also grown. Livestock and its products occupy a relatively minor position in the farm economy

of the area.

236
Mississippi Silty Terraces, Arkansas

PLATE 133.—Rice culture in Arkansas is a relatively

new development. The first commercial crop of rice

was grown in 1904 on the terrace prairie near Carlisle,

from which rice growing spread south, east, and north.

Lay of land, soils, and climate have all contributed to

a favorable natural environment for production of rice

on the northern terraces. These terraces are located

up to 40 and more feet above the river bottoms, have

an undulating surface, and a silt loam soil with a

heavy silty clay or clay subsoil. A warm season of

220 to 230 frost-free days and an average of nearly 50

inches of precipitation annually are favorable to rice

production. Originally, some of the terrace land was

prairie, and it was on the prairie that rice farming

started. Much of the riceland now in operation had to

be cleared of trees and stumps, and to hold water on

the land, field levees had to be constructed. Water to

flood the ricefields is usually obtained from wells and

streams and lifted by pumps on the fields. Heavy

pumping has lowered the water table. As a preventive

measure, a good many reservoirs were constructed on

the secondary streams to hold the water back and make

it available to growers. Arkansas County soon took

the lead in rice growing and has since retained it. A

tract of riceland south of Almyra in Arkansas County

is shown. The expansion of rice culture on such terraces as these has made Arkansas, with its annual

production of around 9 million bags, a major riceproducing State. Agriculture, however, is diversified.

Other important crops are cotton, lespedeza seed, soybeans, oats, and corn. Even livestock makes a notable

contribution to the farm economy of the regfion.

237
Coastal Plain of Arkansas

PLATE 134.—The Coastal Plain of Arkansas south of

the Ouachita Mountains may be divided conveniently

into three major land types—the rolling upland, the

nearly level terraces, and the broad alluvial river bottoms. Broadly speaking, surface relief, soils and

drainage can be identified with these divisions. On

the upland, the soils are mainly sandy loam with a

heavier reddish subsoil and are well drained; on the

terraces, the soils are chiefly gray silt loams with a

heavy silty clay subsoil and are frequently inadequately drained. The alluvial soils range in texture from

fine sand to clay, are dark gray or brown, and are

poorly drained over much of the bottom land, but they

are usually considered to be more productive than

either terrace or upland soils. The climate in this

part of Arkansas is humid and rather warm with an

annual mean precipitation of around 50 inches and

from 220 to 230 days without killing frost. Originally,

all the land was covered,with forest, which on the upland and terraces consisted mainly of short leaf and

loblolly pine, and on the bottomland of mixed hardwoods. All of the land has been cut over but only

a small part of it has been cleared and used for crops,

as may be noted in the upland tract shown, which lies

6 miles northwest of Fordyce in Dallas County. Cotton is the main cash crop, and some additional farm

income is derived from livestock. Farming as a laboremploying industry has had competition, especially

from oil and gas fields, lumbering, and manufacturing,

and it is now declining. The acreage of cropland

harvested declined in 11 Coastal Plain counties by

more than 40 percent during the last quarter-century.

When used for crops, the land is not very productive

without soil improvement, although it is good forest

land and no doubt will be used to produce forest crops

for some time to come.

238
Mississippi Flood Plain of Louisiana

DN-1403

PLATE 135.—In Louisiana, a large part of the Mississippi flood plain remains to be reclaimed. Most of

the forest in these bottom lands has been cut over,

but only small areas of the forest lands have been

cleared and converted to agricultural use. Drainage

over much of these lands is still deficient, and arable

use is of necessity selective. Actual differences in

elevation between swells and troughs within the alluvial bottoms are not more than a few feet, but they

prevent uniform drainage of the land. These swells

and troughs are the byproducts of the river's labor in

filling and building up the alluvial plain. The Mississippi River tends to meander, and, as a result, its

channel has changed frequently. Old oxbow bends

were filled up and new ones were formed. The natural levees built by the river on its banks are now

the higher and drier swells that alternate with depressions. As a rule, the soils on these swells are

fine sandy loams as compared with the clays of the

lower land that lies behind them. Adjustment of

clearings to these micro-relief features has produced

the unique land use pattern of the lowlands. The

crescent-shaped strips of fields and forests that are

features of the pattern are illustrated by the tract

shown, which lies on Muddy Bayou, 3 miles west of

Waterproof in Tensas Parish. Fertile soils, the approximately 230 frost-free days, and the annual precipitation of 50 inches or more are favorable for many

crops. Farming is diversified. Livestock and crops

produce the farm income, but of the two, crops are

more important. Crop acreage per farm, however, is

rather small. Cotton leads in both acreage and value,

although com, oats, soybeans, and lespedeza are included in the rotation.

239
Coastal Prairie of Louisiana

PLATE 136.—At the time of the Louisiana Purchase

in 1803, only a small part of the Mississippi Basin was

actually settled by the French. Even the part that

comprises the present State of Louisiana was not fully

occupied. The Coastal Prairie that extends westward

from the Mississippi lowland was still open country,

and with the transfer of jurisdiction to the United

States, it became part of the national public domain.

As in most other parts of the public domain, the land

was subdivided into townships and sections, and opened

for settlement. Demarcation of holdings in this part

of Louisiana is therefore derived from the rectangular

land divisions, which also furnish the background from

which the land use pattern developed. The prairie

land is nearly flat with scattered depressions; much of

the land had to be drained before it could be used for

crops. With improved drainage, the soils of the

Coastal Prairie are very productive; they consist predominantly of dark brown silt loams with heavy subsoils. A frost-free season of around 270 days and an average annual precipitation of approximately 58 inches,

well distributed over the seasons, are favorable for a

number of crops. The area shown lies just west of the

district occupied by the French settlers and about 6

miles southwest of Lafayette in Lafayette Parish. As

may be noted, tree growth is confined to the shallow

bottoms of the drainage channels. As the farms are

mainly small, the land is used irttensively. Farming

is diversified and most of the farm income is derived

from crops. Livestock accounts for a minor part only.

Of the cash crops grown in rotation, cotton leads, followed by sweetpotatoes, sugarcane, and rice. Toward

the Texas border, cotton and sugarcane decline in

relative importance and rice becomes more important.

240
Mississippi Lowland with French Settlement, Louisiana

PLATE 137.—When at the turn of the 17th century

the French established the Louisiana Colony at the

mouth of the Mississippi, they impressed their cultural distinction on the land. French community

settlers usually followed the institutionalized long-lot

system in dividing the land. The terrain along the

lower Mississippi and the bayous in Louisiana provided a particularly favorable natural environment

for use of long-lot divisions. The better drained land

on the natural levees on the banks of the rivers was

used by the settlers. Homesteads were rather closely

spaced. They formed line villages along the roads on

both sides of the rivers. Their relatively narrow lots extended back from the rivers. In this way, all settlers

had access to land and water transportation and communication facilities. The fact that rivers were not

straight also affected the alinement of lots. Inside

the bends of the rivers, the lots converged toward the

apex of the bend, while outside the bends, the lots

frequently fanned out from the bend. A situation of

this kind is illustrated in the photograph, which shows

a bend in the Bayou Lafourche, Assumption Parish.

Bayou Lafourche is in reality a delta branch of the

Mississippi. Near the upper end, the natural levees

form a ridge some 6 to 8 miles wide and 15 to 20 feet

high, with the river flowing at its crest. Drainage

of the land, therefore, is away from the river. Toward

the gulf, levees are narrower and lots are correspondingly shorter. Soils of the levees are fertile ñne

sandy or silt loams which, combined with the approximately 270 frost-free days and approximately 60 inches of annual precipitation, are favorable for a variety

of crops. Actually, agriculture is largely specialized.

Farms in the environs of the same area are frequently

large; some are of plantation size. The principal crop

is sugarcane, and corn and some rice are grown. The

adjacent swamps and marshlands are the breeding

ground of muskrats, which are trapped for their pelts,

and thus are an economic asset of the region.

241
Lower Coastal Plain, Mississippi

PLATE 138.—There is a noticeable distinction in the

distribution of cropland between the Interior Coastal

Plain of Mississippi and the Lower Coastal Plain. In

the Lower Coastal Plain, the few scattered farms are

on the uplands while the river and creek bottoms are

mainly swamps. The distributional order, therefore,

is just about reversed from the order farther inland.

The alluvial plains of the larger rivers are often miles

wide. They support a heavy forest growth composed

mainly of water-loving species, among which are oaks,

gum, cypress, túpelo, and spruce pine. The soils are

fertile, but their reclamation for agricultural production would require flood protection and improved drainage, in addition to clearing. This is more a matter

of cost-benefit relationships than an engineering problem. Precipitation near the coast is higher than it is

farther inland. The average of 60 and more inches

annually frequently occurs in heavy downpours that

flood the river bottoms. Heavy rainfall has its drawbacks on the uplands also. Much of the plain is dissected, and because of the danger from erosion it is

not suited to arable use. In addition, the frost-free

season of more than 240 days makes the area almost

subtropical. Farms are located on the smoother areas

where the soils are sandy loams. Most of the land is

in forest, to which it is well adapted, but timber stands

are depleted. Extensive tracts in southern Mississippi

have been included in purchase areas of the national

forests. Farming is diversified. Either livestock or

crops may be the leading farm-income producer. Cotton, sweetpotatoes, and sugarcane for sirup have always been the leading cash-producing crops in these

parts of the Coastal Plain. Of late, however, tung

nuts have forged ahead. Already the tung nut is the

chief crop in some localities of southern Mississippi.

242
Bluiï Hills in Mississippi, Bordering the Alluvial Valley of the Mississippi River

PLATE 139.—Loess is usually considered an eolian

deposit of the pleistocene period. It has provided the

parent material for soil over extensive areas of the

United States. Soils developed from loess usually are

productive and fairly easy to till, but because of the

uniform silty texture of the material, loess is also

highly erosive. Therefore, in strongly rolling to hilly

loess country the danger of erosion is always present.

When used for cultivated crops, proper care in tilling

the land is essential to preserve the soil. Of the loess

areas in the United States, the Bluiï Hills that flank

the Alluvial Valley of the Mississippi to the east are

the best known. These hills, on which the loess mantle

reaches a thickness of 40 feet in places, rise up to

200 feet from the alluvial plains. Erosion has cut

deeply into the loess and the underlying Coastal Plain

deposits and has dissected the upland into a maze of

ridges, with narrow valley bottoms and crests. The

Bluff Hills are predominantly rough and only the

smoother valley bottoms and ridge crests are cleared

and used for crops. The cleared area comprises about

one-fourth of the total land area. The hill section

shown lies immediately northeast of Yazoo City. The

land is mainly in woods of the oak-hickory type, with

some beech trees in places, to prevent erosion. The

rainfall averages 52 inches annually and frequently

falls in heavy downpours. The long, warm summers

would be favorable for many crops; but as most farms

are small, with small and irregular fields in valleys

and on ridgetops, and are operated by tenants, the

main crop is cotton. Livestock, largely cattle, which

use the cleared and openly wooded pastures, contribute

a minor share to the farm economy of these hills.

243
Yazoo Basin, Mississippi River Bottoms, Mississippi

PLATE 140.—Although Mississippi lies entirely within the humid, warm-temperate part of the Coastal

Plain, the acreage of cropland is unevenly distributed.

Of the 6 million acres of harvested cropland in the

State, 2 million are concentrated in the Yazoo Basin,

which comprises approximately only one-seventh of the

State's total land area. Such a concentration of cropland was made possible only through protection of the

land from overflow and installation of improved drainage to lower the groundwater table. The alluvial

soils of the delta are fertile, and when the land became available for cultural use, agricultural expansion was brought about not only by the eiforts of the

local population, but also by people from uplands who

were attracted to the lowlands. Aside from the backwater areas that must be left in forest, most of the

land is cleaned and used for crops, and a smaller acreage is left in forest or is used for pasture. Woodlots

are usually confined to the lower, wetter spots, as may

be seen on the tract shown, which lies 3 miles southwest of Drew, in Sunflower County. Differences in

elevation between swells and depressions are frequently less than 5 feet, but even after the land is cleared

aijd drained these swells and depressions remain distinguishing marks that reveal the alluvial buildup of

the soil. The fertile soils combined with the warm

long summers would permit production of a diversity

of crops. Most of the farms are relatively small.

Many are managed as plantation units operated by

tenants. As cotton has a relatively high per acre

value, these small farms have made cotton the principal cash crop of the Yazoo Basin. Livestock is only

a minor part of the farm economy of the area.

244
Upper Coastal Plain, Northern Mississippi

PLATE 141.—Arable land use on the Upper Coastal

Plain of northern Mississippi has been adjusted to

several factors of environment. The outstanding characteristic of the area is the concentration of fields in

the creek bottoms, but only a sprinkling of farms and

fields is found on the upland. Lay of land and quality

of soil are largely responsible for this distributional

order. Much of the land is badly dissected, and this

has produced its strongly rolling to hilly surface. On

the level upland tracts, the soil usually is a heavy

silt or clay loam with a compact clay subsoil. This

land is poorly drained and difficult to cultivate, and it

has a rather low productivity. The broad alluvial

creek and river bottoms, however, usually have silt

loam soils that are productive when drained. Moreover, draining these bottom lands is not the problem

it is farther south where precipitation is considerably

471954 0-59-17

higher than the 50 inches normal in this part of the

country. Easier tillage and greater productivity account for the preferential use of the alluvial bottoms

as illustrated. The tract shown lies approximately 3

miles south of Loyd in Calhoun County, on tributary

creeks of the Yalobusha River. In these environs, although three-fourths of the land is in farms, less than

a fourth is used for crops. Most of the land is woodland but very little is in commercial stands. Pasturing

the woodland is common practice. Livestock and its

products, however, provide only a minor part of the

farm income. This is Cotton Belt country with long

and warm summers; the frost-free period usually lasts

around 215 days; and the farm economy is founded

on cash crops, of which the chief one is cotton. Many

of the farms, however, operate on a subsistence level.

245
Northern End Mississippi-Alabama Black Prairie, Mississippi

PLATE 142.—Approximately a third of the Mississippi-Alabama Black Prairie Belt lies in Mississippi,

where it forms the northern end of the crescent. Although it is usually included in the prairie belt because

the land is underlain by the chalks on which the humid

prairies developed, most of the land in the northern

end was originally woodland. It was composed largely

of post and white oak, and had to be cleared. Within

the shallow belt basin, the moderately rolling upland

is divided by broad alluvial valleys, which originally

were in a semiswampy condition. Land use has changed

considerably since the area was settled. The better

drained upland, where the soils developed from calcareous chalk formations, was the first to be cleared

and used for crops. A frost-free season of more than

210 days and a normal precipitation of 50 inches a

246

year are favor^ible for production of cotton. Cotton

was one of the principal crops of the early settlers.

It is still the main crop of the region although the

land on which it is produced is not exactly the same.

The medium to heavy textured soils were productive

in the first years of cultivation, but they lost much of

their fertility because of washing and depletion. With

the reclamation of the bottom lands through dredging

and straightening of the creeks, most of the fields are

now on the fertile lowlands while much of the upland

is used for pasture. The tract shown lies at the confiuence of Conewar and Old Town Creeks, 3 miles

southeast of Verona in Lee County. With the shift in

land use, the dominance of cotton in the farm economy

of the region is declining, and livestock farming, especially dairying, is gaining in importance.
Jackson Purchase of Tennessee

PLATE 143.—Physiographically, the Jackson Purchase

area of western Tennessee belongs to the Coastal Plain.

In location, the area is confined to the upland between

the Mississippi and Tennessee River Valleys. The

valley borders are deeply dissected. On the interior

upland, low hills between the larger streams rise gently

to 150 feet from the broad, flat valley bottoms. Most

of the land is smooth enough for agricultural use.

Originally, the wide creek and river bottoms were wet

and swampy, but organized drainage districts have

dredged and straightened these watercourses, and today most of the alluvial flats are used for crops.

Brown silt loams underlain by a silty clay loam or

clay are the most extensive upland soils. They have

all the characteristics of soils developed from loess.

The loess deposits are deepest on the Mississippi Bluffs,

thinning out toward the east until finally they give way

to the sandy Coastal Plain deposits as the parent material of soils. Summers are warm and long, and the

frost-free season runs for 200 to 230 days. Of the

normal annual precipitation of 50 inches, about half

falls in summer. After the land was bought from the

Indians, it was divided into townships for settlements.

But as the townships were not subdivided according

to the public land system, neither roads nor fields are

laid out with much regularity. The area shown lies

west of Gibson in Gibson County. It is near the northern limit of the Cotton Belt, but cotton is still the

main crop. Vegetables and berries are grown. Livestock and its products contribute to the farm income.

Although cropland is the dominant use of the land,

a good part of it is used for pasture. When Tennessee

attained Statehood in 1796, the Jackson Purchase was

still unsettled. For settlement purposes, it was divided

into rectangular tracts. The difliculties of adjusting

field operations on small rectangular tracts to the contour of strongly rolling land are apparent.

247
Nashville Basin, Tennessee

PLATE 144.—^The Nashville Basin, or Central Basin

of Tennessee, like the Blue Grass Region of Kentucky,

attracted settlers from across the Appalachian Mountains during colonial times. That the Blue Grass

Region and Nashville Basin were selected by these

early settlers as advanced outposts of homesteading

indicates that in their opinion the natural environment

of these basins offered greater advantages for settlement than the surrounding country. As development

has shown, their confidence in the area was not misplaced. In the Nashville Basin, a propitious combination of land relief, soils, and climate has produced a

favorable physical setting for agricultural use of the

land. The surface is mainly slightly to moderately

rolling. The knobs scattered over the area become

more numerous toward the border. Dark-brown loams

or silt loams, underlain by a reddish-brown silt-clay

developed from solid limestone, are the prevalent soils

of the basin. In places, they are shallow and rocky,

but for the most part, they are easy to till and are

adapted to a variety of crops. As the area is lower

than the surrounding country, the climate is slightly

warmer. Frost-free days average 200 yearly, a long

enough time in which to grow cotton, although it is

not the major crop. Precipitation averages around 50

inches annually and is well distributed over the seasons. The area shown lies near the border of the

Nashville Basin in Rutherford County, 6 miles northeast of Murfreesboro. Some knobs appear in the

photograph. Farming is diversified. Livestock _ provides the major portion of the farm income, with a

good share derived from dairying. Corn, hay, and

some small grains are the more important crops. Cotton and tobacco are the principal cash crops grown for

market.

248
Nashville Basin Border, Tennessee

PLATE 145.—A more or less broad belt of hilly country forms a transition zone between the Nashville

Basin and the surrounding Highland Rim. Rivers

and creeks have cut their channels 400 to 500 feet

below the plateau level. Near the headwaters, the

valleys are shallow, but they deepen and broaden out

with the approach to the basin. Near the basin, the

valley floors are wider than the ridges, which finally

break up into detached hills. In their middle courses,

the short tributary branches of the creeks have cut

deeply into the sedimentary rocks of cherty limestone,

shale, and massive limestone at the bottom. The short

valleys are known locally as "hollows" and most of

them have names. Soil distribution follows closely

the land-relief forms. On the smoother upland, the

soil is a light gray gravelly loam; on the steeper slopes

it is a stony loam; and in the valley bottoms and on

the lower slopes, it is a reddish loam or clay loam,

stony in places. The climate is temperate; the frostfree season runs around 190 days; and the annual

precipitation averages 54 inches. Adjustment of land

use to these conditions has produced the long, narrow

fields along the ridges, their lower slopes, and the

floors of the valleys as illustrated. The tract shown

lies on the headwaters of Martins Creek, and forms

part of the southern boundary of Jackson County. Most

of the farms are small to medium-sized, owner-operated, but not fully mechanized. Many operate on a

self-sufl5cing level. Agriculture is diversifled. Corn

is the chief crop, followed by lespedeza and others; but

the principal cash crop is burley tobacco. Much of the

land is in pasture. Liivestock and its products produce the major part of the farm income.

249
Southern Appalachian Mountains, Tennessee

PLATE 146.—Settlement in the southern Appalachians

differs markedly from settlement in the northern part

of this mountain chain. In the northeastern States,

the mountain areas were settled in colonial times.

Later, with the opening of the West and the industrialization of the country, many mountain people resettled

in the plains or moved to towns for work in factories.

The western slope of the southern Appalachians was

settled near the turn of the 18th century, when the

handicaps of mountainous country to mechanized agriculture were not evident. The descendants of these

hardy mountaineers occupy the land today. Some

shifts in farms have occurred, however, in the last 50

years. For example, in mountainous Cocke County in

eastern Tennessee, the number of farms increased,

with some minor setbacks, by 30 percent from 1900 to

the peak number in 1935, but has since declined and is

now back to the 1900 level. The land use pattern in

Cocke County is illustrated by a tract that lies 4 miles

south of Del Rio on the French Broad River. Elevation of the locality is around 2,500 feet. Because of

the elevation, the frost-free season, which normally

runs from 170 to 180 days, is somewhat shortened.

Precipitation is well distributed over the seasons and

averages 42 to 46 inches a year. Much of the land is

steeply sloping. The soils, which developed mainly

from slates and shales, are of medium texture and are

moderately productive. As a rule, farms and fields are

small and irregularly distributed. Much of the cleared

land is used for pasture. Farming is of the general

type, and many farms are in the low-income class. Livestock and crops are almost equally important in the

farm economy. Prevailing crops are com, forage crops,

and small grains, with tobacco as a cash crop. Much of

the more rugged mountain land is included in national

forests and the Great Smoky National Park.

250
PíATE 147.—^The southern division of the Appalachian Valley, which passes through Tennessee and is

flanked by the Blue Ridge on the east and the plateaus

on the west, is known also as the Valley of East Tennessee. Folding and faulting of sedimentary rock formations—mainly dolomite, shale, sandstone, and limestone—exposed them to weathering, solution, and erosion, and produced the peculiar arrangement of roughly

parallel ridges and valleys. Sandstone, which is more

resistant to weathering, is usually found on the ridges,

and the more soluble limestone is found in the valleys.

Soils have a similar distribution. Sandy loams are

found frequently on the ridges; stony, sandy, or silt

loam on the slopes; and silt loams on the lower slopes

and rolling valley floors. Nearly 300 square miles of

valley land are submerged, however, by the waters of

reservoirs constructed for development of hydroelectric

power. In such environs, physiographic features provide the controlling factor in the spatial order of major

land uses. Cultivated and pasture lands are confined

largely to the valley floors and lower slopes, while the

ridges are usually in forest. In parts of the valley,

the type of farming carried on shows the influence of

climate. Summers are longer and warmer in the

southern than in the northern part. The frost-free

season runs for 200 days or more, and the average

annual precipitation is around 52 inches. This is warm

enough for cotton, which is not the principal crop,

although some is grown. Farming is more of the

general type with local specialties added. Dairy and

poultry farms are numerous. Truck and strawberry

farms are more localized. Peach and apple orchards

are found throughout the valley, but there are also

local concentrations. Cash grains and forage crops

are grown. The sample area shown lies a mile south

of Ooltewah in Hamilton County. It includes a portion of White Oak Mountain, which rises nearly 500

feet from the valley floor. Location of flelds and forest shows adjustment to topography.

251
Highland Rim, Alabama

PLATE 148.—^In northern Alabama, the Highland

Rim and the Tennessee Limestone Valley merge into

a plain. Locally, the distinction between the two is

based on the color of the soils. The plateau section

is called "gray lands," and the valley section "red

lands." The dividing line follows no well-defined surface relief feature, although the surface relief of the

two areas differs somewhat. On the whole, the gray

lands are more rolling and dissected than the red

lands, especially near watercourses. Soils differ in

productivity also. The red soils, which developed

from a nearly pure massive limestone, range in texture

from loam to silty clay loam. The gray soils, which

derived from a cherty limestone, are usually silt loams

and are frequently cherty and gravelly. Considerably

more acreage is left in woods and pasture on the gray

than on the red lands. The area is near the northern

limit of the Cotton Belt, but summers are warm and

long enough to grow cotton. The annual average precipitation is around 53 inches, and the frost-free period

lasts normally more than 200 days. Farming on the

red lands depends mainly on cotton. Cotton is grown

on the gray lands also, but com, forage crops, and

pasture take up considerable acreages of these lands

as livestock becomes more important. Erosion is active

on the rolling land. The land is divided into rectangular holdings, as may be noted on the gray-land tract

shown, which lies on Sugar Creek in the northwest

corner of Limestone County. Although property lines

are derived from the rectangular system of land division, fields are frequently adjusted to the relief of

the land, particularly in the more dissected portions.

The rougher and steeper slopes are used as woodland,

most of which is pastured. Soil conservation practices

have been adopted on some of the fields.

252
Sand Mountain, Alabama

PLATE 149.—Contrasts in land- use are not uncommon

in moimtainous country. Ordinarily, they follow an

accepted order, although departures occur. One such

dep£u:i;ure is found on Sand Mountain in northeastern

Alabama. As a rule, population is denser and land

use more intensified in the valleys than on the mountains. Here, on the central section of Sand Mountain,

the reverse is true. In reality. Sand Mountain, which

occupies a broad belt in northern Alabama, is the

southward extension of the Cumberland Plateau, from

which it is separated in the north by the Tennessee

Valley. Land use capability on Sand Mountain is not

uniform. At its northern end, the mountain shares

the physical characteristics of the Cumberland Plateau. Because of the cool climate, comparatively little

land is used for crops. With the decrease in elevation southward, the summers become warmer and

longer. The frpst-free period is 200 days or more,

and the mean annual precipitation is around 54 inches,

which permits the g^rowing of cotton, the main crop in

the central section. Toward the west, the plateau is

dissected into narrow ridges; the rough and stony

land is suited only to forestry and is included in the

national forest. The photograph illustrates land use

on the central part of Sand Mountain near Kilpatrick,

a village in the southwestern part of DeKalb County,

with an elevation of more than 1,100 feet. The

land is rolling, and much of it is cleared and cultivated. The sandy loam soil developed from the weathered material of sandstone. The soils are easy to

cultivate and respond readily to good management and

use of fertilizer, although their productivity is not inherently high. Cotton and corn, the principal crops,

are likely to induce erosion if not properly cultivated.

Property lines are derived from the rectangular landdivision system, but fields are adjusted to the lay of

the land. To combat erosion and preserve the soil,

contour plowing and terracing are generally practiced.

253
Black Prairie, Alabama

PLATE 150.—Bordering the western end of the Piedmont is a crescent-shaped shallow basin known as the

Black Prairie of Alabama and Mississippi. The rough

border of the Piedmont and the inland sloping cuestas

or escarpments of the Red Hills in the Coastal Plain

form the basin borders within which the runoff from

the Piedmont is collected by the Tombigbee and Alabama Rivers and carried through two gaps in the

cuestas to the gulf. Originally, to a large extent, the

gently rolling floor of the basin was prairie with a

bleick clay soil developed from a soft limestone, which

geologists called "Selma Chalk." It was from the

combination of black soil and grass vegetation that the

region obtained the name Black Prairie, which is now

a misnomer. Because of lack of experience in handling

the soil, much of the originally fertile black soil

has been washed away and the subsoil exposed. The

climate is pleasant, and the rainfall averages 60 inches

or more annually. Summers are long and warm,

normally with more than 220 frost-free days, and

winters are mild. For decades, cotton was the principal crop, but in recent years it has declined in importance. Within the last half-century, the acreage

of cotton in the Black Prairie counties has decreased

by approximately a million acres. The heavy plastic

clays are slow in warming up in the spring, and the

plant is late in forming bolls. Because of this, cotton

is more exposed to attack by boll weevils. The prairie

soils are now used mainly for pasture and forage

crops, as may be noted in the tract of former prairie

land shown, which lies 5 miles north of Safiford in Dallas County. The bottom lands are drained but part of

the upland has been invaded by brush. The Black

Prairie of Alabama and Mississippi provides an outstanding example of how former highly productive

cropland has been reduced to lower uses.

254
Coastal Plain, Alabama

PLATE 151.—On the Coastal Plain of Alabama, the

rougher and more dissected portions, the flatwoods,

the swampy creek, and river bottoms, and the light

sandy lands are mainly in forests. In some parts of

the plains, the physical conditions of surface relief and

soils are more favorable for agricultural use of the

land, and cropland predominates. An area of this

kind is found in southeastern Alabama. The tract

shown lies 3 miles northeast of Headland in Henry

County. Surface erosion and solution in the underlying shell marl formations produced the gently rolling

upland with steeper slopes and more dissected borders

near the streams. Short tributary creeks frequently

have their sources in springs that issue from steepwalled holes on the side of the upland. The many

shallow or steep-walled sinkholes scattered over the

upland contain water intermittently and are swampy

the rest of the time. The soils are sandy loams, which

are easy to cultivate and with proper management are

fairly productive. Winters are mild; occasional cold

snaps occur but hardly any snow. Summers are warm

and long, with an average frost-free season of 240

days or more. Precipitation is normally more than 54

inches per year. According to the climatic index, the

area belongs in the Cotton Belt and for a long time,

cotton was the principal crop. Cash crops are still

the main support of the farm economy, but in recent

years, cotton has given way to peanuts as the leading

crop. As a source of farm income, cotton is almost

on a par with livestock; neither is very important in

this locality.

255
Gulf Coast Forest Belt, Florida

PLATE 152.—Along the Gulf Coast of northwestern

Florida lies a broad belt in which use of the land for

agricultural production is at a minimum. In a number

of counties here, the land in farms is less than 10

percent of all land and the acreage used for crops is

considerably less. That agriculture is so little developed in this belt is due largely to the physical

conditions that govern land use as an economic enterprise. Although much of the land is rolling within

the elevation zone of up to 300 feet above sea level,

extensive tracts of level wet lands are also interspersed. Over much of the area, the surface forms

show the characteristics of solution in the underlying

limestone and marl strata. Many of the sinkholes

and irregularly shaped depressions are lakes; others

are swamps which frequently border drainage channels.

The soils developed largely from unconsolidated marine

deposits; they consist chiefly of sands with a low or

moderate productivity rating. In places, precipitation

exceeds 60 inches annually. Heavy downpours are

frequent. Summers are long and warm and winters

are mild. The ground seldom freezes, and soil leaching is a year-long process. Forestry is the principal

use of the land, and grazing is a less productive second

use. The tract shown lies 4 miles southeast of Wausau

in Washington County. The products of the land are

mainly lumber and naval stores. Much of the forest

consists of longleaf and slash pine on which the bark

of the older trees is chipped for several seasons to

induce the flow of gum. The gum is collected and processed into turpentine and rosin for market.

256
Warm Temperate-Subtropical Transition Zone, Florida

PLATE 153.—In the transition from the warm temperate to the subtropical climate, temperature is a controlling factor in determining how Florida land can

be used. Adjoining the citrus fruit belt to the north

is a thermal zone in which heavy frosts occur too

frequently to permit commercial production of citrus

fruits. The winters, however, are too short and mild

to provide the needed period of dormancy for deciduous

fruits. This 100-mile-wide belt is not confined to Florida; it extends from the Atlantic coast westward into

Texas. Within this belt, an exotic from China* the

tung oil tree, has been found to fit into the climatic

environment. The chilling requirements of these trees

during the dormant period are only around 400 hours

at 45° or lower. Also, the annual precipitation of 45

inches, which is evenly distributed over tiie seasons, is

suflicient to meet their moisture requirements. Welldrained land with suitable soil is necessary for commercial production. The first tung oil from commercial

groves was produced near Gainesville in 1928. Since

then, production of tung oil has spread westward and

is now an established and growing industry. The tung

grove shown is 12 miles north of Gainesville in Alachua County, Morida. This grove is more than 20

years old and is still in production. Indications are

that the productive life of tung trees should average

at least 30 years. The land is slightly rolling with a

light-textured soil. Green manure crops are grown

and fertilizers are applied to maintain fertility. Aside

from the tung groves, farming of a general type is

practiced. Vegetables and tobacco are the crop specialties grown.

257
Lake District, Central Florida

PLATE 154.—Physiographically, the peninsula of

Florida has been roughly divided into Coastal Lowlands

and Central Uplands, a distinction that is significant

when land use is considered. Most of the cultivated

land is in the higher center part of the State. The

upland is not uniform, as there are nearly level tracts

in the north. In the center of Florida, however, the

upland forms a rolling-to-hilly ridge with elevations

up to 300 feet in spots. Here it is dotted with large

and small lakes. The area is known as the Lake District, and the citrus fruit industry is centered here.

The lakes are distributed irregularly. Most of the

smaller lakes and depressions have no surface connections but fomi closed basins. The area is underlain

by limestone, and the surface forms are the result of

internal erosion through solution rather than surface

erosion. The soils of this rolling upland are usually

light in texture. They range from loamy to fine sand,

and peaty muck is found frequently in the depressions.

The climate is subtropical but summer temperatures

are tempered by the waters of the many lakes and the

jfrequent showers. Rainfall averages 50 inches or

more annually, but it is heavier in summer and lighter

in winter. Night frosts occur occasionally, but as a

rule they are not severe enough to damage the groves.

Most of the rolling upland is in citrus groves. The

lake country 3 miles southeast of Winter Haven in

Polk County is shown. Orange and grapefruit groves

occupy most of the upland; they produce the main

crops of the citrus fruit industry and of the regional

agriculture as a whole. Livestock farming is also

represented, especially dairy farming, which supplies

the needs of the local city markets.

258
Everglades on Shore of Lake Okeechobee, Florida

PLATE 155.—Much of the land in the southern tip

of Florida consists of an immense sawgrass marsh,

known as The Everglades, which comprises more than

4,000 square miles. The Everglades slope slightly

southward from Lake Okeechobee at the northern end

to Florida Bay on the South. They are separated from

the Atlantic by a narrow rocky swell and are bounded

inland by swamps or higher ground. All this marshland is less than 20 feet above sea level. The soils of

the Everglades are chiefly organic. Peat and muck

more than 10 feet thick in places rest on either marl

or limestone over the entire area. The climate of the

Everglades is subtropical, that is, it is neither extremely hot in summer nor cold in winter. Frosts occur

only occasionally. Precipitation is rather heavy; some

parts of the Everglades average more than 60 inches

annually. Attempts to drain the Everglades started in

the 1880's, although the present reclamation program

had its inception in the first years of the present century. Since then, hundreds of miles of drainage canals

have been dredged through the glades, and a levee has

been constructed around the southern end of Lake

Okeechobee to prevent reñooding. So far, agricultural

development is confined largely to the shores of Lake

Okeechobee. A section of the developed area on South

Bay is shown. Near the lake the soil is muck, with

some mineral content. Farther back in the glades the

soil is peat or peaty muck, which must be conditioned

for cultivation. Vegetables are grown during the

cooler season for the northern winter market. Other

important crops are sugarcane and some horticultural

specialties. Climate is a primary asset in the economy

of this region.

259
Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia

PLATE 156.—A chain of wet lands along the Atlantic

seaboard has the Dismal Swamp in Virginia and the

Okefenokee Swamp in southeastern Georgia as terminals. The Okefenokee, the largest swamp, comprises

nearly 700 square miles. It is separated from the

Atlantic coast by Ttail Ridge, which reaches an elevation of 150 feet in places and is some 20 to 30 feet

higher than the swamp back of it. Drainage of the

swamp, therefore, is to the west and south, the direction in which the rivers that originate in the swamp

flow. The Suwannee River flows westward into the

Gulf, and the St. Mary's River forms the GeorgiaFlorida boundary from the swamp to the Atlantic.

Natural features of the swamp include islands, lakes,

prairies, pineland, and cypress thickets. What the

natives call prairies are expanses of clear shallow

water, occupied by lily pads, clumps of cane, sawgrass, and other aquatic plants, over which are scattered small islands—"houses"—on which cypress and

shrubs have become established.

The Okefenokee Swamp has a colorful history that

goes back to the Indians, from which the name, which

means "trembling earth," is derived. The Seminóles,

who occupied the swamp when the white settlers arrived, used it as a hideout until they were dislodged in

1838 and removed to the Florida Everglades. The

white settlers used the swamp largely as a hunting

and trapping ground. In 1889, the Suwannee Canal

Company attempted to drain the swamp across Trail

Ridge. Around 22 miles of canals were dug, but the

main canal was never completed. The canals were

used in lumbering operations, and today they are used

by fishermen and those who are attracted to the scenic

beauty and wildlife. In 1919, the Georgia Assembly

set the swamp aside as a game reserve. In 1937, the

Federal Government bought the land and established

a wildlife refuge, which contains more than 500 square

miles of swampland. A section of the swamp on the

canal 3 miles west of Camp Cornelia is shown. The

"prairies" with their many small islands stand out

clearly from the wooded swamp.

260
Dougherty Plains, Southwestern Georgia

/IHR'-'

PLATE 157.—^The southwestern section of the Coastal

Plain in Georgia has developed cultural landscape

characteristics of its own, which are partly of historical origin and partly imposed by natural conditions.

This part of Georgia was settled in the 1820's and

1830's. In 1819-20, after the Indian claims were extinguished and before the land was deeded to settlers,

it was divided into square lots of 250 acres each. These

land divisions provided the boundaries of land ownership. Subdivision into fields produced the rectangular

land use pattern illustrated. The tract shown lies in

the Dougherty Plains 4 miles west of Newton in Baker

County. The surface of the plain is nearly level but

is pitted with both large and small sinkholes. Most

of them are small shallow depressions, which are dry

and cultivated during the warm season. Many have

no surface drainage connections. Some of the larger

depressions are lakes or ponds that hold water the

year round. Others are swamps, as are the flood

plains of the larger drainage channels that traverse

the region. Sandy loams with a red sandy clay subsoil predominate, and because of the red subsoil, the

region is sometimes referred to as red land. The land

is easy to cultivate and rather productive. A warm

climate with long summers and short winters, in which

snow seldom falls, permits the growing of a variety

of crops. The average annual precipitation is close to

50 inches and is fairly evenly distributed over the

seasons. Climatically, the area is part of the Cotton

Belt, and some cotton is grown, but peanuts are the

chief cash crop. The lower Flint River basin also has

production centers of pecans, melons, and vegetables.

Although livestock is important in the farm economy,

it is not a principal source of farm income.

471954 O-59-18 261
Upper Coastal Plain at Fall Line, Georgia

PLATE 158.—Geologically, the Fall Line separates

the metamorphic rocks of the Piedmont from the sedimentary formations of the Coastal Plain. Frequently,

no such sharp distinction can be detected in use of the

land. Where the lower border of the Piedmont and the

upper edge of the Coastal Plain merge, a belt of predominantly wooded country is usually found. The

reason for the scarcity of cultivated land in this belt

must be sought in the surface relief conditions. The

swiftly flowing waters of the creeks and rivers that

descend from the plateau have cut deeply into the

underlying strata and have produced a rugged topography. Compared with the wide flood plains along

watercourses in the Coastal Plain, the river bottoms

on the Piedmont side are narrow. Because of the

steeper slope gradient of the rivers and the narrowness of the valleys, many hydraulic power sites are

found along the Fall Line. Dams, reservoirs, and

electric power plants are conspicuous landscape features. The section of the transition belt shown lies 9

miles southeast of Knoxville in Crawford County, near

the Peach County boundary. Adjacent to the upper

rougher portion of the Coastal Plain lies a belt of

smoother rolling country pitted with sinkholes, the

result of solution in the underlying beds of sandy

limestone and calcareous clay. As a rule, soil distinctions between the Piedmont and the Coastal Plain are

pronounced. Heavy soils predominate on the Piedmont and light-textured soils on the Coastal Plain.

Warm and long summers, with around 240 frost-free

days, and a normal annual precipitation of 50 inches,

permit the growing of a variety of crops. Cotton is

the main cash crop, but fruits, particularly peaches,

are also important. Livestock and its products also

contribute a good share to the farm income.

262
Great Appalachian Valley Abutting Piedmont Hills, Georgia

PLATE 159.—In the Appalachian Mountains and valleys of northwestern Georgia, land use at times shows

strong contrasts as a result of adjustment to physiographic conditions. The sharpest contrast of this kind

can frequently be identified with changes in the geologic structure. An instance is illustrated in the area

shown, which lies at the junction of Bartow, Polk, and

Paulding Counties. Most of the farmland shown is in

Bartow County; most of the forest land is in Paulding

County; and the comer of Polk County shares both.

The great Appalachian Valley, in which the farms

are located, extends in this area south of the Blue

Ridge and borders the hilly Piedmont. Agricultural

land use in the valley and forest use in the hills are

sharply deñned by a fault that separates the limestone

and shales of the valley floor from schists and gneisses

of the Piedmont. Weathering, erosion, and solution

have produced the marked surface distinctions. A

smoothly rolling valley floor with some rough spots

and hills is on one side of the fault line, and the Piedmont hills are on the other. The Piedmont hills are

only 200 to 300 feet higher than the floor of the Appalachian Valley but as they are steeply dissected into

a maze of rough and broken ridges, they are left in

forest. Farming in the valley shows the influence of

climate and soils. The soils are predominantly medium

to heavy though gravelly in many places. The valley

has an elevation of around 700 feet and a mild climate

with a frost-free season that covers usually more than

200 days. More than 50 inches of precipitation is

well distributed over the seasons. Cotton is the main

cash crop, although corn, hay, some small grains, and

vegetables are grown. Livestock and its products

provide about a third of the farm income.

263
Big Dukes Pond on Middle Coastal Plain, Georgia

PLATE 160.—In Georgia, the land use patterns in the

eastern part of the Coastal Plain are distinct from

those in the western part. These distinctions are due

largely to the historical background of settlement and

ground conditions. Settlement east of the Oconee

River antidates statehood. The acreage deeded to

settlers depended on the headright provision of the

colonial government. The land was not divided for

the settlers; each settler took what he believed himself entitled to. As a result, landlines, fields, and

roads do not fit into any systematic arrangement, as

may be seen in the tract shown, which lies in Jenkins

County. The second object of interest is Big Dukes

Pond, the large depression on the low divide between

Ogeechec and Buckhead Creek 7 miles northwest of

Millen. Many irregular sinkhole depressions indicate

that the surface forms are largely the result of solution in the underlying beds of impure limestone encountered at a depth of 35 to 50 feet. These sinks are

usually only from 4 to 10 feet deep. A peculiarity of

Big Dukes Pond is that it has acquired some of the

characteristics of bays. A smooth oval shoreline and

sandy rim in the southeast quadrant indicate that

the same forces—intermittent pluvial and dry windy

periods— that formed the spoilrims of the bays were

not confined to the lower levels of the Coastal Plain

during the Pleistocene Epoch. The soils of this area

are mainly sandy loams and shallow muck deposits

are frequently found in the wet areas. A mild climate

with warm long summers and abundant precipitation

is characteristic of this part of the Cotton Belt. Cotton

is the main cash crop, although about a third of the

farm income is derived from livestock and its products.

264
Old Shore Lines in Coastal Flatwoods, South Carolina

PLATE 161.—On the lower terrace of the Coastal

Plain in South Carolina, comparatively little land is

used for tilled crops. In a number of counties, the

acreage of cropland is less than 10 percent of the total

land area. That agriculture is so little developed in this

part of the State is largely the result of deficient

drainage. Land relief over extensive interstream areas

is so flat that rainwater, of which around 50 inches

falls as the annual average, moves and drains off very

slowly. Consequently, it has little cutting power to

extend the heads of the creeks onto the flats. Differences in elevation between the broad swampy river

bottoms and the interstream flats usually are less than

50 feet, and the slope is confined mainly to belts that

border the river bottoms. It is within these belts of

better drained land that settlement and agricultural

development are found. The terraces and shorelines,

which are better drained, are used for homesteads and

farmland. A sample area 9 miles southwest of Moncks

Corner is shown. The soil of the better drained land

is a light colored sandy loam. On the poorly drained

land, the soils are usually darker and heavier. With

proper management, the soils are fairly productive,

and as the growing season normally covers more than

250 frost-free days, they are adapted to many crops.

Farm income is derived mainly from cash crops. Cotton and tobacco lead as cash crops, but com, hay, and

feed crops are also important. Most of the land, even

the land in farms, is in forest. The forest consists of

more or less open stands of longleaf and loblolly pine

with a carpet of grasses that furnish pasture in spring

and summer.

265
Carolina Bays on Middle Coastal Plain, South Carolina

PLATE 162.—The Coastal Plain of the Carolinas can

be divided into two belts geologically—the interior belt

in which the cretaceous and tertiary formations reach

the surface, and the lower belt in which the older

formations are covered by quaternary marine deposits.

It is within the belt of quaternary deposits that the

so-called Carolina Bays are found. In South Carolina,

these bays are most numerous on the higher level of

this belt. In places, these shallow oval depressions,

which range from a few acres to several square miles,

comprise the major part of the land. True to their

characteristics, they occupy primarily interfluvial land

and are frequently without drainage outlets or connections. In these instances they constitute the chief

impediment to cultural use of the land. Most of these

bays are basins that must be reclaimed through drainage if use as cropland is contemplated. An area of

this type, halfway between McCoU and Clio in Marlboro County, is illustrated. As may be seen, many

of the smaller bays are now used for cultivated crops,

but each so used must have artificial drainage installed. The soils of the dry land are light gray

sandy loams. In the smaller bays, the soils are medium or dark gray, silt, or clay loams. Those of the

larger bays, like Mossey Ocean on the western margin

of the photograph, are black or clay loams. The darkness of the soil derives largely from its organic matter

content. Long warm summers and an annual mean

precipitation of 48 inches would permit the growing

of a variety of crops, but the farm economy is based

on cotton. Livestock and its products account for a

relatively small part of the farm income in this area.

266
Thermal Belt of Upper Piedmont, South Carolina

PLATE 163.—The Upper Piedmont bordering the

mountains is strongly rolling, and in places even

hilly. Land of this kind, especially when used for

row crops, washes easily if cultural practices are not

adapted to conservation. The soils are erosive. The

surface soil usually is a sandy or sandy clay loam

with a yellow or red-brown compact subsoil. With

proper management, these soils are very productive.

A decrease in acreage of cropland during the last few

decades indicates that some of the land is better

suited to woodland and pasture than to cultivated

crops. Terracing and contour plowing are used widely

in the Piedmont, as may be observed in the sample

area shown. This tract lies on South Pacolet River,

3 miles northeast of Inman in Spartanburg County.

Crops are grown on the contour here, and peach

orchards are laid out and planted in the same way.

Next to cotton, peaches are the chief cash crop. That

this fruit can play such an important part in the local

economy is largely because of the nearby mountains.

Along the Piedmont side of the Blue Ridge, lies a

thermal belt in which, as a result of excellent air

drainage, late and damaging frosts during blossomtime are rare. In the southern end of the belt, peaches,

and farther north, apples, are grown as commercial

crops. The climate in the southern part of the belt is

warm enough at an elevation "of around 1,000 feet to

permit production of cotton as the main crop. The

frost-free period is normally more than 200 days, and

the average annual precipitation is 50 inches or more.

Other important crops are corn, small grains, and hay,

which are grown mainly for use on the farm. Livestock, the mainstay of the early settlers, still produces

a good share of the farm income and is increasing in

importance.

267
Blue Ridge of North Carolina

PLATE 164.—The Blue Ridge is a broad mountain

massif in North Carolina. In its southward extension

from Virginia, it is composed partly of the Blue Ridge

Plateau in the east, and is flanked by mountain chains

on the west. Physiographically, the distinction between the plateau and the mountains is sufficiently

pronounced to be reflected in density of settlement and

acreage of cleared land. Actually, there is little difference in this respect. Except for the highest peaks,

crop and pasture lands are as much in evidence in the

mountains as they are in the plateau back of the rim.

A section of mountainous land in Watauga County—

the western slope of Rich Mountain from the crest

down to Cove Creek—is shown. Differences in elevation within this section range from 2,800 to 4,600 feet.

Crop and pasture lands are found on all levels, and

concentrations occur in the lower valleys. Most of

the ñelds are small, and ordinarily the steeper slopes

are used for pasture. The climate in these elevations

is cool, even in summer; the frost-free period runs

from around 150 to 170 days. Precipitation, which is

well distributed over the seasons, averages more than

50 inches annually. In winter, snow may cover the

land for weeks; in some years it may be on the ground

for 2 months or more. Soils, which developed from

crystalline rocks, are medium to heavy and are fairly

productive. Farming is diversified. Most of the farms

have less than 10 acres of cropland and operate on the

subsistence level. Livestock and its products are the

principal items in the farm economy. Burley tobacco

is the leading cash crop, although vegetables, particularly cabbage and potatoes, are important also. Corn,

some small grains, and forage crops are grown mainly

for use on the farm.

268
Middle Carolina Piedmont, North Carolina

PLATE 165.—Although the Carolina Piedmont is one

Ehysiographic province, use of the land is not uniform,

rand use responds to surface relief, climate, soils, and

location in respect to markets. These factors have

produced a diversity of land use patterns. Near the

mountains the land is likely to be strongly rolling to

hilly, a situation favorable to the raising of livestock

or the growing of orchard fruits. Near the lower

border, the land is frequently rough and badly dissected. Much of it is left in woods. In the center, the

surface generally is smoothly rolling and most of the

land is suitable for cultivation. This is also the part

of the Piedmont in which an unusual number of goodsized industrial towns provide farmers with nearby

markets. Most of the land is utilized for agricultural

production, as shown by a tract 2 miles southeast of

Mt. Ulla in Rowan County. The soils are derived mainly from the weathered material of crystalline rocks.

In texture, they are chiefly clay loams and clays, red

and fairly productive. Climatically, the area lies near

the northern limit of the Cotton Belt. The summers

are warm and long, with an average of 200 frost-free

days. Precipitation averages around 46 inches a year

and is well distributed over the seasons. Farming is

diversified. The farms usually are medium-sized and

well equipped. The major part of the farm income

is derived from crops, although livestock and its products, particularly dairy products, are a close second.

The leading cash crop is cotton, but corn, wheat, oats,

lespedeza, vegetables, and tree fruits also contribute

to the farm economy.

471954 0-59-19 269
Durham Basin in the Triassic Belt, North Carolina

PLATE 166.—The Piedmont is sometimes subdivided

into belts that are identified with geologic formations.

As in other places, the pétrographie nature of the

underlying rocks has influenced surface relief and soil

development. To this extent, it has also reacted on

land use. Intensity of land use or acreage of land

used for crops in proportion to the land area is associated with the geologic background to some extent,

although other factors are involved also. The triassic

belt lies at the lower border of the Piedmont and in

the lower Piedmont erosion is active. Differences in

elevation between the creek bottoms and the divides

are not much more than 100 feet at the most, but the

slopes are badly dissected and only small tracts are

smooth enough for cultivation. The tract shown lies

in the Durham Basin, 6 miles east of Durham. The

soils of this section developed mainly from the

weathered material of sandstone and shale. The surface soil is usually a sandy loam. Below it is a red,

heavy plastic subsoil. On the slopes along the creeks,

the soil is frequently shallow. These soils are not

highly productive. The frost-free period approximates

210 days, and the summers are warm. Annual precipitation averages close to 46 inches, of which slightly

more than half falls during the warm season. Climatically, the region lies in the Cotton Belt, but very

little cotton is grown. Most of the farms are small;

their numbers and acreages of cropland have fluctuated

considerably during the last decades. Farming depends largely on tobacco as the main cash crop of the

area. Woodland is the predominant land use; much

of the woodland is pastured, but livestock is of secondary importance in the farm economy.

270
Little Singletary Lake, North Carolina

PLATE 167.—The major drawbacks to expansion of

agriculture in the Coastal Plain of North Carolina are

the many depressions and the large areas of poorly

drained land interspersed with stretches of light sandy

soil. Locally, swampland was formerly called bay,

pocosin, or swamp indiscriminately. Since aerial

photography has exposed their characteristics, the oval

wet or swampy depressions peculiar to the Carolinas

are usually referred to as bays. The larger swamps

near the coast are pocosins, although there are pocosins with interposed bays. Because of ground conditions, the concentration of bays in North Carolina

differs from the concentration in South Carolina. The

greatest concentration of bays in North Carolina is

on the quaternary portion of the sand apron that extends from the Sand Hills, along Cape Fear and South

Rivers, to the coast. Many of these bays are large

and well-formed. In the aggregate, they occupy a

considerable acreage. Frequently, they occur m a

chain pattern, as may be noted from the photograph,

which shows the bays on the Bladen-Cumberland

County boundary east of Jerome. Most of them are

shallow basins with bottoms usually less than 5 feet

below the surrounding country. Some are lakes;

others may contain water intermittently. The soil of

the bays is a black sand that contains much organic

matter; that outside the bays and swampy bottoms is

a light gray sand. The vegetation of the bays consists

mainly of gallberry and huckleberry bushes, and bay

trees, from which the bays received their name. Some

of the smaller bays farther inland have been drained

and are used for crops, but until recently no attempt

had been made to drain the larger ones for this purpose. Outside the bays and bottoms, the forest is

cutover longleaf pine. Farming in this area depends

on cash crops. Although this is Cotton Belt climate,

cotton is not a major crop. Tobacco is the leading

product.

271
Lower Coastal Plain Terraces, North Carolina

PLATE 168.—The lower Coastal Plain of North Carolina contains extensive tracts of level land. The tributary creeks of the rivers have not cut their channels

back far enough to L .ect materially the drainage on

the flats. As a result, much of the land is inadequately drained. The drainage channels, which usually

are not more than 20 to 30 feet below the general level

of the country, are flanked by slightly rolling, gently

sloping land. Most of the farmsteads and flelds are

located on the better drained land near the creeks.

But even in these locations, drainage is not always

adequate to obtain the best yields from crops. Many

individual farmers have installed additional drainage,

as outlets were available without crossing other properties. To improve drainage farther upstream would

mean community drainage enterprises. Land use on

the more rolling land is illustrated by a tract that lies

3 miles east of La Grange at the confluence of Mosely

and Palling Creeks in Lenoir County. Drainage ditches

are noticeable in a number of places. Bottom land has

been cleared and drained also. For some time, it was

used for com, but as the soil was heavier than

on the upland and was subject to flooding, the attempt

was not too successful. Today, these bottomlands are

used mainly as pasture and hay lands. The upland

soils are light and range from sand to sandy loam. As

the land is near the coast, the climate is maritime.

Long, warm summers and mild winters are characteristic. The annual average precipitation, which is somewhat heavier in the warm than in the cold season, is

close to 50 inches. The type of farming has changed

in recent decades. Until the invasion of the boll weevil

in the 1920's, cotton was the chief crop. Now corn

leads in acreage, but tobacco is the outstanding cash

producer. Livestock—mainly hogs and dairy products

—contributes to the farm income.

272
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